¿Cómo estáis? :D

Buenos Dias!

Well, this week has been really good. I have been learning loads! Last night we talked about the plan of salvation with my teacher and learned some pretty neat things. I want to make a copy of my notes and send it to y'all. Most of it is in Spanish, but it's pretty easy to figure out. The most important stuff is in English. We did talk about some great stuff. One of the most important things I learned was that as members and missionaries when people look at us, they should be able to look at us and see Christ. It's really hard to get to that point but with all of your heart and help from God, you can do it. My teacher was talking about how more people focus on becoming perfect in this life than learning and doing the will of God, making our eyes single to the glory and will of God.

D&C 45:3-5 [Doctrine & Covenants] is a really good scripture of learning what the Judgment will be like. We need to focus on living the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Having faith in Christ, repenting, being baptized by one holding authority of God, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. We repeat this process daily as we try to become perfect through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and be like Him. We trusted Him before this life, we need to trust Him during this life, and we will need to trust him after this life. Like it says in the scriptures, we must rely on the arm of the Lord rather than the arm of flesh. Only through Christ can we be saved and be able to dwell in the presence of God with our Families for all of eternity.

As we practice contacts here, I like to say, "Mediante la Expiación de Jesucristo, podemos ser juntos con nuestros familias para siempre." [Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be together with our families forever.] The Atonement of Jesus Christ is central, and has been, to God's plan. The only way we can have access to it is through obedience to the commandments of God, faith in our Savior Jesus Christ, and Enduring to the End. We must always strive to keep the commandments of God with exactness. I know it’s hard and that we make mistakes all along the way. But little by little we can achieve this perfection by becoming like Christ. He can and will show us the way to do it, if we are willing to listen and obey what he tells us. I have a sure testimony of that. When I am righteous and am striving to be exactly obedient, I have so much more help in my life from the Spirit and from Jesus Christ.

I don't remember which Apostle or General authority told this story, but Jesus Christ will walk with us always. In the story, Christ and a man were walking along a sea shore. As the man looked back he saw the two different trails in the sand. After going through a very difficult time, he looked back and only saw one set of footprints. He turned to the Lord and asked him where he was during the time he needed him. The Lord meekly replied that He had carried the man through that difficult time. I know that the Lord loves us enough that He is willing to do that for each of us. As we put our trust in him, we can look back and see how the Lord has carried us through difficult times and when He has walked beside us.

I am so grateful to be here at the MTC. I am learning so much! I wish I could have time to study like this for the rest of my life. I wish I had learned in my heart the true joy that comes from studying the scriptures. I love you all very much and hope my e-mails strengthen your faith in Jesus Christ and His gospel. My purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel by having faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement through repentance, baptism by one holding the priesthood and authority from God, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. I find complete joy when others choose to walk in His footsteps and try to become better men and women through Christ. I love you all and hope everything is well with everyone!

Always,

Elder Michael C. Watson

Buenos Dias!

(We received two separate emails from Mike today, so I edited the two together)

Buenos Dias,

Alright, so this week gone by so fast! And a lot has happened. So let me get to it.

So Tuesday was another hectic day. I am no longer companions with Elder Gillette. I have actually switched rooms and I now have two companions, Elder Dewitt and Elder Godfrey. The reason for the switch is that their companion, Elder Amasio, and Elder Gillette are the new Zone Leaders. Pretty crazy. I am the District Leader. Which means I still have the privilege of checking mail, but I have a lot more responsibilities now.

So on Friday we went to the Referral Center. We make outbound/confirmation calls to make sure people receive the movies and Bibles/Book of Mormons. Well, as you know, I am not one to talk on the phone. As I made the calls I got a lot of answering machines, people hanging up on me and wrong numbers. There was even a man who said he didn't want any stuff under his roof of ours and that he never ordered anything. I had no idea what to say and my mind froze and stuttered a good-bye. (This happened on both the wrong number and the man who didn't order anything.) A pretty bad first time. Since then I have gone back a couple times, but I really haven't had any opportunities to talk. I am trying though.

