El Pez que Hace Nada

Mi Familia,

Thanks for the Dear Elder! I love hearing about what is going on at home. I am super excited for my scripture case too! That will be so nice to have. I will let you know when I get it. Thanks for doing that, it means a lot! I love hearing about how you are studying PMG (Preach My Gospel) and the Scriptures as well. I have also been studying my topic for my personal study. I ask myself a question that an investigator might have then find/write scriptures and ideas that I have in a journal. It is such an effective way to study and I am learning so much. I just heard about Lauren's car accident yesterday. It sounds like things are better for her though.

The MTC is going great. I love it here! I am learning a ton. I am trying to only use Spanish. We made it a district goal to use as much as possible. If you can't you have to say, "perdon" before you speak English. I think it is the equivalent to pardon. Makes sense. Also if someone in the district talks to you in English you say "no entiendo ingles." I don't understand English. It is really helpful to speak it as much as possible. I feel pretty confident with my Spanish and am getting faster at conjugating and speaking at a decent speed. I know I am going to think otherwise once I get to Tuxtla. I am also working on memorizing Doctrine and Covenants 4 in Spanish right now. Great stuff.

Los abuelos are going to the consulate today which is great news for us. I am going to miss them but that means things are speeding up. If things catch up and I leave on my scheduled departure date then this Saturday I will be halfway done with the MTC. It is so exciting and I can't wait to get to the field.

Yo tengo un otro chiste por Papa. Me encanta eso. Es como pescados, siempre! Que hace un pez flojo? Sabe? ... Nada! (Nada o de Nadar) Es muy chistoso, yo se.

Spanish jokes are so much funnier. Another of my favorites is before you pray you ask who wants to. If no one volunteers you pretend like you are playing with a yo-yo and ask someone, what is this toy called? They of course say "yo-yo." Yo means I in Spanish. They just volunteered themselves to pray.

On Tuesday we went to the Temple. I was super excited. Once we got there Elder Peck realized he forgot his recommend. I was kind of upset because it was really cold outside but I just tried to be nice about it. He kept saying sorry and I just kept saying, esta bien. We got back into the same session we would have been in and I felt great after. It would have been easy to get mad but I am glad I didn't. Elder Peck is an awesome guy.

I am so excited for Trevor to come here! I am going to try to be a host the day he comes and be his host! If you can find out what car he is coming in and what time that would be awesome, so I can get him. He could be in our zone or have the same meal/gym time. Everyone in my gym period is Spanish speaking. We will see what happens.

I have been thinking a lot about the ward and the baptism goal. President Hinckley gave that talk in April 1999 about doubling baptisms and we haven't even really exceeded 300,000 baptisms in a year since then. The members need to get involved. It is essential. They need to give referrals and help out as much as possible by friendshipping, going to lessons, etc. People are so much more likely to be baptized and stay active when members go to the lessons. Also don't be afraid to invite friends to church! I wish I would have been better about that. I thought I might lose friends doing it. But it brings so much happiness and answers to people's lives. You will lose those friends for sure if you never invite them.

I am doing wonderful. Thanks so much for the love and prayers. I can feel them. I am so happy here. I am so excited to learn and work. It is such an important work! I miss you and love you.

Yo se que este es la iglesia verdadera. Jesucristo vive hoy. Mediante la expiacion nosotros podemos regresar con el.

Te amo.

Con Amor,

Elder Riley Stevenson