So long to Mexico

weeeell, heres the scoop for the week. ok, first off, i found one good reason to keep a journal. so you can put at least most of your week into the weekly email. hahaha. yeah what yall have been reading in the scoop, about 90 percent of it comes straight out of my journal. ok anyway, the scoop. soo last friday, was pretty much a normal day, with one exception. i decided to start reading the bible, from the beginning. so now i have two types of scripture study going on: kolipoki style for spanish with the book of mormon, the old testament, and today, im gonna start reading in the pearl of great price, because i was kind of perusing through it the other day, and its totally aweosme. back to the bible, but yeah its totally simple to read, probobly because its alot of geneology, but it is still really cool. im currently in exodus, right after moses parted the red sea.(not bad for about 3 days total of reading( i havent been reading it every day)) now on saturday, it was soo amazing. it was conference, and for the first time, i actually stayed awake for all of the saturday sessions, but i was daydreaming a little during the priesthood session. oops. i do feel bad about that though because there were some good talks in that session. i dont currently have my notes with me, but ill send them home to mom when that notebook is full, which will probobly be very soon, and ill have her put them up on the blog for me. now sunday, was awesome. there was alot of good wisdom given, although i slept through a little bit of the morning session. ( i feel bad about that too but i was exhausted i had been up till like three writing something very important.) we then watched a movie that night about a man, i cannot remember his name, who was raised in italy and from a young age, had a gift for reading and understanding the bible, and became a preacher. while he was in new york as the pastor for a congregation, he found a book of mormon, but it was one of the old ones and the name was rubbed off of the back, and the title page was torn out, so he didnt know the name. he started reading, and became immersed in the book, and when he finished he prayed to know if it was true. he told that he felt the truth of the book, and never could deny it. he started then to teach from that book, and his congregation began to grow until he was always teaching a huge congregation, and older guys in the church noticed, and came to ask him aobut it. he told them that he had found a book that he didnt know the name of, and knew the truth of the book. these old men tried to tell him the book was evil and that it needed to be burned. he told them that if he would not burn the book because of what he had felt about it, and as a result was cast out of their church. he never did deny what he new about the book of mormon(though he still didnt know the name) and was always looking for the church that his book belonged to. then world war one started, and he had to go back to italy and was fighting on the front lines. he was one night teaching some other soldiers about the lamanites who took up the covenant to not fight anymore, and when their enemies came upon them and saw that they wouldnt fight, and were not afraid, they left them alone. his superiors called him in, asked him about what he was teaching, and he told them about the book, and they sent him off of the front line. which almost certainly saved his life. he then one day was flipping through a dictionary, and found the word mormon, and finally had found the church that the book belonged to, and was able to get intouch with salt lake, ( the prophet himself) and he got intouch with the mission in england, and this brother was supposed to go from italy to england to get baptised, but right as he was about to leave, nobody was allowed to leave because of the outbreak of ww2. so he was forced to wait, and finally after the war was over, he got in touch and in i think the early fifties when he was in i think his sixties, he was finally baptised, and shortly thereafter, recieved the blessings of the temple. he died in 1966. i thought that was truly an amazing story.well, not a whole lot happened on monday or tuesday, cept for tuesday night when it was a devotional. david a bednar spoke, to the mtc in provo, it was christmas and i dont remember when but. he talked about the character of christ, and the natural man. he talked about how the natural man turns in, instead of out. he compared it to the cookie monster "i want cookie. give me cokkie now. num num num." he said, the natural man thinks. i want what i want and i want it now. he told a story about a sister who called him, back when he was a stake president. and she informed him that there had been a terrible accident with three girls, and that all they knew was that one of the girls was dead, and they were being moved to the hospital near him, and they needed him to go identify the girls. he said that he realized, that she was talkiing to a nurse on another phone on his other ear, and that he learned later that the nurse was an lds nurse, and he also figured out that one of the girls was this lady´s own daughter. he then said that he heard through the other phone, from the nurse, that the girl who died. was the sister´s daughter. he paused for a second and with tears in his eyes that brought tears to my own eyes, he said. and without even thinking, this sister said to me, president we need to get in contact with the mothers of the other two girls and inform them that their daughters are still alive. she just lost her daughter and the first thing she thought of, was the mothers of the other two. she turned out, when we would have turned in. he also talked about how when it was her daughter´s funeral day, the sister (she was a relief society president) got a call from another sister in her ward, who was sick, and she chewed her out that nobody had brought dinner over to her yet. and on the way to her daughter´s funeral, she dropped off dinner to the whining, and complaining sister in the ward. she turned out. when everyone else would have turned in. he also talked about the savior, and when he had his forty day fast, and when the devil tempted him. he said, turning the stones to bread, and jumping off to pinnacle of the temple were temptations, but they werent the real temptation there. the real temptation he said, was for christ to use the power he had, for himself. to become the natural man, and think for himself. he also talked about, how throughout his ministry he always turned out. he healed however many people, taught them, healed them, blessed them. he also talked about when the savior was in gethsemane, and when the guards came to take him, and peter, cut the ear off of the one guard, and the savior who had literally just suffered to agony of every sin in the world in the past present and future, turned out. he healed a mans ear, a man who was about to take him away, ultimately to his death. he also talked about while jesus was hanging on the cross, suffering, and dying, he asked the father to "forgive them for they know not what they do" he turned out. he also talked about while he was there how he gave instruction for his mortal mother to be taken care of, and taught to the other two who were on the crosses next to him. all the way up literally, till his death, the savior turned out. he was talking about how that is the character of christ, and it is THE attribute that we should all strive to have. it was a powerful devotional. yesterday, wednesday, i was up late writing in my journal while i was doing my laundry, and i had a neat experience. in our casa, there are four rooms with four beds, so me swensen and tenny are in one room. lorimier and lee are in another room, and the other two rooms are occupied by latinos. one of them, whose name i cannot remember, is from colombia, and speaks about as much english as i do spanish, was doing his laundry last night whil i was doing mine. (i sat on the dryer while i wrote) and it was cool how we were talking to each other and teaching each other our different languages, even if it was only a little bit. growing up in the states, i always had this kind of cocky attitude of america is the best everybody else is second rate, but now being here, and seeing the other elderes, and talking with them really makes me 1 grow to love other people more, and 2 and more importantly makes me realize that they also are children of our father, and before this life, they were my brothers, and my sisters. it gives a whole new perspective on my life when i think of them and the fact that god loves them, just as much as he loves me, and nobody is better than any other person in this life. i was not kidding when i announced my mission in church when i said my mission would be a two year lesson of humility. whew, well i think thats a good scoop for today haha and as usual mother, you may take from this whatever you wish for the blog.