"I'll go where the Lord wants me to go"

 (written May 15th)

Well, I'm going to start with the bad news again. Argentina has completely stopped giving out visas for now. So... I''ll proably be reassigned in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully I'll eventually end up in Mendoza but you never know. If I'm in my reassigned area for too long, most likely they'll just keep me there. Either way, I'll go where the Lord wants me to go.

This week has a been a huge week of learning for me. It started with the devotional last Tuesday night where D. Todd Christofferson from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke to us. He and his wife shared some good insight on loving the people we teach and gave a talk on the Doctrine of Christ. Afterwards my Branch President had a awesome discussion with us. Here are some things he shared:

 - As missionaries, we need to give our all; when we give our all, we are given no limits because God will bless us with all He has for us. God is always willing to give His all and Jesus Christ gave his all for us - as representatives of Jesus Christ, we need to be willing to give our all for them as well.

- In Spanish, the word for God is Dios. ¨Dió su Hijo¨ means God gave His son. Just thought that was interesting.

- Also, a reason that parents are so blessed when their children serve missions may be because they are willing to give their children for the work of our Father in Heaven.

I've learned this week the importance of having effective companionship study time. Elder Marsh and I have stepped it up the past week in our companionship studies and it has really shown in our rock solid lessons. We are really progressing in both the language and the Gospel. Tomorrow will be our first Spanish only day with no exceptions.

On Saturday we watched some awesome clips from a talk that Elder Bednar gave here at the MTC a while back. It was about the difference between understanding and mental comprehension. I really got a lot out of the talk, here are some notes from it:

 - Understanding is not mental comprehension, understanding changes attitude and behavior.

- When what we know in our head moves to our heart through the power of revelation by the Holy Spirit - that's the beginning of understanding.

- Doctrine is truth revealed that leads to our eternal progression.

- No matter what our investigators want to know about the Church or what crazy questions they have, it'll always be the simple, foundational, and fundamental Doctrine that will help them bring them closer to Christ and desire more.

- Two questions we need to ask ourselves when teaching someone: What doctrine, if understood, would address the specific challenge they are having? What can I do to help them learn and apply this doctrine?

During the week we have extra study time where we can choose what type of study we want to do (personal study, companionship study, or langauge study). Often times we decide to take a break and get on LDS.org to watch conference talks or Mormon Messages... you wouldn't believe how much I look forward to just being able to watch something..haha.

Anyways, I watched two talks this week be Elder Holland (of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles). I watched one of them because it's my favorite talk of all time and I hadn't watched it since being here. I chose the other one randomly because Elder Holland is my favorite speaker and I just wanted to hear another one of his talks. They are both powerful, factual, and logical talks on the Book of Mormon.

- The first one is called 'My Words..Never Cease'. I like it because it factually and logically explains why it is okay to have another testament of Jesus Christ (such as the Book of Mormon) for scripture along with the Old and New Testaments.

- The second one is my favorite talk called 'Safety for the Soul'. This talk is a powerful testimony of the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon and those who brought it forth. It starts off a little slower but I promise you that it gets good.

If you guys get anything from this blog post.. please make it is watching those two talks. Whether you are looking for knowlege or spiritual upliftment, I know you will find it there. It will take 35 minutes our of your day or 20 minutes each if you watch them seperately. I know everyone can find an answer or something that uplifts them as they watch those two talks. They are a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon-Another Testament of Jesus Christ. I know the strength and clarity I have found in my life through reading the Bible and Book of Mormon and I know that it can bring clarity to the lives of others as well. I have found a love for the scriptures here more so than I ever have before and I can't wait to share them with others.

To watch the videos go to LDS.org.

- click the link on the front page that says "April 2012 General Conference"

- click the link on the left sidebar that says "All Conferences"

-- For 'My Words..Never Cease' click the year 2008 and choose April. As you scroll down it is the first talk under Sunday Afternoon Session. Choose the Watch option by clicking on the movie real icon.

-- For 'Safety for the Soul' click 2009 and choose October. As you scroll down it is the first talk under Sunday Afternoon Session. Choose the Watch option by clicking on the movie real icon.

I love all of you guys and am praying for you all back home. I am doing great here, no need to worry. I hope you take the time to watch those talks, I know there is something there for everyone.

Love,

- Elder Rainock

p.s. I got a box of cookies the other day and I have no idea who or where they are from. If you sent me a box of cookies let me know :)