Warning, I'm sorry for literally writing a book right here π. I had to make up for last week's short email and so much happened this week!!
HEYOOOO everyone!!!
This week was way awesome!! So a couple fun things from this week. You can tip the chairs around the MTC on their back legs if you balance them all right, so before our service project we went and balanced a ton of chairs outside of the gym, and everybody who passed by was dyingπ
THEN, another day when we were out playing volleyball, it starting raining a ton!! So it was so fun playing in the rain!! (until we were told we had to go back inside haha).
Our teachers no longer let us use Russian notes when we teach lessons, but we had the MOST amazing TRC on Thursday!! We taught two different lessons. One was to an older man, and the other to a college girl going to BYU. They both went so well. We taught about enduring to the end. The lesson felt so different when we didn't go off notes and let the Spirit guide the conversation. All the words we needed to say came to us, and the Spirit was definitely present. I could especially feel it when we were teaching the older man. Before we finished up with him, he stopped us and told us how much the message we just shared meant to him, and how it was exactly what he needed to hear. I loved seeing the joy it brought to him.We, also, have dived even deeper into Russian grammar. We are now tackling cases!! And wow! Those are tough! I'm getting the hang if it though! Here is kind of an explanation of a case. So, in English, we construct our sentences with "sentence order," if you will, but there is no sentence order in Russian. You can throw words in whatever order and it makes sense to them because of cases!!! This is their equivalent of sentence order kind of haha. So, what you do, is you identity the nominative subject, then determine the kind of case (we have been learning accusative cases. Accusative cases are forced by words like "I know" or "I love.") Then, from there you determine the gender of the noun, change that noun from its nominative/infinitive form of its gender, and then change the adjective or word before the noun to the same gender as the noun, to the right case. And then boom, you have it!! We have only practiced writing these, speaking in cases is gonna be on a whole new level lol. Hopefully, that all kind of made sense!! If not, I'll explain it to you more in two years π. There are also like, five different kinds of cases. So, LET'S GOOOO ITS HYPE!! haha. Honestly, their grammar is super interesting, but not easy haha. It's the most satisfying thing in the world when you sit there and properly case and conjugate a sentence. And then you get to hear your teacher say ΠΠΎΠ»ΠΎΠ΄Π΅Ρ!!!!!! which means well done!! hahaha.This week, we had a lesson about the Atonement in language class. I had time to really ponder what the Atonement meant to me. The idea that Jesus Christ suffered for each and every single one of our sins is unimaginable. We had the opportunity to teach another person in our District about the Atonement, like they were someone we had just met on our mission who knew nothing about it. I decided to share with him, 2 Nephi, 21-22. The scripture reads...21- "And he (Jesus Christ) cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam."22- "And he suffereth this that the Resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great judgment day."
I taught to him that Christ suffered for the sins of not only my mom, my dad, and my three brothers, but also, for HIS mom, HIS dad, HIS sisters, HIS brothers, and HIM. Christ suffered for EVERYONE, and why did he do it? I testified that he did it for us because he loves us. I know he loves us. The Atonement is proof of his uncomprehending love for us. I told him that I know Christ wants us to come unto him and live with him again, and that's why he suffered the sins of every single being to come to this earth. When it comes judgment day, I know he wants to let each of his children into his kingdom. And we can be with him in his kingdom. ALL of us can. As long as we repent and become clean. And yes, I had to teach this all in Russian. It was so awesome. This little lesson really made my appreciation and gratefulness of the Atonement grow, and my testimony of it grow. We also learned in one of the devotionals this week, that we should daily repent. Daily repentance will constantly pull us closer to Christ.This Tuesday, we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Patrick Kearon of the Seventy, along with Sister Kearon.v He. was. HILARIOUS!!! Literally so funny, we were all dying during his talk. Sister Kearon said something that really stood out to me. She said, "Give the Lord your best everyday. He will accept it, and then give you so much more." I love the idea of this so much. First of all, the Lord will accept YOUR best. Your aren't compared to what someone else's all is. You're judged by, and only by, your best, and he will accept it. But not only will he accept it, he will GIVE you his all!! THE LORD'S ALL!! It is literally such a blessing. It's quite the bargain. Elder Kearon said another thing that really stuck out to me. He said that "you need to become the message." When we are out walking around, we can't be walking around without emotion. We hold the most amazing message in the world!! We need to share it!! We need to be excited, exhibiting joy, happiness!! When we come across people along the street, let your light shine!! Talk to everyone!! Share the message we have!! He described it as if you were giving someone a brand new Tesla, one that you had been saving up allllll your money to buy and gift it to someone. When you have finally bought the car and are ready to gift it to someone, YOU BEST BELIEVE YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE THE BIGGEST SMILE ON YOUR FACE!! The gospel is an even bigger gift than a Tesla!! We need to become the message, project the joy of our message, make it obvious, talk with excitement. Becoming the message will bring more people unto Christ.Lastly, at the beginning of this week I had kind of a lot on my mind, and I honestly wasn't even sure of what exactly was on my mind for some parts! I didn't know what to do. I was praying, reading my scriptures, but it the things in my head continued to bug me. However, as I was reading through Preach my Gospel, I stumbled across the Christlike attribute section. After reading through it, I had a little thought. "What if I went throughout the week, acting as Christ would act, would this help me resolve what was going on in my head, put my mind at ease?" After this, I tried to have the mindset when I faced any tough situations and think, "How would Christ handle this?" I noticed that when I exercised Charity, love, patience, humility, diligence, obedience, and so on, that my mind, heart, and body, not only felt happier, but at ease. Although sometimes it was hard to act on things such as patience, whether it be patience with the language or patience with other missionaries, I felt so much closer to Christ after I would. And the times I didn't, would throw me back. When I showed love for other missionaries, my heart grew bigger. When we got changed from setting up chairs to cleaning bathrooms (yeah, it's brutal), I decided not to murmur, but to recognize it as an opportunity of charity! These are attributes we need to act on, Christlike attributes. I know that if we asses situations and ask ourselves, "What would Christ do here?" and then act on it, that we can grow closer to Christ, to the people around us, to the Spirit, and so much more. This week has truly opened up my eyes to that. vAgain, its definitely not easy. It was so hard for me sometimes. But, can we imagine how hard it was for Christ? And not once did he begin to murmur and change any of his perfect attributes! He always took "the high road," if you will.It reminds me of a quote from 1 Nephi 19:9 - "And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long suffering towards the children of men." They spit upon him... they scourge him... and they smite him... and what does he do? He takes it. And why does he take it? Because of his loving kindness towards his children. Some Elders also gave a lesson about how we can show love to others. They shared a church video called, "My Brother Hyrum."
(Click on the link above to watch this video.)
I had to definitely hold back the tears while watching this one haha.To conclude, I invite you all to think, and then try to act as Christ would in each situation you face throughout your days. I promise you that by doing so, you will feel closer to him, and that it will make your days brighter. Pick out attributes for the day and focus on those attributes. It may be hard, but I know that you can do it if you give it everything you got. Remember, all the Lord asks of you is to give it your best, so give it your best on these attributes and in everything else! And by doing so, he WILL reward you. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.Thank you all again, for your love and support! Elder Wilde
Pics of the Week
MY DOG BLANKET IS FINALLY HERE!! I have continued to tell everyone in my district, "My dog blanket should be in soon, my dog blanket should be in soon," and that went on for three weeks or so. But, NOW IT'S FINALLY HERE. I have shown it off to EVERYONE on my floor. It's legit so soft. And now I can sleep with my two angels each night. Love you Roxy and Rosco!
Teaching situations.
Elder Stanley
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