September 15, 2010

Dear family,
It's amazing how time flies by when you are busy with a good cause. The mission is blowing by and I'm again at that point of being super nervous about the future part of my mission, but I know that everything is going to turn out great. It has so far. I'm glad to hear that Utah State won, even if it was against a pretty week school like Idaho State. This year should be pretty interesting for them. Its great the soccer is going well for Alex, Adam and Trent. Im going to have to say though, that when I get back and Alex is a superstar on the High School soccer team that I'll have to give him a run for his money. We play a lot of soccer here in the CCM in Peru. It's actually making it pretty hard on my shoes. After only 8 weeks they are already falling apart, but I will make them last my whole mission, even if I am holding them together with scotch tape by the end. (I would say duct tape, but they may not have that here. They don't have super glue, which is really disappointing.) Sounds like Clarksburg is doing pretty well this year so far in sports as well. Im glad the ward is doing well right now too.

This last week was actually pretty uneventful overall in the CCM. A lot of classes. A lot of practicing. My journal entries are all like 3 lines long. Its been one of those weeks for the most part. There were a few interesting things though. On Thursday I read in Alma about the 2000 sons of Helaman. I was amazed by their incredible obedience to the Lord and their incredible trust in the Lord. In Alma 57:25-27 it talks about their faith, and in 27 it sums it up. I really like this verse. It says:
"Now this was the faith of those of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in god continually."
This is a ton of power and I really felt the spirit reading it. I also like Alma 48:17 when it talks about the amazing power of Captain Moroni.
Friday I had a pretty humbling experience... Elder Purvis and I had a TRC lesson and it went horribly. Elder Purvis was feeling really sick, and I was having a really hard time understanding the Spanish. The teacher pretending to be an investigator was bored, and frustrated because we weren't answering her questions. It was really difficult. I learned a lot from the experience though and it changed how I am going to study now.
Saturday was the day that we got to go proselyting again. Elder Purvis and I went out to an area in the Peru Lima North mission which was pretty cool because it was Elder Purvis' mission. The area was called Las Flores and it was ok housing, but not great. Definitely better than the people living Callao though. This one was tough because we were two North Americans without a Latin companion to help us with the lessons. We were paired up with the Elder's Quorum president of the ward and sent to some inactive members homes. I think we frustrated him a little because at the beginning he kept knocking on the door and stepping back to make us do all the talking, and I think it was kind of rough at the beginning. elder Purvis was trying to talk, and I was going through shock. I think I spent the entire first 4 houses with my jaw on the ground because I was so intimidated. We wound up only getting to teach one person on the entire trip because the others either were at work, weren't at home, or gave their children excuses for why they wouldn't come to the door. The one inactive member we taught had a little shop he was running out of his house, and his house was pretty nice considering the surroundings. We talked to him about the Priesthood and the power of the Priesthood. I learned something from this lesson as well. I learned that I need to follow the Spirit more.
I thought he was an active member and we were talking to him because we had extra time and he was preparing for a trip to the temple, but it turns out he was inactive. I had a feeling to bring up that he needed to go to church to allow his Priesthood to help those in his home, but I just pushed it aside because I thought he was a member. Even though this happened, the spirit was incredibly strong and I we left him with the Spirit in his home. I felt it and I know that he felt it. He gave the closing prayer and I think he understood the importance of the church.
It's really tough to gain a real understanding of Spanish here in the MTC even though I'm in Peru. The teachers and the Latin missionaries all talk slower to us to help us understand and because of the amount of North Americans in the CCM, I have a class and a companion of all North Americans which means I can speak English a lot and get away with it. I think that's why the opportunity to proselyte is so good here. It allows us to go into the real world and experience the people with really quiet voices, the people who slur because they are missing most of their teeth and the people who just talk really fast. This allows me to train my brain a little more in Spanish. We get tons of encouragement about the language though. Elder Slingerland is the Area medical advisor and he also acts as a member of the Branch Presidency at the CCM. He has used a few times the idea that in 6 months we will be fluent, 8-10 we will be super fluent and by a year or a little more we will be thinking in Spanish. Its tough to believe that now, but I know it will happen with the Lord's help. I love how the prophets talk about this in the scriptures. Nephi says it in 2 Nephi 4:20 when he says: "My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness: and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep."
I also like when Ammon says this as well in Alma 26:12.
"Yea, I know that i am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."
This has been so helpful to me over these past 9 weeks. When I have felt an sort of inadequacy, I have been able to lean on Christ as my strength. My Savior has guided me so much. I think this is why I have been so engrossed in the scriptures. I told you last week that I have been reading a lot in the scriptures lately. Well now I am in Ether and I plan on finishing tomorrow or Friday. The power of the scriptures, even when I have been reading them in English, have helped me in my lessons as I use them more and more.
I am glad that everything is going well at home, and I hope that you are all doing well. For the boys, continue to prepare for your missions. It can be the greatest experience of your life if you put the effort in to it. Mine has already been incredible and I am still in the MTC. For Megan, keep being awesome and studying in the gospel. It will bless you life so much, even if you don't serve a mission when you are 21. I love you all.
Tyler

