MTC week 5

Everyone got a kick out of Nick's shiner! Don't worry, Nick, I showed up to the first day of school with a black eye so I know how it feels.

Conference......wow...I loved it this time around! There were times throughout the whole thing that I thought of you guys. Felicitaciones con el templo en Brigham City! Elder Ballard's talk made me think of Dad. I think I did pretty well in asking all sorts of questions to Dad. I didn't make him pull out the journal though! The whole priesthood session started up a discussion with some from my zone about traditions after priesthood session and I definitely missed having the opportunity to hit the BBQ! I'm sure I'll make up for it in Argentina though! Jeffrey R. Holland is quite the beast at the pulpit. That makes 2 fiery testimonies I've heard from him in the past 2 weeks! Don't forget Elder Robert D. Hales' testimony of God though--He is the one we're aiming for after all, the Book of Mormon is the rod that gets us to the tree ;) I picked out 3 main themes that swam throughout all of the talks: Many of the talks discussed our relationships--more specifically with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and families. We need to have faith and keep the commandments of Heavenly Father. They love us more than we can comprehend. We also need to have a loving bond between our family members. The family is, after all, the central unit of Heavenly Father's plan for us to gain eternal life. Another theme was that trials and challenges will come, but they are meant to be growing opportunities. President Uchtdorf said in Priesthood Session that (paraphrase) "The cold winter will turn into a beautiful spring; I'm optimistic about the future." So obviously, the trials will lighten, just keeping enduring through it with an optimistic attitude and allow Heavenly Father to mold you. A third theme I find is that we need to take care of ourselves the best that we can by forsaking anger, laziness, and temptation while being completely obedient, performing service, keeping virtue, and loving EVERYONE. I know that there were tons more themes throughout conference. What were some of your thoughts?Puedo enseñar en español bien. Sé la doctrina muy bien, pero necesito aprender cómo to address the needs del investigador. It can only get better from here!

It's official, Dad beat me at racquetball :P

Well, it turns out I'm district leader for 1 more week than normal because conference messed with the regular schedule. I'm the senior companion now and I won't be DL after this coming Sunday. It's crazy to think that I'm in the 2nd oldest district now!!!¡Sólomente 3 más semanas!It's definitely getting colder here. There's snow on the tops of the mountains!In other news, I finally played the piano for a solid half hour for the first time on Sunday! Wish I could have more time, but I'm sure I'll get that wish in Argentina.Drew, escribí una carta para contestar su Dearelder. ¡Está en el buzón ahorita!Not much else happened this past week. Just looking forward to a full helping of Spanish this week!¡
Os Amo!-Elder Powell-