Alma 26: 12, 22 - Boast not in yourself but in God. He has promised blessings.

Hey family!

I'm glad the surveys finally started again.  I'm seriously LOLing.  Or was.  The questions  are hilarious.  And the answers.  I've hit the half way mark at the MTC.  It's crazy  how quickly the time has flown by here.  But seriously.  Once general conference comes,  I'll only have two weeks!!  This week has been a great one.  Full of spiritual promptings.  I can talk in Spanish better than I ever could the three years that I took it in high school.  Isn't that loco?!  The thing is though that I only know Gospel phrases.  So when we walk into our ''investigators'' home the first few minutes are full of awkward silences.  Which I can't stand.  The weather yesterday was amazing!!! The clouds creeping down on the mountain.  Oh man.  Reminded me of the Misty Mountains in LOTR.  And volleyball was awesome.  The sand felt great.  And the air.  EVERYTHING DID!  I cherish those 50 minutes each day.  It'll be hard to part with volleyball once I leave but the Chile will be soooo much better! I n D&C 59:8, it talks about the sacrifice we make to God. This sacrifice is a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  It isn't a physical sacrifice, but a spiritual one.  True conversion comes once someone has these two.  When they have a broken heart they realize that God is everything.  They become one with their Heavenly Father.  They realize that they are nothing without the mercy of God.  Once they have a contrite heart they become like the people in Mosiah 24: 10-16.  These people were in bondage and they were suffering tremendously. They prayed to the Lord to ease their burdens and to help them through.  The Lord eased SOME of their burdens.  Even though they still suffered, they suffered with joy that the Lord had heard them. Conversion can only take place when a person is willing to submit all to the Lord and come to the realization that without Him, they are nothing. My computer keeps freezing.  Patience..... Every day I look forward to personal study.  It is a time during the day when I can just focus on the doctrines of the Gospel.  I love it.  I promise that my emails will get more interesting once I arrive in Chile!! But I hope they are interesting now.  Love you all! Elder Weidman