Week 4

Hey Guys,

Week 4 its crazy! I am almost out of here. It definitely excites me to leave, but at the same time, it is scary. I heard that you just sweat through the day, and you sweat at night, and the people down there has a different accent and speaks way faster than here. But I will just trust in the Lord that I can eventually understand Spanish if I put in my part. Here at the CCM they always tell us that there are far more important things to learn here at the CCM rather than just Spanish. Spanish is still important, but gaining spiritually is the most, we should still put a lot of effort in Spanish but it should not be our "Top Priority".

This week on Tuesday, I was able to meet Elder Nielson who is apart of the First Quorum of the Seventy, and he is in charge of all the Training of Missionaries around the world. And he just came into our classroom and just shake hands with everyone and just talked. It was really cool, and before he was at the CCM he was down in Cancun at a training for all the Mission Presidents in Mexico. He told a really cool story about 204 missionaries in the Philippines Tacloban Mission, during one of the Strongest Hurricanes ever to be on the earth. It was Crazy some of the stories and the devotional was really good.

Now that i have been at the CCM for 4 weeks now, most of the days just seem to blend together, besides funny or special events. I was sick on the 24th, i was just achy everywhere, i couldn´t focus, and I needed to go the the bathroom all the time. And it was hard because that day, they shut off all the water for the Hurricane (for some reason), so when I needed to go to i had to walk all back to our Casa. So we decided that i needed to get some rest and see if that would help. I slept for about 2 hours, and then we had to teach our Book of Mormon lesson for 30 minutes, so we started preparing our lesson, and it was on the 2000 Stripling Warriors. So we started teaching our lesson to our district, and it was going really well. Then Elder Harmon was in the middle of a really good thought about the Stripling Warriors, then Elder Her started to get a cramp in his leg. During his thought, Elder Her just says "Cramp" not really loud but everyone heard it. And he started to try and stretch his leg out. So he puts his legs in the air about a foot and a half above the ground, and then he accidentally "Let One Out". I just could not hold in my laughter! And several people were the same way, but then i realized that i´m teaching this lesson and I should not laugh and I should try to keep the Spirit. But that was just such a hard battle. I was just back and fourth with laughing and not laughing. I felt bad that I was having a hard time not laughing during other peoples thoughts but it was just too funny. I got to give it up to Elder Her making back to back appearances in my weekly email.

I loved all the experiences I have had and made here at the CCM, and I can't wait to go out in the field and do the Lord's Work. This week even though I have had funny experiences, has been one of the harder ones here. I just started to miss a lot of things, because of things that are hard here. But I understand that the Lord brings us down, so he can bring us up higher. I know a lot of things are really different on a mission. And that shows with the Missionaries, some miss their boyfriend or girlfriend, some people miss their music, and some just don´t like the whole missionary life at all. I believe that this is what the missionary life is suppose to be, "Change" and some people here, don´t do well with that. I believe that change is definitely hard but it is necessary. Either with a new job, a trial, missionary life, and a lot more. We should realize that the Lord will take you as you are, but won´t let you stay as you are, because he can see the potential in you. He truly knows what is best for you and can see your Eternal Potential. Trust in the Lord, that is the biggest thing to remember in every aspect of life. He knows you, he wants to help, pour out your heart and soul to him in pray and follow HIS will exactly, and you will make it through your life with no regrets if you stay with the lord. It is one of the most important things to do in life, he will direct and guide you, not in your favorite paths, but the paths that you will learn and grow closer to him. Counsel with the Lord, with ALL your doings. And he will do what is right.

Elder Stabenow

CCM Campus!!