September 8, 2010

It's awesome that you got to invite the new family over to the house. I'm excited that the kids are going to get more people to hang out with their age that have good moral standards. I'm also glad to know that USU is actually looking pretty good at football. They had better be bowl winners by the time I get back from my mission. It's cool that Alex and Trevor both read the Book of Mormon in 26 days. I am loving reading the Book of Mormon really fast. I have been using most of my personal study time and all of my extra free time to finish the Book of Mormon in english as fast as possible. I am learning a ton from it, and it is cool to see all the storiest connect better than when you only read a few pages a night. I am actually reading 30 pages or so every day, minus Sundays when I'm busy with my Zone Leader duties and Wednesdays which are P-days.

On Wednesday last week we got to go into Miraflores in central Lima. It was really cool because it was part of my mission. It is also where the Peru version of the White House is. The main difference is that security in this area is incredibly tight. Because of the political unrest that has been prevalent even in the recent history of Peru they don't take any risks. There are officers with riot shields and AK-47's all around the main building and there were multiple guard dogs in the area. They also have tons of tourists in the area. I also went to a small marketplace and got three pretty cool things. A bag, a beanie which I am saving for when I get home and a Peru soccer jersey. In total it cost me 33 soles which is about 12 dollars.

The rest of the week was pretty slow because we didn't have proselyting on Saturday. I got to stay up late until 1:30 in the morning on Wednesday night to welcome new missionaries flying in from Provo. I actually ran into Isaac Bell who went to elementary school with me. He's in the CCM right now. He was one of the new group of missionaries.

My spiritual experiences were pretty good this week. We were studying for a topic, I don't even know what it is now. But Elder Purvis and I came across Mormon chapter 7. Mormon chapter 7 is basically Mormon's final testimony. It is awesome. In the last four or five verses he talks about judgment, baptism, and the Book of Mormon as another witness of Jesus Christ. It is incredible, and we think we will be able to use it for investigators on our mission. On Sunday we had a fast and testimony meeting and I bore my testimony, which was pretty cool. I also translated a temple orientation with Elder Purvis on Sunday. It was really tough, but I was surprised with how much I knew. I was able to translate a bunch of quotes and articles. It was a definite spiritual experience for me. I also came across a scripture in D&C 76:114-119. This talked about the kingdoms of glory and how we can all receive a witness of them through the Holy Ghost. Also in the introduction for verses 114-119 it says that all the faithful may see the vision of the degrees of glory. That would a great thing to see, and I hope to be faithful enough in my life to be able to see them. I think it's great that all the faithful can see visions like these. I love you all. Have another great week.
Tyler

