Another transfer down, another one started! We said goodbye to a really powerful group of missionaries on Monday, lot's of good friends and great missionaries. It was a fun weekend with them, both the testimony meeting on Sunday night and the last lunch on Monday afternoon. President's always dropping good little dating and marriage advice for the going home missionaries in the Sunday night devotional, which Elder Stroud and I were taking mental note of and having a good laugh about after! We got to the airport super early on Monday and had a long wait there until the sad goodbye as they walked through security. However, the group we received on Tuesday kinda made up for it! Super good missionaries, already speaking great Spanish, with a great attitude towards the start of their missions! I feel like I was there a few short months ago! That first day I remember especially well! Time flies.
Perú's funny. We were in a taxi the other day with an interesting driver. He was right in the middle of talking to us about the hurricanes in the US and how (according to him) lots of cities are flat out disappearing haha!! He was like, "Yeah, San Fransisco is gonna be gone, Orlando is going to disappear as well, about half the US is going to go under water!" Haha he was funny! Anyway, during the middle of that interesting conversation, he hit a pothole going a solid 50 mph, immediately after which we heard the air quickly seeping out of the tire. Naturally, the driver pulled over to take a look at the damage. He looks at the tire, listens to the air coming out, locates the hole. and pulls a hammer from the trunk. I asked him, "Do you have a spare tire?" which he neglected to respond haha. He just took the hammer, pounded the tire rim with a good solid 10 smacks, pulled out a little air compressor, and filled the tire right back up! We jumped back in the car and were on our way! Definitely the most unusual way I've ever seen to fix a flat tire....
A fun little story as well, I saw my trainer's (or dad's, in mission slang) homecoming this week! He was one of the 15 missionaries who went home, but as luck would have it, his parents moved here to Trujillo while he was on the mission! Not only to Trujillo, but here to this very ward where the mission offices are located! So we were here late Tuesday night and slipped over to the church to see if there was anything we could clean. While there, we took a peak in one of the rooms and there was Elder Guerrero, surrounded by a bunch of members, young single adults, and "Welcome Home" signs! Just sitting, without his plaque, of course, taking it all in. It was a pretty unique thing that not a lot of missionaries get to experience! He actually came up big in finding mine and Elder Stroud's lost notebooks as well, in a story that I won't share at the moment haha.
As I'm writing this letter, we're at the halfway point of general conference. Womens' Session and Saturday in the books, with Priesthood and Sunday still to come. Let's take a look at the first half highlights:
- THE HUMBLE BRAG! Groundbreaking concept from Elder Cook that will be part of my vocabulary for quite a while haha, I can already feel it.
- Lots of references to full time missionaries, which is always fun as a full time missionary!
- If Sister Bonnie Oscarson was a man, she'd be a part of the quorum of the twelve, I'm convinced of it!
- Loved Stephen Owen's reference to BYU football. I feel like it wasn't really related to anything else he said in his talk, but I appreciated it none the less! (Sounds like the cougs are having a rough year though, too bad we can't send President Hinckley to the locker room anymore!)
- Anxiously awaiting the announcement of Disney's next movie, Inside Out 2, starring sisters Sad, Mad, and Glad.
- Salvation is a personal matter; exaltation is a family matter. Elder Stroud and I have been breaking that one down since the moment Elder Oaks said it.
- Elder Holland and Christofferson put in remarkable performances, as usual.
The thing I've felt the most has been TURN OUTWARD. Don't be selflish, don't think about one's self, but turn to others and their needs! Multiple speakers have touched on it, and I was reminded of a verse in the Doctrine and Covenants. "For verily I say unto you, (spiritual gifts) are given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so to do; that all may be benefited that seek or that ask of me."
Now the condition about how we are to ask: "that ask and not for a sign that they may consume it upon their lusts."
The Lord is more that willing to bless those that ask with spiritual gifts, but not if they're just asking for themselves! Not if they're just going to consume, take in, or receive for themselves. No, the condition of the Lord's blessing us is that we then turn outward and bless others! Something that I felt this week studying and also during conference today!
I love you all, have a wonderful week!!
Love,
Elder Tanner Hart
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