Week 5: Español and Exchanges
Hola amigos!
What a crazy week! I wish I could tell about everything that happened to me this week, but it seems that I won't have quite enough time to tell everything, so I'll just share some highlights.
All last week we were dreading going out into the field (probably because surprisingly none of us are quite fluent after 4-5ish weeks of training), so when we arrived at the chapel where we were meeting I was stressing out of my mind. However, after I met my temporary comp, Elder Gividen, I was eased a little bit. As a fellow Utahn and being out in the field for almost exactly a year he is quite fluent in English and Spanish. I was very happy to be able to communicate with him, whereas many of the missionaries did exchanges with natives who had little English-speaking abilities. Most of the time (2-8 pm) was spend travelling as the area we were going to was pretty far away, but we got to take the really-nice metro and then a couple of junky Guaguas (busses where everyone just gets crammed in - no seatbelts and no personal space). We got to teach a younger sister whose father is active in the church (but hasn't been baptized because his girlfriend doesn't want to get married), so she is already pretty knowledgeable but they have to teach her all of the lessons before she gets baptized. We also had another appointment that fell through of a Catholic man who they're teaching because he read in the bible about baptism and found out that the Catholic church isn't doing it right... We got to talk to the locals there and they all knew Elder Gividen and his companion really well because of how small of a town their area is.
I was able to practice my Spanish quite a bit this week as I got to deliver a short 5-minute talk Sunday and share my testimony and teach a little while on exchanges. The language is hard but I'm getting better everyday (and thankfully a little bit faster than the rest of the gringos in my district 😉 [except for Elder Taylor who is half-mexican so he's already fluent...]) Anyway, everyone is definitely learning fast!
I've got two quick messages for all y'all real quick:
"I learned two important things during my first year as a missionary. You have to work hard, but you also have to work smart. Put in the work, but if you don't love the people you serve and prioritize your time the work won't pay off." - Elder Gividen. Pretty self-explanatory, and I feel like it can apply to anyone, not just missionaries.
23 And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.
24 And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works. -- Alma 7:23-24 (My Mission Scripture)
Adios mis amigos!
Elder Thornton
Pictures:
Me in a natural cave with an artificial carving (artificial cause its at least less than 50 years old). The caves are located in a park across the street that used to be zoo
Food! The empanadas are great and the fruit is so good, but honestly I'm already getting sick of rice and beans already... 😬
What a crazy week! I wish I could tell about everything that happened to me this week, but it seems that I won't have quite enough time to tell everything, so I'll just share some highlights.
All last week we were dreading going out into the field (probably because surprisingly none of us are quite fluent after 4-5ish weeks of training), so when we arrived at the chapel where we were meeting I was stressing out of my mind. However, after I met my temporary comp, Elder Gividen, I was eased a little bit. As a fellow Utahn and being out in the field for almost exactly a year he is quite fluent in English and Spanish. I was very happy to be able to communicate with him, whereas many of the missionaries did exchanges with natives who had little English-speaking abilities. Most of the time (2-8 pm) was spend travelling as the area we were going to was pretty far away, but we got to take the really-nice metro and then a couple of junky Guaguas (busses where everyone just gets crammed in - no seatbelts and no personal space). We got to teach a younger sister whose father is active in the church (but hasn't been baptized because his girlfriend doesn't want to get married), so she is already pretty knowledgeable but they have to teach her all of the lessons before she gets baptized. We also had another appointment that fell through of a Catholic man who they're teaching because he read in the bible about baptism and found out that the Catholic church isn't doing it right... We got to talk to the locals there and they all knew Elder Gividen and his companion really well because of how small of a town their area is.
I was able to practice my Spanish quite a bit this week as I got to deliver a short 5-minute talk Sunday and share my testimony and teach a little while on exchanges. The language is hard but I'm getting better everyday (and thankfully a little bit faster than the rest of the gringos in my district 😉 [except for Elder Taylor who is half-mexican so he's already fluent...]) Anyway, everyone is definitely learning fast!
I've got two quick messages for all y'all real quick:
"I learned two important things during my first year as a missionary. You have to work hard, but you also have to work smart. Put in the work, but if you don't love the people you serve and prioritize your time the work won't pay off." - Elder Gividen. Pretty self-explanatory, and I feel like it can apply to anyone, not just missionaries.
23 And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.
24 And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works. -- Alma 7:23-24 (My Mission Scripture)
Adios mis amigos!
Elder Thornton
Pictures:
Me in a natural cave with an artificial carving (artificial cause its at least less than 50 years old). The caves are located in a park across the street that used to be zoo
Food! The empanadas are great and the fruit is so good, but honestly I'm already getting sick of rice and beans already... 😬
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