Hola,
There have been a lot of changes at the CCM in the last little while,
and it is going to be an interesting and tough next three weeks, but
things are still going well. Im glad to hear that Adam and Alex got
to go on the varsity scout activity and that Trevor has another palm.
They definitely seem more devoted to scouting than I was. Its cool
that the ward is expanding so much and that there are good families
moving in. Everything seems to be going pretty well in Maryland. In
Peru it is finally starting to become less depressing overall. Here
the weather during the winter, although its not freezing is pretty
disheartening. Because of the pollution in Lima and because of the
fog that comes off of the ocean, there isn´t very much blue sky here.
But we are starting to see more blue sky and now there is actually
starting to be clouds and not just a layer of gray. The temperature
has always been comfortable, but a little chilly. Now it is starting
to warm up which is great.
The last week has been pretty good. I have begun to attack the Book
of Mormon and the Bible in english in my personal study time. I have
read from early 2 Nephi into the latter half of Mosiah in the last
week or so. With the exception of Sunday when we are busy and Tuesday
when I had to go to immigrations so I didn´t have personal study, I
have read from 15 to 20 pages in the Book of Mormon and 10 in the
Bible. I have had extra time because my companion has not been here
during companionship study. He has been at immigrations and interpol
and things like that to prepare to go to Mexico. On Saturday we went
proselyting again, and Elder Alvarez and I were in Callao again. We
knocked on 3 doors of inactive members. 1 wasn´t home and the other 2
let us in. I find it interesting, because I doubt we would get in as
many doors in the United States or in any richer areas in the world.
We also went to a recently baptized members house and bore our
testimonies to her. I didn´t understand a word in the entire first
visit, but the Spirit was definitely there.
I don´t know if I have mentioned this before, but there are a ton of
dogs here. They are all over in the streets in Callao and they just
sit around and don´t do much usually. On Saturday there was a little
more action with the dogs. One of the members we were with decided
she wanted to pet a dog, and it wound up that we had for or five dogs
barking at us and moving closer to us. Then one of the other 2
members started to swing his scripture case at them and they started
to back off. He then picked up some rocks as we walked away to make
sure that they didn´t follow us and attack us. Later I saw about 12
dogs start to fight each other. Pretty cool to see... From pretty far
away. I was a little nervous that they would come closer to us.
On Sunday we wrote letters to the MTC President and it made me think a
lot about what I had read in my scriptures. I thought about Mosiah
chapter 3 and King Benjamin´s speech. It was so amazing. I
especially focused on verses 16 and 17. In 16 it talks about man
being fallen by nature through the fall of Adam. And because we don´t
believe in natural sin and babies needing to be baptized I had never
thought about us as fallen when we are born. But then I thought about
it a little bit. We are fallen in one sense that I know of. We have
left the presence of God. Thats a pretty steep fall. Even if it is
for a good purpose in the end, we are cut off from his presense when
we go through the veil. I also like that verse 16 says that little
children are saved in Christ. How great a feeling to know that
children who don´t understand who die are going to be saved through
the Atonement. Although I don´t personally know anyone who has died
before they were 8, it still brings me comfort. I can´t imagine how
much comfort that would bring to people who have lost young children
in their lives. I also liked verse 17 where it talks about Christ and
says that through Christ is the only way we can return to live with
our Heavenly Father.
On Sunday we also watched the Joseph Smith movie. I am amazed by the
power of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and all who gave up their lives for
the church. These are people who trusted in the Lord and became
