9/22/17 Earthquakes and Blessings

Well friends and fam,

This weeks definitely has had its ups and downs. butttttt, the downs have been the days I've learned the most about this gospel, our savior, and myself. so lets get ittttttt.

IT was so sick to hear from the fam and friends on pday!!! my  pdays consist of basketball, laundry, volleyball and emailing!! Last pday I beat a 6 foot 10 Argentine in a dunk contest hahahaha. Everyone is so friendly here!! most of my friends are latinos and they're some of the most humble people I know!!!!

Mexico independence day. We had to stay inside as much as we can because apparently, the latinos think it's a good idea to fire endless rounds of bullets into the air. I spent my morning being doctor phil and helping solve issues in a companionship. its kinda hard to solve problems when ones super stubborn and one is having serious anxiety. butttttt eventually after a couple of long talks, the elder decided to cancel his flight and stick it out!!! that made me so happy! as a district leader, I genuinely have grown to love each and every one of the people in my district and it really hurts me to see people hurting soI'vee been trying my best to help all that i can. We also got 2 new investigators! fernanda and christina! fernanda lives w her boyfriend so you already know that chastity talks goin downnnnnn.

Our first lesson with fernanda was amazing! we taught the restoration and i was able to not use any notes or books! the spirit was so strong and i have no idea how i was able to teach the whole restoration in a language that ive been learning for a little over 2 and a half weeks. buttttt she was having a little trouble grasping the thought of a prophet butttttt after reading a couple scriptures in the bible she was able to connect and is doing well! now on to the chastity lesson with her smh.

Today was probably one of the most amazing days at the CCM. Well, the day didnt start the best (it was raining so hard and it was so windy the rain was falling sideways) but it eneded amazing. As i was sitting in class, an elder who has been having some troubles asked if i would be able to meet with him as soon as possible. We left the class and we sat down in an empty classroom. As soon as we sat down the elder bursted into tears and told me how much he wants to go home and how much he hates it here in the ccm and that he was in need of help. We talked for about 45 minutes and at the end he asked if there was anything he could do for me, and i looked at him and said well no, but is there anything i can do for you. and he asked for a blessing. i was a little caught off guard but i accepted and gave him a blessing. I cant even begin to emphasize how inportant it is to be ready and worthy as priesthood holders. a few hours later we were back in class studying and i had a strong prompting to turn around. when i did i saw the elder, sitting alone crying and looking through a packet about what to do when you want to go home, and steps to overcome his issue. Instantly a scripture popped into my head. i had no idea what scripture it was, but i flipped open to it. it was Alma capitulo 31 versiculo 31 it says, o lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful. wilt thou comfort my soul in christ. o lord, wilt thou grant unto me that i may have strength that i may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me. i wrote my testimony on a small 3x5 notecard and gave it to him. he wrapped his arms around me and thanked me and told me that was exactly what he needed to hear. this was probably my best day so far.

monday we met with the new investigador christina, shes catholic, and is interested in the church. we talked for a solid 30 minutes about the apostasy then i shared the first vision from memory. that was probably the most scary and coolest experiences. she was babtized ;) into the catholic church and she wasnt super happy when i told her that her baptism wasnt by an authorized priesthood holder. oh well. sorry all of my email are the same but everyday we have the same routine. the only crazy thing that happened today was there was a huge spider lingering above the top bunk between the gaps in the cinder block right above my head. yeah the past couple nights i've felt like spiders have been all over me but it's whatever. im thinking its a good time to get use to it.

every tuesday we have a district fast and it wrecks me. instead of going to lunch elder christensen and i decided to go take nap. about 15 minutes into the nap the bunkbed started shaking violently. i thought christensen was having a seizure so i look underneath me and he was fine. then i looked to the table where everything was falling off the table. and THEN i heard the sirens. we ran outside and it was surreal. the fences were moving like in waves and she lightpoles looked a little like noodles. a 7.1 earthquake hit south mexico city so by the time it got to us it was around a 5.3. it was an insane experience. after getting a little shaken up we taugth the law of chastity to fernanda. she speaks so fast. i accidentally called her a sinner so thats how that lesson went lol. she said am i a sinner? and i thought she said is that a sin? so yeah my spanish confidence went wayy down after that.

wednesday as soon as the alarm went off elder christensen asked for a blessing. he was up all night and looked like death (in the nicest way). i threw on my clothes and gave him a blessing. about an hour later he threw up everywhere and felt fine after. so this week i gave a blessing to help someone throw up... nice.TAFT CAME TODAY!!! because of the earthquake his flight rerouted to cali for the night so he came wednesday instead of tuesday!! its so nice to have seth and him here its a party. today was just an average day.

thursday. nothin says goodmorning in mexico like mexicans chasing stray dogs on fourwheelers in the CCM hahaha. Today as christensen and I left the casa i felt like i left something in the casa. after going through the mental checklist it wasnt me that forgot something it was christensen hahah. he forgot his nametag. After he got his name tag the feeling went away and a scripture in D&C popped into my head. If ye are not one, ye are not mine. this may sound dumb but it really testified to me hahaha. GOOD NEWS fernanda finally agreed to keeping the law of chastity so its about dang time. i had to kindly tell her that either her husband needs to put a ring on it or she needs to skrt on outta his casa. so all is well with the investigators!!

i just wanna close with a quick thought from the tuesday devotional.

sister cook said we should be the happiest people because we have the truth!! and thats so true! many people ask why are mormons so happy and ive found its the truth, book of mormon, and the restored gospel that bring me the most happiness! i sometimes we learn more from the white parts of the Book of Mormon that the black parts.because the spirit is the teacher. m almost halfway through my mtc experience and ive loved every second of it. I honestly couldnt thing of a better place to be. i love you all! have a good week!

elder broadhead