Right After My Mission I'm Going Straight Back to the Marquises--Week 65

Frankly the most interesting thing I have to write about is what's happening over there with you guys...

I didn't care about this upcoming election. I was trying to rest in my blissful cloud of ignorance, or rather, just stay focused on my work and the Lord, but alas, no one saw fit to grant me this humble wish. The night of the elections, the house where we were eating dinner at was watching it on TV like it was the Superbowl. I really wish no one cared, but this whole thing has been like the best long-running sitcom since basically Seinfeld.

I pulled up to a red light, and said hi to a random guy I didn't know sitting in the car next to me. The guy asks me, "Are you American?" I respond affirmatively. "How do you like your new president?"

...

I literally called this from the beginning. Okay maybe not the beginning, but since the Marquises at least.

That first sentence was kind of a lie. I do have more interesting things to talk about.

There's a Seventy in town, Elder Craig A. Cardon, so we had a Conseil des Dirigeants to prepare for that, and we're going to have one tonight with the Seventy. I will be getting up there to present our plans for the center this Christmas, above all in relation to the church's new Christmas directive. There were new leaders at the last Conseil des Dirigeants, so we took a new photo! I'm still trying to think of a question to ask Elder Cardon tonight though...

Work is kind of boring and standard right now. I'm glad the center is doing well though. We've already got 10 lessons for the month and it's only the 14th! Last month was only like 12 total.

The last thing I would like to share with you all is this:

Elder Cardon spoke at all 3 of our stake conference sessions, and what he said during the priesthood session was what got to me the most. He asked the room at large what some of the problems the church here faced. People were quick to bring up things with the youth, like the word of wisdom and the likes. But Elder Cardon's solution was definitely unexpected. He called the people to repentance. He talked about how we should be repenting every day, and how we should always be using the atonement. He wasn't like mean and he wasn't saying that everyone was terrible, but he kindly taught a very important principle, mostly by sharing this story of Joseph Smith and the translation of the Book of Mormon. One day, he sat down with Oliver Cowdery and inspiration just would not come. Joseph Smith then went and apologized to Emma for an argument they had had that morning, and when he came back, he was able to translate again.


Repentance is not just for big sins or something. Let us try to always draw closer to the Lord. Every day.




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