martyrs because of their faith. It made me think about myself...
Would I be willing to give my life for the church? I definitely don´t
know. I am giving 2 years of my life to serve a mission, but that is
a whole lot different than dying for the gospel, and I know that the
Lord will bless me for my mission. I am also not leaving an entire
family to fend for themselves because of my mission. Joseph Smith and
Hyrum Smith both left families that had to continue on their own. I
decided that I would like to think that I would give my life for the
gospel, but in the moment would be a whole different story. Joseph
and Hyrum had so much conviction and I hope that I can have that some
kind of conviction in my life. The movie reminded me of the talk that
Jeffrey R. Holland gave about the early leaders of the church. If you
haven´t heard or don´t remember that talk it is definitely worth
watching again. You can find it on LDS.org. It is so powerful about
the Book of Mormon and the early prophets. I think it is called a
witness to the Book of Mormon. You can definitely also find it on
Youtube. And it may be easier on Youtube. I think that the pioneers
were incredibly strong in their faith and in my opinion, every member
who died because of mobs or sickness in their treks between Ohio and
Utah are martyrs. They died trying to follow the prophet and be
strong in their faith. They died for the gospel. They are all
martyrs in my book. I will always remember their example and the
example of Joseph and Hyrum as well as the talk by Elder Holland. And
I will continue to learn and trust in the Lord because as Nephi says
in 2 Nephi Chapter 4. "I know in whom I have trusted. My God has been
my support.
Monday was interesting because as we have been preparing to get new
teachers, districts and companions one of my teachers asked me to
write the words for "Be Still My Soul" down in English for her as well
as writing how you would say the word with Spanish letters. For
example Be still my soul is something like "Bi still may sol" It is
weird because there isn´t a way to write it in Spanish for every
english sound. It definitely helped my spanish though.
Tuesday was interesting as well. I changed districts, but we kept my
entire district intact minus the loss of the one sister missionary we
had. We just added other missionaries. Here it is a little
different. Because North Americans and Latins have different class
work because they don´t need to learn the language. My companion was
in a different district than me so our 12 missionaries in our
district, 106, were companions with the 12 missionaries in District
105. Now its all english missionary companionships so my companion is
in my district. We also had an interesting experience with
missionaries leaving. They needed more room for more missionaries so
8 missionaries from my group were asked to leave 3 weeks early and go
into the field. Because of this we lost 3 missionaries from our
english district all of whom went to the Lima Central mission. One
was our district leader, so we didn´t have a district leader for about
a week and a half. Elder Purvis one of the elders in our district
filled in for him. Elder Purvis also happens to be my new companion.
He is from American Fork, Utah and went to Snow College for the last
year before his mission. He is awesome and it should go well.
The most interesting change yesterday was the fact that I was assigned
to be a Zone Leader in the CCM for the next 3 weeks. I am one of 4
North American Zone Leaders and their will be 2 Latino Zone Leaders
once the Latino missionaries get here. The Zone Leaders were assigned
off of recomendations by the previous Zone Leaders. The other 3 Zone
Leaders: Elder Jensen from Salt Lake, Elder Huddleston from Louisiana
and Elder Angerbaur from Bountiful were all district leaders before so
they know a little bit more about whats going on than I do. Its going
to be great though. I think it may have just been the 4 district
leaders from before had my district leader not left early. I think I
was probably called because I got to know 2 of the Zone Leaders really
well and I played the piano for them a lot. It is pretty interesting.
I need to go now, but I love you all, good luck with the beginning of
school.

