June 14, 2011

Dear Family,

This week was awesome again :)  Except that everyone is getting sick.  Apparently there is this thing called the Nova virus (I think it's a strain of Swine Flu) going around BYU campus, so we're not allowed to shake hands with anybody or anything.  One of the Elders in my District has been in the hospital three times this week, but not for the virus.  They think he has a stomach ulcer from all of the stress from the work...  You can't blame him!  It's tough, but so worth it!  This week Elder Rampton was having some pretty nasty feelings in his stomach and it sounded like appendicitis, but thankfully it wasn't.  It turned out he just had severe constipation XD  haha we all got a pretty good laugh out of it.  Dad was warning me about the food in Mexico in his letter, but really I think the food at the MTC is sometimes probably worse on your disgestive system.  So Todd was right about the French Toast Sticks.  I always get 2 or 3 plates of them because they are what I think God must eat for breakfast...  But anyway, when we went to the hospital to get Elder Rampton's cat scan done, guess who I saw??  Tessa Bartlett!!  It was really weird, but really nice to see a familiar face.  We probably talked for about 30 minutes just about life and everything that's going on...  It was cool :) 

So this week I had the oportunity to give Elder Rampton a blessing and it was a wonderful experience.  I have given a couple before, but with this Spirit that I feel here in the MTC, I know that these blessings have a lot of power.  So I just said it and I felt like it was just any other blessing, but then later Elder Rampton mentioned a few of the things that I had said, and I couldn't even remember what I had said.  It's amazing!  I gave a blessing and spoke the words that just completely came to me and they really helped and comforted Elder Rampton.  Knowing that I am a clean enough vessel for the spirit to dwell in is the most wonderful feeling.  The experience was very humbling and I learned a lot from it. 

The temple, of course, is still awesome, but I don't really have anything to share about it.  I finished the book of Mormon in the Celestial Room two or three weeks ago, I guess you could say that's "pretty cool!"  Thanks for all of your love and support! 

It's crazy that Marriah's married!!  Ah!  I just can't even believe it...  I'll bet she is so happy.  It seems like I just met her like a few months ago and she's already happily married in the temple :)  Oh yeah, I don't really have a whole lot of people's addresses, so would you mind sending me a list with some addresses on them, like Marriah's and our family member's for example?  Also I want my priesthood line of authority if it wouldn't be too much to ask.  Muchas gracias. 

Let me know about Russell!  Im' curious as to when and where he'll be serving his mission.  It's so fun to hear about people you've known and been friends with for such a long time heading out on missions...  Too bad we couldn't be in the MTC at the same time!  Every Saturday I meet up at the top of the stairs with one of my roommates from BYU, Bryce, and talk to him about his experience and we reminisce (spelled wrong probably :)) and it's just a fun time to remember all of the awesome experiences that we had at BYU..  I actually see quite a few people from BYU around here pretty often.  It's cool!

So I don't really have a whole lot of time left.  I guess I'll just tell you that this week has been awesome and we're really learning a lot about how important teaching by the power of the spirit is.  After all, when conversion comes it is only through the power of the Holy Ghost.  We are just the guides on our investigators' (or whoever we are teaching's) spiritual journey and we should always strive to both teach and learn by the power of the Holy Ghost.  Yo se que el poder de Dios es mas important que todas las cosas en el mundo.  El evangelio bendice a las familias y a través del poder del Espiritu Santo, podemos convertir al Evangelio de Jesucristo y tener felicidad siempre.  I'll write you a letter if I think of anything important that I forgot to include in this letter, but for now, Cíao!

Love,

Eric