Elder Brett Austin Hepworth: 12/12/2016 - Stay Worthy of the Spirit and He will Guide You

Dec 6. - today was a solid day! I had more energy and I spoke more Spanish and I learned more. I feel like I get to points where I learn so much Spanish, then I plateau, then I learn so much more, then I plateau. Buuuuut, it's all getting there. So I'll write today's happenings in Spanish....

Hoy, fuimos a la capilla, después nuestros estudios. Y yo limpié mi Facebook para que pueda usarlo en la próxima semana y en el resto de mi misión. Y luego, fuimos a algunas casas para enseñarles. Y entonces fuimos a la capilla otra vez para jugar voleibol. Soy terrible a voleibol. Yo no me gusta voleibol mucho. Vine en una misión para predicar no para jugar voleibol or otros deportes

y un niño, llamado Hyrum, estaba enojado a mí y a otras personas porque no somos buenos

Dec. 7 - today we did exchanges! I went with Elder Snarr into his area. It was a solid day!! Elder Snarr had a rough time today

each house we went to he did something embarrassing

at the first, we were talking about the resurrection and how we'll look like. The old guy who was present showed a picture of him and his wife when they were newly married, and said that they'll look like that again. In the picture the old guy (brother Murphy) was not smiling. The children asked, "WHY IS HE NOT SMILING" and Elder Snarr said, "because he got a mother in law that day"

i think sister Murphy was mad. Whoops! And then at the next house, elder Snarr said that a little child was a boy when it was actually a girl. And then at the next house, we were going to walk outside and Elder Snarr walks into a room thinking it led outside, and THEN!! We were eating outside and he spills his drink all over the table.

Dec. 9 - well, today was weekly planning day! And we didn't even get to it

terrible missionary!! We started weekly planning and then we realized that our dinner was at 3:30, not 5 like usual. So we went to the house and they weren't even home! And so we came back to our apartment to continue planning, and then we got a call to come back because we were going to eat!! So we went back and we ended up just having pizza that we took to the chapel to eat because the person had an emergency. It was a problem tho! And then when we were done eating we had an appt. and then we went to another house after that and we talked for a while and THEN we came back home LATE. But man, I'm always tired.

Dec. 11 - alright today was an alright day. Like earlier in the day was poop, but then tonight was pretty good! Earlier today at church Elder Familia and I had to teach priesthood. Well, ELDER FAMILIA had to teach priesthood. I just stood there and looked pretty. It was embarrassing to be honest because I hardly said anything. Like 5 words total. I had a hard time understanding people. Then, we had to bless the sacrament which was good stuff. We also sang for the intermediate hymn! All us missionaries (the 5 of us) sang "Venid, adoremos". It was legit just saying

then we had dinner, which was really early. And we had some bomb taco things. One of them that I got was filled with Chicharrón (pork fat). It was a gross texture so I lowkey choked it down. The others were filled with carne roja y frijoles though so those were good. We have some strange food here sometimes guys. At dinner I couldn't understand the Spanish very well. HOW DISAPPOINTING RIGHT?! Missions are hard people. It's not always butterflies and sunshine on a beach during a warm summer day, my friends. BUT, it's still the best. But then tonight we got a referral and had a dang good lesson.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: So, this thought might not apply to everyone. But the people who are thinking about and preparing for missions it can benefit. But it's about missionary work and the struggle it can be. During dinner a couple days ago I was talking with the Hermanas that serve with us. And Hermana McGee has also been learning Spanish. She's been out a little bit longer than me so she was giving me some tips and sharing stories about how it's rough and what I can do better. Well, she told me something that the mission president told her. It's like a slap in the face. I don't remember the exact words, but it was basically that you're worrying too much about yourself. Basically, it was like, do you really have faith? Because even if you can't speak the language the spirit is the teacher. And the lord is on your side because he wants the same thing you do for these people. Now this can also apply for everyone. Not just people who are learning a language. Teaching in your native language is pretty hard as well!! I've done both English and Spanish it's hard stuff. But, the key is to stop worrying about yourself. Don't worry about if you're going to look dumb! Don't worry about not knowing what to say! We are promised that as we open our mouths hey will be filled with the words to say. Stay worthy of the spirit and he will guide you.

Elder Hepworth