August 25, 2010

Hey family,
This last month has been so ridiculous for me. You asked me about the
food and its pretty interesting. The food is good for the most part
and its just different. Most morning we have some kind of meal with
eggs, bread, and this really thin type of yogurt. On occasion we have
had french toast or pancakes, but they don´t have much syrup here, and
when we were shopping in the supermarket and went looking for it it
cost like 3 times as much as it does in the United States. In their
supermarket they have lots American foods but they are all really
expensive. For example, an 8 pack of fun sized twix candy bars is
about 15 soles, which is about 6 or 7 dollars. Here lunch is the
biggest meal of the day, and they every day we have rice and some kind
of meat. Its pretty good. They also have different appetizer type
things, most of which are pretty disgusting, one of which I got to
give it a try and it has permanantly removed any chance of me ever
eating broccoli again. Pero está bien. I just don´t get the appetizer
thing. I still get plenty of food. They also have a dessert every
day. One Peruvian type of dessert and jello... Some of the desserts
are kind of weird, but Ive become pretty good at being able to tell by
looking at it if I am not going to like it. They have also attempted
to make American desserts, but they aren´t always good. If not I get
jello, because its kind of impossible to ruin jello. Sugar and water
makes things a lot easier. During dinner we have rice and meat again
with a small dessert item that is usually pretty good. All in all the
food is different with lots of rice, but nothing other than their
weird appetizers is bad.
Im glad to hear that everything is going well at home. Its awesome
that Adam finally has someone his age in the ward that he can do
things with. Although his friends in the neighborhood are pretty
cool. Im glad to hear the work is progressing well in the ward, and
you are having a good time in the ward. Its important to keep working
and striving to help the missionaries because we can use all the help
we can get.
The weeks in the CCM in Peru are kind of all the same over and over
again. On Tuesdays we have devotionals on some mornings and some
nights we have enseñanzas, where we practice teaching situations for
investigators. They are frustrating some times, but it helps the
language and it helps with teaching skills. The CCM is kind of
frustrating because of my companion sometimes, but I just try to work
my hardest, and try not to focus on the negatives. All the latinos
and all of the older North American missionaries leave in the next
week, mostly on Monday and Tuesday so the CCM will be pretty empy for
a while. On Wednesday of next week we get to go on a tour of areas of
Peru and shop in areas where we can haggle prices and get more
experience shopping. After next week I will have a North American
companion, and things will change a little bit.
On Saturday we had an awesome experience. We went proselyting for
practice in Lima. I was actually proselyting in a part of my mission
out by the ocean. The poverty in the area I was in was incredible.
No one had very good houses and everything was dirty and poor. It was
actually a little sad to think that I had lived my life so comfortably
and they were in such poverty, but they are happy here. And they are
so kind to the people who come. That night in my journal I wrote
this:
"We went proselyting for the first time. We were focusing on inactive
members, but we also placed a Book of Mormon. We had an opportunity
to talk to an old woman who is a member. Her testimony was so
strong. she had an incredible spirit. We were in the Callao area of
Lima. The people there are so poor. it was a real eye-opener for me.
These people have makeshift homes and no luxuries. Their roofs are
hardly roofs at all, and yet they are so happy... The members are so
helpful, and if the non-members , or inactive members, don´t want to
talk to you, they are kind about it¨"
The work is moving forward and even though their church didn´t have
the running water working they praised God like the riches people in
the world would, and maybe even more. I love the people here and I
love my mission. yo sé que José Smith fue un profeta de Dios. Yo sé
que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador amaroso. Yo sé que el evangelio es
verdadero. I love you all,
Tyler

Dear family, How is life in the United States? I have landed in Lima, Peru and am not at the Peru CCM. We finally got here at 2 o clock this morning and then we went to bed. Just an update: On Tuesday we had a devotional and the speaker was David Evans. He is a member of the quorum of the seventy and he talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon in our teaching. He talked about how every scripture passage in the Book of Mormon can help us in our teaching to the people around us, and as we do so the Spirit will be there. He talked about the Book of Mormon letting investigators know that what we are teaching is true. He said they will receive revelation through the Book of Mormon. He taught us to have investigators read the Book of Mormon from the beginning, and giving them reading assignments taht will challenge them. He said something i found interesting about Moroni 10:4-5, he talked about what "with a sincere heart and real intent" meant. A sincere heart is when someone really wants to know the truth, and real intent is a specific intent to act on the answer. PMG says to encourage them to read the Book of Mormon from the beginning. It also says: "The Book of Mormon combined with the spirit is your most powerful resource." He also spoke on the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon. He said that if we focus on Christ while we read them, then we will understand them better. I know that all of what he said is true. I feel the Spirit so much on my mission. After the devotional we discussed it as a District. The Spirit was so strong there. After we sang "Para Siempre Dios Esté Con Vos" which is "God Be With You Til We Meet Again. It was awesome. We took some pictures back at the room and got ready to go. I got to sing "Face to Face" to my district and it was awesome. Then I went to bed and got up at 5:30 the next morning for my flight to Peru. In Peru they put me with a native companion. His name is Elder Alvarez and it is very hard to have a native companion because I can´t communitcate with him. Elder Alvarez is going to be serving in California, and the other two Peruvians in my room are going to be serving in Mexico. My district is great, and we have had a good time today. Today has been a relaxation day for the new North American missionaries because of our long travel and lack of sleep. Tomorrow the hard work will begin again. It gets frustrating because I can´t understand what is being said around me, but I know that if I trust in the Lord it will work out. I want to leave you with a few quotes:

The importance of the Book of Mormon in the Latter-Day work cannot be overestimated

-James E Faust

We are who we are, and we know what we know, and we are to go forth and preach the gospel.

