Ahh family!
Such a good week. Thanks for all your letters. I am just so dang happy right
now and this week was 10x better than last week. The week before was just all
traveling and meetings but this week Elder White and I peaced out to Concepcion
and just went and did intercambios (exchanges) with the missionaries all week.
I was in Los Angeles and it was so nice just to work every day in the blaring
sun again. Is blaring a word? Does that make sense there? Mom told me last week
that capacitation is NOT, in fact, a word. I was under the impression that was
the same in English. I meant to say like training or something. Like so they
can learn more things? I hate English so much. Siempre les voy a hablar en
español, no estoy ni allí si me entiendan o no. UGH is it bad that I'm more
myself in Spanish now than in English? like Elder White and i try talking in
English and it just sounds awful. Haha we always start laughing. Good stuff.
Anyway, this
week I found out I love president even more. Elder Domínguez made more of that
super spicy aji stuff, the spicy salsa, and I found out during the meeting with
the new missionaries (after their first four weeks) that president is seriously
10 years old sometimes. He was challenging EVERYONE to put more spicy stuff on
their pizza (Dad, he only eats hawaiian pizza. I respect that.). Like he kept
challenging them and saying stuff like "oh c'mon, thats sunbeam level! at
least do enough like the primary girls." or "You trying to eat the
pizza or is that for your grandma?" like i was literally crying laughing.
hahaha he is hilarious. then I finally got enough people rallied up saying
"Presidente, presidente" that he put some on his and was seriously
crying because it was so spicy. He is such a goofball. Also I taught Hermana
Martinez the word goofball and she loves it. So fun.
But this week
i learned a lot about the spirit. We are so quick to become prideful in things,
even in TINY things, and it's really easy to forget that we are not the reasons
for success. This week I had to do a lesson with this person that has been
investigating the church for a year, and it was crazy because the missionaries
were like "yeah, he doesn't want to get baptized but we think he
can." So kind of a hard task. But it's just so cool to go in, to feel
so lost, and then to say a prayer in my heart and have such a clear direction
come to my head of what i need to tell him. He was a father, and i mentioned
one little thing and then Elder Watt, my old mtc compánion who i was on
intercambio with, took off running with it and just got straight to his heart.
He talked about how as a father, it isn't personal salvation anymore. How its
all about the others. Fathers go to work for their family - not for themselves.
Fathers wake up early for their kids - not for themselves. And fathers stay
firm in the gospel their whole lives for their ETERNAL family - not for
themselves. Elder Watt and Edler Ehlen, his companion, were just awesome and
the spirit was so strong. It was just what the man needed. He had seen for the
past year the gospel as a personal thing and never had thought about the effect
his joining the gospel would have on others. But the spirit knew that.
The spirit knew he had a tender heart and needed to think and act for his
family. Anyway, I'm just so grateful for the spirit in this work and the
strength it gives us to keep going and to help people. Our potential is much
greater with god on our side than alone! If we just let Heavenly father help
us, and we do that by being obedient to the commandments, he will always give
us a better life. Faith is nothing more than obedience.
I'm happy as a
clam! If anyone reading this has never met with the missionaries, do it. You'll
never regret letting God speak directly to you and helping you reach your full
potential.
Love you all!
Elder Tengberg
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