Halfway Through the MTC

October 4, 2011
Dear Family,
…
I had probably the coolest teaching experience of my life this past week.
I asked some questions of our investigator and got a good idea of his life and some idea of what he could use. I flipped open the Book of Mormon to 3 Nephi 12:48 and knew right then that he needed to hear it. I started speaking and to be honest I couldn't tell you what I said cause I'm pretty sure I blacked out haha.

I compared the scripture in 3rd Nephi with the similar one in Matthew 5 "be ye therefore perfect" and just explained to him that our Heavenly Father expects us to do our best. Referencing the 3rd Nephi scripture I explained to him that Heavenly Father doesn't expect him to be perfect today, tomorrow, in 5 years or even in 50 years. He expects us to make continual changes in our lives for the better and work to strive to be like him. And that only Heavenly Father and ourselves know when we are trying our best. Having that experience only made me want to study the scriptures and gain insights even more! It was amazing having words that flowed from my mouth. I felt like I was flying.

In other news the more I learn Czech the more I figure out how careful I need to be while speaking. For example, the words for sacrifice and lunch are quite similar: oběd and oběť. I’m pretty sure in a lesson I explained that Jesus made and lunch for us. And afterward asked the class if they would like to go to sacrifice.... haha. I'm sure those experiences will only increase as I figure out more words.

…Love, Elder Stimpson