I made a pun yesterday for which I was
threatened with death (which means I was successful). If I were to take
care of dead bodies very carefully, with precise measurements and such,
would that make me a mathemortician? I dare you to try to assassinate
me for that; I'm not even on the same continent as you are. Ha. Soy el
ganador.
I also want to share something very
important to understand in Spanish: markings are very important. Take
this sentence for example: Mi papa tiene 47 anos. What does that mean?
"My father is 47 years old"? No. If I had wanted to write that, I would
have written, "Mi papá tiene 47 años." Yes, there is a difference. A
HUGE one. And what does the original sentence mean? "My potato has 47
anuses." Sí, en serio. Please be careful with markings when writing
Spanish.
I heard about the event in
Phoenix with President Nelson and Elder Oaks, and that's so cool! But I
can one-up it, I think. Elder Cook is coming to speak to us this evening
at the CCM at 4:00! Phoenix will have two prophets and an audience of
70K people, but we get one prophet and an audience of 500. Do the math.
We get the better deal. (I know spiritual edification doesn't work in
fractions like that. Leave me alone. XD)
By the
way, I actually received my flight plans this week, and I will be
leaving on Monday the 11th, not Tuesday. I will fly with all of the
Argentina missionaries to Lima, and from there to Buenos Aires, arriving
at about 0430 on Tuesday the 12th. That is the extent of the travel
info I was given. I might take another flight to Mendoza from there, but
since it's not listed in my flight plan I assume I'm in for a ten-hour
bus ride. I'll fill y'all in next P-day, whenever that is.
As
I mentioned in my previous letter, I had the opportunity to go to the
Mexico City Temple last P-day to participate in an Endowment session. It
was beautiful, and I had a wonderful experience. While in the Celestial
room, I knelt and prayed (because there was no room to sit, with the
small, crowded room) and I felt an arm around my shoulders, and the
feeling that I have done well, so far. Oh, Heavens (literally), I needed
to hear that. This week we were invited to attend the Temple again, and
we decided to accept, even though it is such an enormous time
commitment; there is nothing better we could have used this last CCM
P-day for. This time, one thing was stuck in my head for the entire
time. It's a set of lyrics from "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas that
says, "Time falls away, but these small hours, these little wonders,
still remain." Though time is meaningless in Heaven, my hours, my
experiences here will last the entirety of that transcendent Eternity.
That song very quickly became my theme song here at the CCM, and I truly
think that it was inspired by the Spirit, because it seems to touch
everyone so powerfully, every time. "Let it go. Let it roll right off
your shoulders; don't you know the hardest part is over?" Even though
I'm certain the hardest part of my mission is not over, every day there
is something or other that reaches its peak difficulty, and thus that
song is applicable every day. I even wrote my own verse to it, but I'll
share it some other time; I want to write about other things for now.
I
found an amazing quote from Ezra T. Benson in Predicad Mi Evangelio
this week. “Our main task is to declare the gospel and do it
effectively. We are not obligated to answer every objection. Every man
eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there he must make his
stand.” That is really good. I'm glad it's in PME, because that means I
can have it with me whenever I want it over the next two years.
Regarding
spiritual learning, I have never felt more in tune with the Spirit than
I am here, and that's saying a lot, because I have had huge spiritual
blasts before my mission. This is better. I know the scriptures like an
old friend, and I am learning to wield them like the sword of truth that
they are. Seriously, I want to write a book because of it, even though
I'm not anything near an author at heart. It's that powerful. It is also
just hitting me at last how powerful the Atonement of Christ is, and
even how much sense it makes. Without it taking care of all evil,
including pain, sickness, and all of the millions of forms of
shortcomings, there would be justice left unserved, and God would
destroy the world out of that necessity of pure justice. Therefore, the
Atonement must be perfectly infinite and all-encompassing, so that
justice can be served, with all forms of pain poured out on the head of
One. I'm tearing up just writing that. Why can no one see it? The
Atonement of Jesus Christ is the ultimate sacrifice to end all
sacrifice, pain, and challenge. All that ever was, is, or could be wrong
in the world is made right through the Passion and the Blood. Christ
has raised us out of darkness; He has bought our souls for God. (Note from Ben's mother: Ben sang "I have bought your soul for God" as the Bishop in Les Miserables.)
This
church is the only living church on the earth, and I know it. That is
one point of my belief where it is steadily slipping past the wall, out
of the realm of faith and into the realm of knowledge, which is the
glory of God (DyC 93:36). I suppose I'll need that glory to be able to
be a representative of a Deity for the next two years, "in a manner that
thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son
for redemption" (Alma 13:2).
I am so ridiculously excited to go share the Spirit with the Argentines.
Love (for the last time from Mexico),
Elder Hill
Fotografías:
- Yo mismo, enfrente del Templo, en la semana pasada.
- El distrito, lo mismo dia.
- Yo mismo.
- Yo y Elder Ricks con un mensaje en el CCM.
- Lo mismo, pero afuera del Templo, hoy.
- Un patio nuevo en el CCM; es muy hermoso.
- Lo mismo, pero más cerca. I also want to mention my tie clip; I got it today from a store right next to the Temple, and I got that one in particular because it reminded me of the Atoning blood of Christ (perhaps it´s hard to see, but it really is a blood red). Now, I will have that wonderful reminder every day when I don my corbata.
No comments:
Post a Comment