Parungaricutitimicuaro cuchitimitio. My favorite tongue twister in spanish. people flip out when i say this real fast haha. (i have no idea how you really spell those two words, its a little village thing in the south of Mexico.) Random.
Anyways, WHATS UP!??!!?
Everything is just find and dandy here in TJ. Its the last week of the transfer and i am just stoked about it. Really a lot hoping i get to leave Delicias. Its a fantastic area to baptize, but you definetly have to suffer to receive the blessings haha. My health is starting to drop a bit so im hoping i can get out soon! And if i stay, sweet! because i have a lot of baptisms i would like to finish up :) So next week i will let ya know all the details!
So about the ipod haha. i didnt say anything about it to the President...but he just emailed me and said he would give it back to me if i promised to not tell anyone else that i have it! WHAT!? What an incredible President. With the president before, honestly, he was just cold. We as missionaries didn't feel love for him, we just felt like his servants. But, with President Garcia, man its awesome! The mission is having a lot of trials right now, all of TJ honestly. As the work of God hastens, so does the work of the Adversary. With the temple being constructed, we have seen a LOT of trials. Especially with the missionaries who work closest to the temple...its been something very interesting. I will tell you something. The stake president spoke in church 2 weeks ago and told us a very intense dream that he had. He received a call from a bishop and was asked to come to a house and bring a large group of priesthood holders. When they arrived, the president knocked on the door, then turned to the men and told them "this will be a very strong experience, if you are not worthy or ready to see what will happen, please leave now" well, one third of the group left. as they entered, they were directed through various persons to a room in the back, where they found Satan. The president described him as a very attractive person. As the president confronted Satan, he asked the president "are you ready to begin?" the president raised his hand to the square and rebuked satan in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Satan told the president that it would not end like this and that all must pay for what has been done!. and then the president woke up very alarmed...
so...what do we learn? First. Light will always over power darkness. two. All that is light is from God. Three. Satan is working as never before here in Tijuana.
Please please, say your prayers for me and ask to give me strength to hang on. But please dont stop there. Other missionaries have had some horrible experiences lately and have done some very horrible things...so please pray for the Elders and sisters of this mission...
The words of the stake president were very blunt and direct. and with a great emphasis in the importance of staying worthy of a temple recommend. ok.
General Conference. HOW AMAZING RIGHT!?!??!?! i dont know how many of you brought questions to the conference or were listening for something in particular. I had 5 questions...subjects in general. Spanish, Humility, Confidence, Teaching according to needs, and my Future Family. Within the first 2 hours of general conference, i had every single answer that i needed haha. And the rest of conference was just bonus :) Saturday we watched conference in English which is great, the spanish translaters are ok...but they dumb everything down and the power phrases of each talk get changed. Sunday we watched it all in spanish. I understand it all, but its just not the same. You did hear some spanish tho haha when Elder Christofferson said "Muy buenos días!"haha that cracked me up! also when Elder Holland said 'Eduardo, bien hecho!" haha also a great moment! However, the gospel of christ is the same in whatever language so its always a great experience to get revelation and hear the word of God in two languages :) I just love watching the people watch conference...as they take notes i would too, that way i knew what their concerns were and what my investigators might need in the future. Very useful. I don't have my notes with me but i loved the talk about staying in the boat!! stay in the church! trust me...life is better when we are active and are truly converted to the Gospel of Christ. trust me haha. Also, i loved the talk about where we face, towards God or towards man. That helped me so much! If we are doing all we can to be good in the eyes of the Lord, then we have no need to worry about what the natural man things! Also, i loved the guy who said "get really really good at repenting" he also emphasized the importance of a sound mind, body and spirit. It all goes hand in hand.
I have had some really cool experiences with that, so far in this area i have helped some members lose a lot of weight. one guy is down about 25 pounds since i wrote him a workout routine. I am starting another one this week for a recent convert of my old comp Elder Espino. From reading a lot of books here in the mission, one thing that stuck to me was "ignorance is criminal". in whatever aspect of life...physical well being as well as spiritual go hand in hand. and if we are ignorant and do not look to educate ourselves to better the well being of both spiritual and physical we will lose the state of balance that exists between the two. we are celestial beings living in temporal housing, the body. We are all subject to illness both spiritual and physical too. that is what is so great about the atonement, it covers the illnesses of all physically and spiritually. random rant.
Two weeks ago, had a sweet experience. I realized that i am a little slow when it come to reading haha. i take my time and drag things out. i can spend an hour on reading 2 or 3 verses in the book of Mormon. After about 9 months of reading the book of mormon...i finished it. what started out as reading in english then in spanish...slowly translated into just spanish. about 200 pages or more into the book i started taking more notes and understanding a lot more in spanish which was so cool! This was the first time i had really ever taken directly the invitation of the book of mormon serious. To read the book, ponder it in my heart and then ask God for an answer. After i read the last few words in the book of mormon i sat quietly thinking to myself about what i had just learned...then i got to my knees and prayed...and sincerly asked for an answer...and wow. what an incredible feeling of peace and silence...in Galacians chapter 5 in the bible it describes the fruits of the spirit...I can honestly say i felt every single one of them. and it was a huge confirmation to me that really truly this book is true. If you doubt the origin of this book, take the invitation. and ask God for your own personal experience. One thing that i have had struggles with lately are little doubts. i have noticed the adversary putting in little thoughts and doubts in my head about the book of Mormon, Joseph smith and even Jesus Christ. But now with a stronger testimony of this book, i have been able to teach and testify better than ever. Great experience.
Thanks for all the hellos and greetings from everyone! many of the people who have said hello this week, i was actually thinking about this week! tell them hi and that i hope they are doing well! I'm glad to hear the primary kids, my kids, are all growing up! i cant wait to see them all :)
Good job on making salsa! i have become a salsa addict...many have told me that i seem more mexican than american haha. honestly for me right now that is a great thing. I feel like getting accustomed to the culture and living the best parts of it is a great way to adjust and live happily. I am trying to get some good recipis to cook for when i get back :)
Take heed to the words of the prophets tho...from what i could tell, there are going to be some very big trails ahead of us. Family is key to it all. The role of the Father and Mother are ever more important now. I loved the comment about the calling of a Father is one where you will never be released. Speaking of families, Conceptcion is doing great! she will be baptized this weekend on Saturday!!!! i am so excited! She is growing in spiritual strength each week! it has been a pleasure to teach her and occasionally a few of her 12 children haha.
I'm out of time and would love to write more, but i gotta head out! Just know that everything is going pretty good!
Love,
Elder Benjamin Hyrum Westbroek
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