Mi Familia,
I cannot believe how fast time is going by, it is unreal. My scheduled departure date is 5 weeks from yesterday
Thanks for all of your letters! Dad, sounds like things are very busy but good. And a baptism in the ward! That is so exciting. I met a couple sisters going to Carlsbad but they are Spanish speaking. They started talking to me before the Sunday Fireside and they were just so happy to hear about what it is like. 20 baptisms this year would be great! And possible. We were promised at a meeting that we could double baptisms doing three things: studying every day, asking everyone for referrals, and talking to 10 extra people every day outside of planned activities. I know that is for missionaries but it can be applied to the ward. I love the "Sin cuenta" joke and used it for some of the older Elders in the zone, everyone was laughing.
I saw Jake DeBruyn this week! I didn't know he already reported and when I saw him I was so caught off guard that I just yelled "Jake!" It scared his companion, who seems to be quite a character. We hugged and he said he is so happy. He looked happy and like he was working hard. It is so fun to see people from home. I sat next to Jake almost every day in seminary all 4 years. It sounds like BYU basketball is doing awesome and getting respect, which is awesome, and is spreading the gospel! Mom, I am praying for those in need. Thanks for the updates. It was great to hear about Brooke's Gap story and your missionary work. I am so proud of you!
I am hardly ever taught in English. Usually if we are, our teachers say it in Spanish first. I love the fajitas at the MTC, they are amazing. And I have no culture classes, it is a bummer. I don't want any more packages with food! Maybe a scripture case for my Spanish scriptures? That would be nice. I am sending my sim card today hopefully.
Things are going well with the new district. They are settling in. The new district leader showed a lot of concern in his interview but Elder Peck and I were able to help him and he is doing better.
I love the zone so much. I am getting close with all of the missionaries. Our old zone leaders left Sunday night. It was hard to watch (I took them to the travel office and van to get picked up). The whole zone has changed since we have been here. We should be the oldest but we have a "District X." They are going to Dad's mission and they start week 12 tomorrow and are not getting reassigned. I call them Los Abuelos.
We have been working on addictions in class lately. I feel pretty good about getting people to stop addictions. The day after we learned about it our teacher Hermano Law told us we were addicted to English. We made plans to stop. It is helping so much. We have gone over all we are going to cover in Spanish, and are going to start repeating lessons now. It is very exciting and Spanish is coming along so well. I know it is not me. Older districts compliment our district's Spanish a lot. They always think we have been here longer than we have. We are working so hard. It also has to do with our great teachers.
We taught as a zone on Saturday. I was assigned to the new district's classroom. I was so excited to teach someone who didn't know Spanish. Then Elder Palmer came in (The one I met in the Wilk.) We are super close but he has been here 2 extra weeks and his Spanish is great. He was our role play investigator. We weren't teaching in Spanish but I wanted to. It went so well. We taught about the Plan of Happiness and the Word of Wisdom. I committed him to follow the Word of Wisdom and everything was going great. I could feel the Spirit so strong and knew I had to commit him to baptism. He said he would! It was the best feeling ever. He told us we did great afterward.
Sunday I have no time to study with being a Zone Leader. But I had some extra time before dinner, about 10 minutes. I decided to pray and just study something. I didn't know what, and just flipped my book to Command verbs. I was so confused about it before and in 5 minutes I understood it so much more. I knew I was blessed for doing my best as the Zone Leader, Which is going great. We give a spiritual thought in Priesthood, and I was a little nervous as my old zone leaders were there. Then President Brown, the MTC President walked in. I was so nervous. But it went great. I was quite relieved.
I love it here at the MTC. I am learning so much. EVERYTHING is going amazing right now. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve. I think about and pray for you by name every day. Thanks for all of your support. It means so much. I miss you all! I have the best family in the world. Thanks for all of your examples and prayers. This church is so true.
Con Amor,
Elder Riley Stevenson
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