Qué pasa mis amigos, mis compañeros, mis hermanos, mis hermanas, mi familia, y mis parceros? It is ya boy, Elder Rouse. First things first, these emails will possibly make you cry, laugh, mourn, feel unconditional love, or possibly wet yourself in excitement, soo If you are not prepared for these emails to change your life then just shoot me an email and ill take you off of the list. I want these emails to be different and interesting, so if you have any ideas of cool ways I can send emails home, please let me know. I would love to hear from any and everyone of you no matter how close we were before.
Soo, I will try to be transparent with everyone by saying being a missionary is weird enough and being a missionary in your home is super weird. The first morning I woke up as a missionary I took a shower in the same bathroom, opened my same fridge, got me some of the same good ole raisin bran crunch, and went back to my same ole room to go to class with my same ole laptop from college. It was like nothing had changed, but everything had changed. Despite the distractions, it was fairly easy to focus on my clases. It is even strangely uplifting to hear Bryson make a random screeching noise into his Call of Duty headset while I am reading to my whole district mid-scripture.
While at home MTC can be weird, I know that the lord has provided me with extra blessings. Being home allows me to snack all day (something I am very good at) and it allows me to have a really organized work space. I have more freedom to serve my family or call a friend in need. At home MTC allows me to live more as Christ did; I still have rules but my extra freedom allows me to better minister to others. Regular life does not permit us to alienate ourselves from distractions and worldly sin. My whole life I have been forced to keep the spirit and maintain my standards despite distractions all around me. The prophets tell us to be, “In the world, but not of the world” and we need to learn how to shine bright even when there is distraction and darkness around us. “Ye are the alight of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a acandle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your alight so shine before men, that they may see your good bworks, and cglorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Mi compañero es awesome. His name is Elder.Danielson and he is from Washington state. We both strive to do the right thing and increase our testimonies and knowledge of the Gospel. We know more spanish than the rest of the group so we take time aside to teach ourselves advanced concepts.
Spanish is a grind. I had one on one time with my spanish teach and immediately after he told me that my spanish was very good (Shout out Señora Stevens) I replying by saying, “Sí, Puedo hablar español un poquito, pero necesito tu amor” which basically translates to “Yes, I can talk spanish a little bit, but I need your love.” Immediately, after I said it I paused and realized that I switched up the word amor with ayuda (help) and we both started dying laughing. Don’t we all need a little bit of love tho. I can feel God’s love everywhere I look. It changes the way I look at people. I see who they will become, instead of who they are.
There is soooo much more stuff to cover but basically I just want to say that yes I have doubts and yes I have faith in Christ. Yes I do not have a testimony of everything pertaining to the Gospel, but yes I know that This Is The True Church of God! The more I study the more I realize that I don’t know anything. Jesus Christ is my companion. He will not forsake anyone who comes to him. “Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you” I know that God will answer all of my questions in his own time and that he will answer yours if you have an honest desire and patience you can have your questions answered as well.
If you wanna talk or if you have any questions, shoot me an email. I love all of yall!
Do something stupid, but not too stupid,
Elder Rouse
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