- Boyd K. Packer

The Power of the Gospel is so incredible, and it will help all of us in our lives. I love you all.

- Tyler

Last P-Day in Provo

August 9, 2010

Dear family,
This last week as gone by so fast. On Tuesday we had another LGM and devotional. The LGMs have all been very helpful for me as I prepare for my mission. On Wednesday we had another TRC appointment. We had to contact about families and the importance of families in Spanish and then teach the first Lesson in English. Our contact went great. The woman we contacted was pretty nice about how poor our Spanish was. She was very patient with us. Our lesson was kind of rough. We were working with our investigator on Joseph Smith and where he got his authority as a prophet. One of the teachers was our investigator and he made it pretty tough, but at the end the Spirit was there and he accepted the commitments we gave him so it turned out alright. On Thursday and Friday nothing happened other than the daily grind of the MTC, but on Saturday we had another practice lesson. This time we taught Lesson 2 which is on the Plan of Salvation. It was a train wreck. I learned a lot from it though. The 2 missionaries we were teaching gave us some great tips for the future. We ran in circles and didn't teach very well but we were finally improving by the end of the lesson. On Sunday we had our departure devotional and a Sunday night fireside. There have been a lot of talks and devotionals on service and obedience since I got here. The Spirit continues to be so strong. We have been preping to leave today and tonight we have a Health and Safety meeting for departure. Tomorrow we will be packing so we can be ready to leave by 6:00 a.m. (Much better than the 4:30 that we had to get to the MTC.) There is a group of about 40 missionaries going to the MTC in Peru at the same time as us. At least thats what it looked like at the departure devotional. My flight group is 8 missionaries. I am actually flying on Delta Airlines so my bags can be 50 pounds and I can have 40 pound carry-on not to mention I can use my backpack as my little back so wight and room won't be an issue and Ill be able to bring plenty to study on the 12 to 13 hour trip to Peru. If there is one thing I wish I had done more of before I left was study Preach My Gospel more. Trevor and Alex and Megan (just in case) should study PMG as soon as possible. Especially the Lessons in Chapter 3. Know them in English really well and practice teaching the doctrines in them and you will not be as overwhelmed when you get to the MTC. They use PMG so much in the MTC. Study the scriptures as well. The more knowledge you have the easier it will be when you turn 19 and leave on your missions. (Or 21 if Megan decides to go. :) ) It will still be overwhelming, but it will be less. Spanish is still tough, but it is getting easier. I can understand a lot that the missionaries who have been here long are saying, but responding is difficult and frustrating.
I do get your Dear Elder letters, but I wasn't able to respond to them because they don't print them off until 5:30 every night, and I have to write earlier than that. (Sunday's don't get printed off until Monday night.) Sounds like everything is going well at home, and Bar-T is still lots of fun. Im glad to hear that the ward has another baptism. This work is so important. If I could request one thing, it would be for you to pray for the investigators learning the gospel and the potential investigators around the world. Missionaries are told to not try and figure out how well they taught, but to try and figure out how the investigator is feeling. We are instructed to teach to lead the investigator to know certain things, to feel certain things, and to be willing to do certain things to exercise their faith. (This depends on the progress of the investigator and what Lesson is being taught.) Commitments are so essential. Beacause if they won't keep their commitments it will be harder for them to be ready for covenants made in the church. This work is moving forward and it is so incredible. The next time I write you, I will be in Peru! If letters are sent to Provo after I am gone they will be returned to sender with the correct address. All that will be needed is the extra postage. :) I love you all. Work hard. Keep the faith. Strive to be better every day.
Tyler

