I’ve (almost) completed 6 MONTHS in my mission! That’s a fourth of the mission! I can’t believe how time flies! Of course, I still have 18 months left, but I still can’t believe it’s ONE-FOURTH OF MY MISSION! Every day, week, and month is so similar that the time just passes and I don’t even notice it! Before I know it I’ll have a year!
And, sorry all, but this week was pretty basic, so I don’t have ANYTHING interesting to share. The only part that was different was giving NINE blessings of health — and eight of those were one family! I don’t know what bug’s been going around, but it was pretty cool to be able to use the power of God to help other people get well.
Then, of course, we had General Conference, when the prophet and 12 apostles share guidance they’ve received for our day and also messages to help us understand better the principles of the gospel. It was a little weird to listen in Spanish because the translation really loses a lot; it’s the exact same words, but you don’t get the emotion that some of them (*cough* Elder Holland *cough*) show when they share their messages. Thankfully the Spirit’s still the same, so it was good. I would share some of my favorite quotes, but I’m not really sure what was actually said in English and I’m still not very good at translating (One of these days! C’mon, Gift of Tongues!).
This week I realized just how far I’ve come in my Spanish. I still can’t really translate, as I said, and I KNOW I make a TON of mistakes when I’m talking (Dumb conjugations! Why does it have to be different for EVERYTHING*?!), but I’m actually able to understand and talk!
I’ve been in the same area, Machu Picchu, for all of my mission up to now, and when I first started I had no clue what a lot of the people here were saying because I didn’t know the words and everyone has a personal accent, some of which are difficult to understand. However, now I understand almost everything, speak almost fluently, and don’t need to think as much to understand. In the beginning I had to focus a LOT to understand anything! Now it’s more like reflex. Even the accents that were most difficult for me in the beginning are easy to understand now! So I’m definitely making progress… and, of course, being blessed!
Well, that’s all I’ve got. I don’t even have any pictures to share! Again, sorry, but next week should be better!
— Elder Schroeder
* i.e. “to think” is “pensar”, and “I think”, “you think”, and “he / she / it thinks” (Not much change there) are “yo pienso”, “tu piensas”, and “usted (you formal) / el / ella piensa”. WHY?!