For breakfast, we get eggs and bread with jam and some like caramel nutella spread. It is pretty dang good. We play soccer every morning for exercise. My companion is from Alberta, Canada. He is a great guy and is very knowledgable about the gospel. He grew up in the church. His only problem is self confidence, he counts himself out before he gives the lesson. I understand because of the language, but confidence is key to everything in life. We are allowed to talk in English, but we're encouraged to only speak Spanish. I got complimented the other day for my ties haha. Kinda funny.
So our lessons are coming along a lot better now! We figured out how to effectively plan each lesson based on the needs of our inverstigators. We started off tthe week just kinda reading the script we made for the lessons, but Saturday they told us that we were going on splits like right before we were supposed to teach the teachers, so my new companion and I basically just underlined the important stuff in a plan of salvation pamphlet, gave that to the investigator, and winged it...it went really well! I was really surprised in that I knew a lot more Spanish than I thought I did. We were pretty much able to teach the lesson, answer most of the questions he had, and I told him that we would go pray about the questions that we didn't have an answer to, and we'd get back with him at the next lesson. The spirit is soooo much stronger when you don't use notes of any kind...obviously. lol It was kinda a milestone for me in all of my Spanish lessons, as silly as that sounds. Also, the other day we were having a super spiritual class, the spirit was strong, so I decided to try to follow along the lesson in my Spanish copies of The Book of Mormon and The Bible. Though I wasn't completely able to follow, I learned something very important. It doesn't matter if someone can completely understand what is being said...if the spirit is there, they understand. They can tell that they are being testified to by the Holy Ghost. I couldn't understand what exactly was being said, but I totally understood that the message was from Heavenly Father directly to me. It made me tear up a little. It's so amazing the little things that we learn here at the MTC that have the biggest affects. My district also had a fast this week for two of the Elders in my district...we did 24 hours. It was amazing. The spirit was definitely a lot stronger during those lesson. Then, we broke the fast as a district. It was a really bonding and spiritual experience. I wrote a talk on repenctence for this Sunday..it was legit. They pick random people on Sunday to give talks on the assigned topic, so everyone has to prepare a five minute talk. I haven't been called yet.
So I experienced my first earthquake this week!! It was onlly a 6.6, but it was still pretty legit! It was so funny the way it happened though. My district and i had JUST gotten to dinner. I was the first one to sit down, so I was sitting there and then Elder Asplund came and sat down with me. Almost immediately I started to feel a shaking in my legs. I figured my leg was touching the table somewhere and he was shaking it with his foot, so I said " Could you stop shaking the table Elder?" He said "I'm not." Just then I looked down and noticed that the water in my cup was shaking, and then I saw the lights begin to sway, and then it got just a little bit stronger, and then it stopped. We were all like....AWESOME! I still can't believe I was in an earthquake. It originated like 70 miles away, which isn't very far aparently. Another event, so there are a bunch of dogs here. Saturday while we were playing kickball in the park, three dogs got into a dogfight during the game...lol. We all just kinda stopped playing and watched. Then, as one of the Elders was running to one of the bases, this dog chased him down and started barking at him, so he stopped. That gave us time to tag him out. LOL
I went to the temple last week and did endowements. It was pretty neat. It was all in one room. I couldn't do the names for you Brother Lawson because we don't have the time to do the initiaries before. Sorry. :( It is a very pretty temple though, like you could imagine...imaculate. I ended up staying in the temple for like four hours. I did some pondering after the endowements. We get free clothes since we are missionaries.
I also had legit cold milk for the first time this week! It was literally, to die for. I'm becoming a much better missionary. I'm gaining more confidence in my Spanish, my companion and I are learning to work together more efficiently, I'm focusing better, I'm getting to know my roommates better, I'm finding positives in everyobody,and best of all...I'm learning to genuinely love people for what they are...not for who they are. I'm even beginning to bond with President and Hermana Doll, the Hermanas, and the lunch ladies!! haha. There is nothing more satisfying or gratifying than to help others come to truly understand Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the love that they both have for all of us. I love the work and the people of Chile already. It is literally a dream come true. " When you are in the service of your fellow man, you are in the service of your God"
I love you all and can't wait to hear from yáll next week!
:Love,
Elder Jackson
