Ok so here is the deal. I'm not feeling a hundred percent today. My sinuses are all clogged up (I think a slight cold) so if my letter doesn't make much sense today, it would be because my head isn't thinking as clearly as I would normally like it to. And I'm super grateful that I feel this way on my Monday preparation day because it means I can take a break and rest up without screwing up our plans for the week.
Well, Elder Ingram and I did pretty good in Sacrament meeting yesterday. I gave a message about the 5 steps of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and emphasized what it truly means to endure to the end(the actions necessary to endure to the end). I spoke for a little over 20 min. Elder Ingram gave a message about the Atonement and Repentance and he spoke for about the same time. We did really well. I had been preparing all week for Sunday's sacrament meeting messages. I had been using my hour of personal study time and my hour of language study time every day. The preparation definitely paid off, but I had been hoping for fewer stumbles in my Spanish than I ended up having. But all in all it was a really fun experience. One of the families we really wanted to come was there! And they even had to deal with a flat tire on the way to church! So it was awesome to see them there. They also brought a camera into the chapel and video taped some segments of mine and Elder Ingram's talks. It was so funny looking down and seeing them sitting in the pews video taping my talk! I'm not sure if that is allowed (video taping in the chapel), but ignorance is bliss right? We are visiting them tomorrow. They are planning on pulling up the footage they have of our talks on their TV and watching them with us. And then they are going to tell us what things we can work on with our Spanish.
Something else pretty funny/cool was that I got quoted in gospel doctrine class a couple times after sacrament meeting. So I guess it was enjoyed by at least some of the congregation. But, then again, they could have just quoted me to make me feel good about myself... I'll never know.
We had Mission Conference this week. It was pretty impressive to see for my first time how many missionaries are in the Arcadia CA mission. There were about 200 of us there! Aside from receiving some guidance from President Becerra, we also had a guest speaker. Brad Wilcox! So that was really really awesome. In the words of Jackson Ostler, "He opened our minds!"
I have been receiving a lot of questions about my food here.
So pretty much, we have had on average about 3 meal appointments per week. When we have a meal appointment, I make it a point not to eat anything the meal before (or at least not very much). Because when members feed us, they want to FEED us! Its always SO MUCH FOOD! If you don't eat a lot, and I mean A TON, they assume you didn't like it very much (no matter how much you compliment). And they even usually send us home with food as well. I have mastered the art of eating slower than my companion (which is a lot slower than I used to eat BTW mom). I have found this is the best way to avoid eating myself sick. ;) But pretty much to make the constant encores of food end (cuz it could easily go on forever and ever), at some point you just have to act like your tummy is about to explode from so much food. And this always makes them really happy because they know that you ate a lot.
Now for the informal meal appointments. Pretty much any visit we have with ANYBODY, has the possibility of turning into a food appointment. Every time we, the missionaries, (the "poor" servants of the Lord) enter a home, whether they are a member or not, there is a good possibility it could turn into us getting fed. So that adds an extra fun little challenge as far as my stomach preparation for the formal meal appointments go.
When we eat at the house, which usually isn't too often, I eat heavy on the fruits and vegetables (apples, pears, carrots, broccoli and celery) and then usually have a sandwich too.
So don't worry. I have food. And lots of it.
Well Love you my family.
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Elder Ostler
