Growing Pains (in Mexico CCM)

Greetings, all,

This week has been painful, off and on. I have felt a bit of darkness creep into my mind due to some hazing from the others in my district, but that problem was resolved peacefully and I am feeling good again. However, I want you, any who read this, to know that there really is a line that can be crossed in teasing. The rule is always that the line must be drawn by the receiver, not by anyone else, and all others must respect that. My line was crossed, but it's all right, now; I just wanted to make sure everyone understands that. You never know for sure what your words will mean to others. Padres, I realize I'm guilty of this folly, too; I´m sorry for that. I'm earnestly trying to do better.

Somehow, life here feels weirdly normal. Probably because it's just 24/7 schooling, which was basically what high school felt like at times. There is so much to do that the excuse of procrastination is actually unnecessary, because there legitimately is not enough time to do all that we are told to do, when we are told to do it. We are given assignments to study a chapter of Predicad Mi Evangelio and then also memorize fifty vocab words and a heap of phrases and memorize a scripture and THEN study the scriptures by ourselves and with our companions and THEN I have to write in my journal. And more. It's stressful, but I'm glad for the push to be better. My Spanish skill is coming along very well as a result of it, and I can feel that the Spirit is helping me retain what I am learning. I'm starting to learn subjunctive and commands, and that's weird, especially because English doesn't even USE the subjunctive tense, but I'm getting it. Ojalá, I will master it quickly.

I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but our district was visited in class in our first week by the CCM teaching coordinator, Hermano Castañeda. He promised us that we would be fluent by the time we left. We also discovered afterwards that no other class received such a promise. That has been such a grand inspiration to us, and we want to work hard to fulfill that promise in ourselves. I'm feeling it already; I'm on the brink of speaking fluently (not perfectly, or with full vocabulary, mind you, but fluently, naturally). That is amazing.

I feel I should mention something that's really funny: the men's restrooms are the new social media platform. As Elder Steck said so eloquently, "I don't believe in Instagram, I believe in the men's bathroom." There are so many elders that we only ever see in the bathroom, and that's where we catch up on news from the other districts. There are also so many funny comments that fly back and forth. Someone walks into the bathroom and hears something or other and exclaims, "Is that elder Ricks?!" Someone else hears, pops their head into the bathroom and yells, "RICKS?!!?!" and it degrades from there. It's hilarious.

A metaphor I came up with this week is extremely nerdy, and I love it so much. It's a spiritual Dyson Sphere. A Dyson Sphere is a concept megastructure that would be built around the Sun, completely encasing it and collecting every bit of its output power, yielding unspeakably enormous usable energy for that civilization. But to build it, it would require just about all the matter in Mercury, Venus, Mars, the asteroid belt, and probably the Kuiper belt, too. So, as long as you're willing to sacrifice those to become an ultra-powerful civilization, go for it. But here's the awesome metaphor: the entire point of life is to try to build a Dyson Sphere around the Son. Christ has to be at the center, and then we begin to build around Him, collecting His power as we center our lives on Him. Just like the real thing, we need to make worlds of sacrifices, giving up worldly cares to move those resources to Him. And as we continually try to build up the entire sphere, we gain more spiritual power. I drew a picture of it, and I attached it below. It has become a powerful symbol of hope for me, and I might really use that as my lifelong metaphor (it definitely fits in with my intended line of work). I love it so much. Actually, Elder Ricks loved the picture so much he asked me to give him a copy of it! That made me feel good.

Speaking of nerdy stuff, thank you, Padres, for the pictures of Ultima Thule; it's amazing!

For this week's scripture, I want to share one that I discovered. DyC 88:66-68:

"Behold, that which you hear is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness—in the wilderness, because you cannot see him—my voice, because my voice is Spirit; my Spirit is truth; truth abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound. And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things. Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will."

That line, that I can comprehend all things, really hits home for me, especially out here. If I cut out other cares (sacrificing the asteroid belt for my spiritual Dyson Sphere), I can comprehend all things. That is a wonderful thought.

Guys, the Gospel is so cool. It all fits together so well.

Anyway, that's all I have time for right now, but please remember that I love you all. I'm doing this for the Argentines, for myself, and for you back home, too. I pray that God will be with you, just as I can feel He is with me.

Hasta semana.

Love,

Elder Hill

Fotografías:

1. Caricaturas de los Élderes Garcia, Steck, Ehlen, y Lingwall.
2. Esfera incompleta de Dyson.
3. (Desde izquierda a la derecha) Hnas. Kimball y Banks, y Élderes Harrell y Lingwall.
4. Jugando "Four Square" en forma de fútbol.
5. Élderes Harrell y Wilkinson jugando voleibol.

Tenemos más fotografías, pero no sé dónde están.