7.13.14

A note to my father:

First thing… I want to say that I love you, Dad, and everything that I have and do is thanks to the life that you've given me. I want to do everything I can to make you proud of me and repay you for all of the selfishness, disobedience and taking for granted that I put you through. I love you so much. We had our Zone Conference with Pte Smith, and he said that the only way that we can be happy is by repenting and repairing what we've done. This week has been hard and I've felt the need to repent for a lot of things. When I think of how I acted with you at home, I feel the great need to repent and ask you for forgiveness. I love you Dad. Even if it's not Father's day, you deserve this because I totally forgot when Father’s Day is. 
 

So this week didn't go too great...I have not felt like I have been training my companion the best way possible. We've lost a bunch of people to teach due to the temptations of the world and the ward members’ lack of work ethic. But while things were sucking, we had our meeting with Pte. He taught about being clear with the people and the doctrine of Christ. It was amazing. In interviews, he told me not to worry about if things aren’t going perfectly with my companion. (just so you know...I have no problem with him. He's the best. But I want to show him how we should be working with the members, having success, obey everything...ect) He said that he has so much trust in me and that the Lord can make up for my weaknesses as a trainer. He also said that E' Neilson has that best trainer and that the Lord has been preparing him to be trained by me for a long time. We've been working hard and everything, but I have only had one baptism since being in this area. I don't know why, but there is nothing better than baptizing people...it feels so much more rewarding for some reason. But, while I was thinking (and sulking) about the lack of success, I received an email from a member that we helped return to the church, thanking me for everything that I have done. Then, I also received an email from Spencer, expressing gratitude for what I've done for him. It does feel good helping people that I actually love and care about, instead of watching all of my hard work go to crap. But all in all it was a pretty good week. 

I never really got the chance to see David Luis play, but he must be a stud(; Yeah, so many people stopped us and asked if we were German after the beating, and we were like, ''no we are not… so please don't hit us!'' (because there are a lot of Brazilians here) All of them also say that my companion looks like Sweinsteiger haha. But when we're around little kids, we pretend that Elder Neilson's Sweinsteiger's cousin or something to make them so amazed. It's cool that Abbie's playing well. My companion and I go to the church in the mornings and play, so hopefully I won't suck too much a year from now when I get back. It feels like time’s going by faster now, but two months ago, I felt like I had been here for 3 years already. But I think the time is going at a good pace right now. I will probably be celebrating with my child so I might use my card if I need to. 

But thanks for everything. As much as I liked being able to watch a few games here and celebrate the world cup with these Uruguayans, I'm sure it would have been more fun with you guys. 

E McRae