cant believe how fast time flies! basically already running the MTC.
for the christmas call momma its 3:15-5:15 utah time and i can call for 30 min somewhere in that time gap, and im pretty sure its just over the phone.
so glad its sounds like everyone is doing so good at home! and the christmas card is so cute, but my companion was a little butthurt he didnt make it on. I am very healthy and very warm although it started actually snowing for real this morning. sounds like zane's TNN career is really taking off with the launch of Zane's World, so i was pretty stoked to hear about that haha. i just got a package from Josh and Lauren i think this morning i havent opened it yet, and got Jed and Kelsie's announcement there getting married whaaaat so exciting! also got a letter from melissa and a little memory book from julie (thanks julie!)
as for the walkers- i dont remember them and i dont think she remembered me haha. Send some my love to everyone back at home for me momma<3
so this week lets see- tuesday night's devotional was from an Elder of the 70 from sweden and he was actually pretty funny. takeaway was that right now, on my mission, its like im at the Lord's university and i only get to be here 24 months, so make the best of my time, idk it was a cool analogy. Then we got our new Cantonese serving missionaries in on wednesday. A guy from sweden who is gonna be a homie for sure (he games), another guy from the phillipines, 7 sisters from australia, myanmar (in my mission) philipines, new zealand, england, and crazy places and then a guy from arizona haha. There all pretty sweet and it gets me stoked to go serve the people of asia becuase asian people are so cute and fun to be around! especially when they dont speak english very well but they love taking selfies with me haha...
So elder Dunnaway and i were struggling teaching at the beginning of this week because we felt like our lessons with our investigators (who are our teachers role playing as investigators they had taught in Thailand) just weren't really touching them and helping them to have the desire to come closer to Christ. after sitting down with one of our teachers and talking about how we could improve we realized that we needed to do a better job listening not just to the investigator when we teach, but we need to listen to our companion and be guided by the spirit more in our lessons rather than just teaching what we had prepared (which is a lot harder when its in another language for sure). so we were struggling with one of our investigators nohng who was having a hard time keeping commitments and reading out of the scriptures on his own (especially because he said it was hard to understand.) long story short i guess we went in there with less of a structured plan of our lesson, and really just tried to listen to him and discern his needs. Something we read from preach my gospel that Elder Holland talking about how important it is to LISTEN and he said, "More important than speaking is listening. These people are not lifeless objects disguised as a baptismal statistic. They are children of God, our brothers and sisters, and they need what we have. Be genuine.Reach out sincerely. Ask these friends what matters most to them. What do they cherish, and what do they hold dear? And then listen. If the setting is right, you might ask what their fears are, what they yearn for, or what they feel is missing in their lives. I promise you that something in what they say will always highlight a truth of the gospel about which you can bear testimony and about which you can then offer more. … If we listen with love, we won’t need to wonder what to say. It will be given tous—by the Spirit and by our friends"
it was the firs lessons where even though we were talking in Thai, i could really feel the spirit, and feel God's love not just for me, but for nohng so strongly as well. It was super cool.
friday was our halfway point in the MTC so we had a little celebration that night- i might have some pictures it was quite the party.
i guess my favorite part about the week though was how much my companion and i have grown together. in our companion inventory (where we sit down and talk about our strengths, weaknesses, what we could work on to teach with more unity, etc, and what annoys us about eachother so we can work things out) we talked about how i feel like with all of my bestfriends theres times when you fight especially when youre together for like a full week together, and how surprising it is that we havent had any serious fights, and i guess i realized how close and how much stronger your relationships are with other people when the relationship is built on christ. When everyday youre striving to find ways to love them and serve them, and serve with them, and trying to learn and study together for the benefit of people who don't know anything about jesus christ, you grow bonds so much stronger than just friendships. So that has been really cool to see this week.
Our district's focus this week is on charity- and so it makes me so grateful for Our Savior and all that he did to love and car for others. So much joy can come from trying our best to be like him. I love what one of the missionaries said the other day that "a lot of joy comes from receiving gifts, but its even better giving gifts" which is so true. I love missionary work its the best job in the world!
Lastly to leave you all with a commitment watch Elder Hollands mormon message titled "Testimony of the Book of Mormon" heres the link for the people who, i guess have trouble finding things on the internet haha
its super powerful and super true.
Remember this christmas the feelings that we feel and the love we feel for christ! we learned that how we feel is so much more important than what we here or see this week. The holy ghost works through feelings, and i know how much love we can feel for the savior and for those around us as we focus on him this season!
Merry Christmas and i love you guys! I am doing super good and i love p-days bc i love hearing and writing all of you! Have an awesome week and share the gift this season!
Elder Chamberlin
P.S. im starting to get a pretty white tan line which is pretty sad, but im gonna embrace it as a badge of hard work haha...
P.P.S. Mom will you send me these things Elder Shipp told me about- called Doterra Beads or something? there like these little minty beads that come in a vial and there basically amazing. thank you love you! also look for me on TV i think the MTC christmas devotional is broadcasted and my companion made me join the choir so yeah. ill be in the bass section bc you know how good and deep my voice is haha love you!
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