2nd Week at the MTC July 16, 2010

First off, thank you for the letters. I really have no time to read them. I only have enough time to write cuz I'm so slow. Well this week went by so much better than the last and a whole lot faster.

Last Monday me and my companion had to role play and speak to 3 different people in Spanish! For 5 min. each and then teach a lesson for 35 min. in English. I was kinda scared but it totally worked out fine when we actually did it. We went to teach the lesson and it went well.

My companion is from St. Louis and his name is elder Furth. We have really nothing in common. But I noticed when we teach he has a good spirit about him; it's just hard getting to know each other. But each day it gets better and better and now we are getting learning a lot about each other. Oh and I can pray and testify in Spanish now! Its way cools to be able to do that. I'm learning a lot each day and I have amazing teachers one of them is Hermana Smith and she is so awesome; she served a mission too and she totally reminds me of Chanelle, so that's awesome. We had a devotional on Tuesday from Ronald T. Halverson, who is a former quorum of the seventy, it was way good and I learned a lot. I take notes like crazy, its way fun to learn more about the gospel each day.

After the devotional we went in a room to have a meeting with just our district and the district leader who is going to the same mission is so awesome. He is the coolest guy. He had us go around and share what we learned in the devotional and then bear our testimony; the spirit was so strong.

I definitely notice that having the spirit is the key to missionary work. I notice when I have the spirit with me and bear my testimony or teach, I can speak a lot better and get my words out, and without the spirit I can do nothing. My branch president is awesome! And his counselors they are all great speakers and on Sundays they speak to us and give us such great advice and amazing doctrine always. Every Sunday they randomly choose two speakers and they have to speak in Spanish, so it makes everyone prepare the day before. Its kinda scary to be me if I have to speak, I know it would be hard, but the good thing is it only has to be like 4 min.

My district is awesome, but there are some elders that talk about worldly things and they say we aren't supposed to and they don't study as much, they don't really like the rules as much either, but whatever, I guess it's just going to affect them later.

Today I was teaching a lesson with my companion to the district leader and his companion, and they would teach us and we would teach them. My companion is a really good teacher as well as most the others in my class and then when I would start to teach my companion would just start to laugh. I would get so irritated, and he would act like he wasn't doing anything wrong, I felt like not talking anymore because he thinks I always say the wrong thing, so it gets me so irritated. He is a really smart guy. He and another elder in the class are the best Spanish speakers so I feel so inadequate when I'm with him. I'm trying not to compare but I can't help it when he is so much better than me.

Yesterday we started learning other things in Spanish and I struggled. I came to the realization that this is going to be so hard, plus it's hard for me to speak just in general, but I'm going to try my hardest, and just like the speaker said in the devotional, "God never gave fear to man". So I need not to fear because I know it comes from the adversary. I love this gospel and am understanding the love the lord has for me and his children, I am so grateful for the atonement, the more I learn about it the more I want to share it. There is such a great opportunity to feel a strong spirit here, and I feel it and love it.

I love you my family and I hope you are all doing great. Until next week! I love you all so much



Elder Pedersen