Dear family
Thanks for the first letter you sent me. The MTC is great and the Spirit is incredibly strong. The people in my district continue to be an inspiration to me. The opportunity to serve a mission is incredible. The language has been tough, ubt it is still wonderful to be working on speaking Spanish. On Wednesday we had to opportunity to go to what is called the TRC (Teaching Resource Center). At the TRC we practiced contacting someone at their house in Spanish and then we were able to practice teaching the first lesson in English. Even though we were with someone acting as an investigator the Spirit was so strong and it testified that what we were teaching is true. We actually had a trio instead of just me and my companion because they didn't have enough teachers for our district so we had to have one companionship split up. Elder Vaughan was the third elder added to our companionship. It made it so we had to shift how we were going to teach a little bit, but the flow of the lesson was still great. Every Tuesday we have an LGM (Large Group Meeting) where were learn about being better missionaries. On Tuesday we learned about having a baptism mindset on our missions and doing a little extra work to be a little bit better. Brother Littlefield was the teacher and he showed how just adding 2 or 3 contacts per day can make the amount of total baptisms in the mission go up. He also pointed out that our missions are about number of baptisms because each number represents an individual coming closer to Christ through the gospel. On Tuesday we also had a devotional for Gene R. Cook, and he taught us how to "discourage discouragement" and how to be an effective missionary. One thing he said was about music. He said "Music has a way of conveying the Spirit that words cannot." I got some other quotes I really like as well.

M. Russell Ballard said about missionary work:
"Your capacity to baptize is going to be directly proportionate to your preparation, your obedience, and your capacity as a teacher."

John Taylor said about teaching and missionary work:
"It is true intelligence for a man to take a subject that is mysterious and great in itself, and to unfold and simplify it so that a child can understand it."
My MTC President, Ralph W. Smith said about obedience:
"Select obedience is not obedience at all."

Dieter F. Uchtdorf said about work ethic:
"The Lord doesn't expect us to work harder than we are able. He doesn't (nor should we) compare our efforts to those of others. Our Heavenly Father asks only that we do the best we can - that we work according to our full capacity, however great or small that may be."

I know all of these statements are true and they have helped me in preparing for my mission and they will help me remember how to teach and be obedient. The one from President Uchtdorf especially helps me as I look around and almost all of my district is better than me at the language. I can keep pressing on because I shouldn't worry about how well they are doing. My mission has been great so far and extremely overwhelming, and it will only get more so. I leave for the Peru MTC on August 11th. I leave Salt Lake City at 9:30 and fly to Atlanta for a 2 hour layover. We then leave Atlanta at 5:00 eastern time and head to Lima. We land in Lima at 10:00ish Peru time. I am really excited and really nervous.

Today we got to go to the Provo Temple and do a temple session. The opportunity was great and I felt the Spirit so strongly. Every once in a while over the past few days I have felt like I am not able to do the language and the mission because honestly, it's hard. But an incredible thought came to my mind as I was listening to the prayer in the prayer circle during the session. It went something like this:

"They just prayed for you in the prayer circle Tyler. They just prayed for every missionary in the world. In fact, there are so many members throughout the world praying for you every day. They are praying for your safety and your success, not to mention the people in your family and circle of friends who pray for you especially. What were you doing being worried at all about your mission? With that many prayers, how can you fail?

I may not feel ready for my mission yet, and I may never feel perfectly ready, but I am getting there and so many people are praying for me. I also know what I am doing is important because of my testimony. Se que La Iglesia dDe Jesucristo De Los Santos Do Los Últimos Días es verdadero. (I know that the Church of Jesus Christ is true.) Se que Jesucristo es mi Slavador. (I know Jesus Christ is my Savior.) Se que José Smith fue un profeta de Dios. (I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.) Y se que el Libro De Mormón es verdadero. (I know the Book of Mormon is true.) These basic beliefs are what I am taking to the people in Peru, and they are what can drive me forward on my mission. I love you all.
-Tyler