Thanksgiving in the MTC!

Que tal!

Alright, our week has been incredible and super enlightening. Stoked to hear that Kaley and Danny are naming their son Fox! One of the games we've been playing here at the MTC is trying to guess others' first names just by what they seem and look like, and sometimes I'm right on and others I couldn't be further from reality.

Anyways, I've been focusing on the idea of agency in my studies and the Seventy that spoke with us yesterday spoke about agency as well. Agency is so important to Heavenly Father that He allowed a third of His children to leave and "lose their first estate" to preserve it. If we are given this incredible chance to choose for ourselves, what are we doing with that gift? 

I have been reflecting on what I have done with my agency and I know that I can do so much better. I want to live in such a way that my will is completely aligned with my Heavenly Father's and He can trust me. As we were speaking within our district last night, I had the thought that I want my obedience to the commandments and covenants to be reflexive, never having to worry about what decision I am going to make when it comes to moral decisions.

Besides that point, I'm so excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow and gratitude is something so simple that we forget to do daily. The Lord blesses us with so many things, big and small, DAILY and we fail to express our gratitude for them. While being on a mission I have tried to be more thankful for my blessings, especially for my progress with the language and learning of the doctrine. As I have done that, I have seen the Lord's hand in my life more and more, which has made me more grateful. It's an awesome cycle! 

Alright, well, I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving and I encourage each of you (whoever is reading this) to kneel down at your bedside tomorrow evening and pour your heart out in gratitude for all of your many, many blessings to your Heavenly Father. I love you all! 

Durante manana, estara pensando sobre ustedes y orando por su felicidad.

Con amor,

Elder Wardle

Moments from the MTC

Halfway there in the MTC!

Hey fam!

Well we are a month old now, so I guess that gives us leave to strut around like big dogs on campus here at the MTC. Oh and there are now two younger districts in our zone, so we kind of are! Anyways, I'm appreciating all the support! 

Our district is progressing and our Spanish is coming along with our awesome castellano accent. There are moments when my teacher talks and I just understand without translating, so I feel really blessed that the Lord is helping me out in everything while I am here.

Our district had a really strong testimony/prayer meeting last night and we remarked how the five of us feel like a single companionship. We are all extremely different, but I guess that goes to show that when you are working in the Gospel together, differences are celebrated rather than contended against and we truly become brothers in the work. 

We watched Elder Holland's talk, "Missions are Forever," this Sunday and it was extremely powerful. He challenged us to take the scripture, Moses 1:39, and personalize it, being able to say that this is MY work and MY glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. That is really the big picture of what we need to focus on during the mission and for the rest of our lives. When we place our will in His, we want to continually help others enter into His eternal rest after this life. 

I'm so grateful for this opportunity to serve because it truly doesn't feel like a sacrifice to me to not have to worry about money, girls, or anything else and just focus on others' progress in the Gospel, and I hope that never changes.

Another thing I have been thinking a lot about this week is contentedness (don't know if that's a word but the spell check didn't grab it) and about what happens to progress when we become content. When we are content, we don't worry about pushing ourselves, but just kick back. So I've made it a personal challenge not to get too comfortable, with the language/lessons/whatever, so that I am always striving to improve and better myself. 

Elder Holland talked about how if we want to see miracles, do the things that Jesus did, we have to go out to where He did those things, outside of the comfort zone where God can do incredible things. I think the quote was, "Man's extremity is God's opportunity." 

So I guess that is it for this week. I love you all and love hearing from you. Until next week!

Love,

Elder Wardle

End of Week 4!

Hola Familia!

Well, in the MTC bubble the news of the reelection of Obama came quickly which is not the greatest outcome, but as our branch president said, "This too shall pass." haha Sorry to you guys but I won't be living in the country for the first two years of this term!

Our district continues to be super strong because we are so small. We had some leadership changes this week, so the other companionship in my district got called as zone leaders on Sunday and I got called as our district leader, so I pick up the mail, which is a very exciting experience and I get to feel like Santa bringing gifts to mis companeros. 

The Espanol continues to come and we are beginning to speak in coherent sentences! In lessons sometimes we repeat what each other has said because we don't really understand what they said and our investigators, who are also our teachers, say, "Yeah I know he just said that," which is pretty funny. Hermano Herman, or Cesar when he is our investigator, never can keep a straight face in our lessons and always smirks at us when we are struggling to understand him.

We're are learning every single day and one of the Elders remarked the other night how it is a rare occurrence when we don't have a spiritual experience during a day or class period. He also remarked on how grateful he is that we are all able to invite the Spirit so we're good friends but we are also brothers in the Gospel, which is something that he hasn't ever really had. Basically, we're being humbled and realizing how much that we need to rely on the Lord, not only during this mission but throughout our lives, and when we do that, He can perform miracles through us. The MTC does feel like prison sometimes, but at least I know that it is temporary!

In the first chapter of 1 Nephi, he talks about being blessed of the Lord but he still had many trials in his life. Just because we are having a hard time and feel like we are alone, we can still be incredibly blessed of the Lord. When we rely on the Lord, it doesn't mean that the trials will be lifted, but we will be better able to endure them, and even make them strengths in our lives. Alright well there is the spiritual thought for the week. I love you all and I'm grateful for all of your support.

Love,