It's a great day to be a missionary!

Hola mi familia y amigos!!

So every Sunday we have multiple lessons by a guy named President Hill. And every Sunday he asks us the same question, "What kind of a day is it today?" And we always have to respond with,  " It´s a great day to be a missionary!!" He always makes sure to remind us that everyday is a great day to be a missionary. Sometimes us missionaries at the CCM feel a little overwhelmed because of the amount of Spanish we have to learn, or with how much doctrine we will have to teach the people in our missions. But no matter how we feel we always remember that were here for a purpose and that is to bring the people from our missions the restored gospel. It is, a great day to be a missionary. Everyday is a good day to be a missionary and I am so grateful  I have the chance to bless the lives of so many people. 

My cousin, Elder Roberts, left us this morning to go to Honduras! I'm excited for him. 

Not much happens during our weeks here except for learning the Spanish language. But something that everyone, including me, is always praying for is the gift of tongues. Saturday I was kind of feeling a little down on myself for not understanding the language. So I decided that I would fast for the opportunity to gain the gift of tongues and be able to use it. We had a very spiritual Sunday but at the end of the day I still didnt really feel like my fast had accomplished much. Yesterday, (Monday) the language kind of clicked for me. I feel I can understand a lot of what people say now and I can respond relatively well also. I was so excited about it yesterday that I decided that I was going to pray throughout the day and thank my Heavenly Father for His help. I was so grateful and am continually grateful to Him for giving my the opporunity to serve Him and the people here. 

Something else about Sunday was totally awesome. At the end of the day, me and Elder Lucas went into a room with a piano and we sang hymns during our peronal study time. It felt so good to just sing, (and so loudly too)!  I guess we forgot that our classroom was right next to where we were singing and everybody could hear us. 😂Some of them said that it was super nice to hear us sing while they were studying, so I guess we were ok ;)

We went the zoo today!! It was so great!! The enclosures are super close to the fence so you can literally reach out and touch the animals. Not saying that I would do that, of course......because thats not allowed. Just kidding....I tried to touch a llama and it started making wierd sounds at me. After that we went to the market and I got this sweet flute there, a blanket, and some sort of shawl (or something) for mom. It was a ton of fun! 

Another thing that I thought was important that I should write about is President Hill's lesson about our saviour. He showed us a few scriptures and one of them hit me really hard. I cant remember what scripture it is, but it says that Jesus Christ suffered every pain and every affliction so that we could be saved. I´m tearing up just writing about it. I never really thought deeply about it until that lesson. He went through every pain, every sickness. and every temptation known to man. Can any of us even fathom how painful that would have been? I think about Him daily now. Our brother sacrificed himself for us. "And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people." Mosiah 3:7  The last two lines are so important to me. He bled from EVERY pore, and so great was his ANGUISH for the wickedness and abominations of his people. Anguish is such a powerful word, I imagine that as something only our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know fully comprehend. We only know it to a certain degree. At that same time, our brother allowed himself to be whipped and beaten and crucified after having suffered so much pain already. Fearing that the nails in his hands would not be enough to hold him up, the Jews drove more into his wrists to hold him up which increased his pain even more. I cannot imagine what it would have been like. Even after having gone through so much pain, our brother called up to our Father and asked that he, "forgive them, for they know not what they do." The ultimate sacrifice with the ultimate example of forgivness that ever there was. I love my brother Jesus Christ. I testify that our Father in Heaven loves us. I also testify that our brother Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for us and loved us enough to go through that pain for us. 

Elder Whelan