We had a Zone Conference on Saturday. It was so awesome!!! It was very spiritual and I learned a lot! I cannot wait to get in the field! :D

Thank you for the package! I am going to ENJOY it! :D

I have met Elder Banks here. I was only able to speak to him for a little bit, but I was able to nonetheless.

I am wearing a jacket now so you don't have to worry about me getting cold. I am tired of the cold. The snow has almost melted all away so I am wondering if they are going to go let us play some futbol! :D Yesterday I got an awesome spike in Volleyball. I was so happy! More so because it was my first, but hey, it was pretty! :D

So I was told today that David was put in Quarantine. I do not know what he has or why he was put there... I hope everything is alright. Anyways, I thought I should let you know. Don't get too freaked out. I don't think it’s really bad.

Thanks for the tie! Oh, and I don't know if I have told you about this, but Tie Trading is some serious stuff around here. I haven't done it because I am satisfied with my ties, pero people keep telling me to get some polyester ties because silk ones will curl up in humidity. I am not too worried. Anyways, now I hit my time limit. Thanks for everything!!!! :D

Well, I don't know what else to say. It feels like I repeat myself when I e-mail you because we do a lot of the same things. I hope all is well at home!!

LOVE,

Elder Michael C. Watson

¿Que tal?

Dear Mom and Dad,

So first off, I saw a sister that looks almost EXACTLY like Aunt Carol. She even does some of the same things. Kinda weird and cool.

This week has been great but has been kind of a roller coaster. Especially Tuesday. Tuesday morning was slow and I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but I ended the morning with companionship study whit Elder Gillette to fix some kinks and questions in our "Plan of Salvation" lesson which ended the morning very well. After lunch we went to the TRC as a class for a 15 minute Spanish situation and a 35-45 minute lesson. (We do this every week. Next week is our first Spanish lesson! Ay!) The Spanish went alright because the investigators didn't play the part exactly which threw us for a bit of a loop, but we ended it well. The lesson, however, was AMAZING! It was the best lesson we have taught yet. The Spirit guided our words and questions and everything just flowed. I didn't even have to think/stutter of what I was going to do next. It is such an awesome feeling to have the Holy Ghost with you that strongly. And the Spirit brought some experiences and memories to my remembrance which was great and took the lesson to the next level! :D Like I said, it was absolutely amazing. I couldn't stop smiling during the lesson and after. It was great.

After we came back to class we discussed the TRC with nuestro maestro Hermano Williams and then went to go drop our stuff off at choir practice. As we were heading back to the room, one of the Elders in our district pulled Elder Gillette and I back into the empty classroom and told us he was being sent home on medical leave. I was so struck. I had hardly known this elder for a month, but I was so devastated. So we helped him pack up and saw him off. That was really hard. His companion, Elder Gillette and I didn't sing in the choir that night and just listened. Then Elder Richard G. Hinckley and his wife gave talks that were really incredible and uplifting. After the Devotional we, the district, gathered for a review and obviously being one elder short we had to break it to them. The district was really torn up. The good thing is that the Elder will be back in two months though. There's just something as you study the gospel with someone or a group of people you build a deep relationship. It's really neat. We are working hard and keeping him in our prayers, but that was quite a shock. Shows you that as people gain significant spiritual experiences, Satan works his hardest to make us lose that testimony and deny what we have learned.

Well, we finally hit the point where our district is the second oldest district in the zone. Kinda scary. It doesn't seem we have been here that long yet as each new district comes in, they seem younger and younger even though some of them are older than I am. Kinda weird. Our district has set a goal to only speak Spanish. It's going to be tough, but we are going to give it our best effort. It will really help out in the long run.

The MTC is still great and I am really learning to delve into the scriptures with the help of teachers and the Spirit. It's great now that I have some friends from BYU here now and Elders Banks and Whipple from the Stake are here also. It's becoming a lot of fun. :D

I hope everything is well at home! Stay Strong! :D

Love,
Elder Michael C. Watson