From Kent 9/14

Hola del CCM! (<--Spanish for MTC)‏


Helloo Hello!!

Things are just zipping along here like crazy, it's hard to believe that we're already six weeks into the MTC (Well, we will be on Wednesday). Many a things have been a happenin' here this past week!

We got a true taste of some good ol' quality time Zone Leader duties. There was a batch of contention in the oven of one of the districts, so after approximately four hours of prayer, meetings, prayer, interviews, prayer, discussions, prayer, deliberations, prayer, deliberations, and some phone callery and prayer, 'twas sorted out. Oy!

We get a new batch of missionaries this week! This district will be doubling the number of Hermanas in our Zone, bringing in four sisters, two of them we believe to be international. (Their ID numbers are different and their names are Soo Ryun Lee and Feofaakiakakau Funaki, and yes, that is those are actual names, not exagerations). So in addition to being host missionaries on Wednesday this week, we'll have to go find these two sisters the day they come, which will be on Tuesday instead of Wednesday like the rest of the clan. Then give the whole district the new and improved/lengthened intro to MTC, tour, rules layout, uplift and loved...ness thing. That we do. On Wednesday and Thursday nights with new districts. :)

We witnessed some great courage and wisdom from one of our Elders this week. Knowing he had left some unfinished things back home, he talked with the Branch President, etc., and flew back home yesterday for a time to get things all sorted out. He's already got a system set up to keep studying PMG and learning Spanish, and we hope to have him in Panama in a few months. Very humbling to watch him do it all on his own accord, and with determination.

This week we did our first SYL day, speaking only Spanish for all of Friday. It was a challenge, but it helped us all to focus and it was great to use the language that much. Hna. Scaife never ceases to amaze me, I am SOOO grateful to have her for a teacher. She was telling us about the need to teach from the heart, etc., not just teaching but TEACHING, and it took a while for me to figure it out, but then it hit me. Those are the exact, abstract, make-no-sense but actually does-make-sense words I use when I try to get dancers to DANCE and not just move. That kind of "meaning it" and "from the heart." It clicked, and it makes sense, and it has greatly improved my teaching I've felt.

On the subject of teaching, we taught four lessons this last Saturday, it was exhausting but great at the same time. Though technically all were "the first lesson" the investigator's needs differed so greatly that only one of them really followed "the script" so to speak. Though with limited Spanish it's hard to go too far off base, which is a good and bad thing. Oh yeah, we're teaching wholely and entirely in Spanish now.

Estoy lo encontrando difícil decir mucho más, la menos en inglés. Entonces, intentará hablar español! Vimos "Los Testamientos" ayer, y cada vez lo veo crece más y más poderoso. Cuando vi ayer El Espíritu fue lo más poderso de cualquier vez lo vía. No tenemos mucho tiempo más, entonces terminará pronto. La Iglesia de Jesucristo de Los Santos de los Últimos Días es verdadera, sin duda. Estoy animado enseñarlo con la gente de Chilé y Concepción. La gozo que trae no puede ser econtrado de tereneal cosas. Recuerdelo.

Los amo mucho, toman suerte!

Elder Kent José Pímentel.