Alright. My week. lets see. Obviously the weekend was the most exciting thing. SO we'll just skip to that.
Friday- We bounced on out of Usulutan at about 1:30 pm in a direct bus to San Salvador. That bus took like an hour and half...so we got there about 3 pm. Then we hopped on another bus that took us to Layco, where the chapel was. We got off a little before the chapel and went to KFC for a late lunch then walked over to the chapel (sidenote: Layco is one of the oldest chapels in all of El Salvador). It was packed. Obviously seeing as it had every missionary in El Salvador (both missions were there). (I also saw that kid from Devin's ward there...from a distance.) I think we sat down like 4ish...I don't remember. And then Elder Martino and Elder Amado from the Area Presidency started to talk with us to pass the time. Good thing because Pres. Eyring didn't get there until like 6:30. But it didn't seem like a long wait. They even let us visit so I got to talk with a bunch of missionaries. Elder Amado is freaking funny. So then Pres. Eyring came and talked with us, and gave us the opportunity to hear E. Christofferson and E. Walker (from the 70 in charge of Temples).
I'll share some of the notes I took:
Elder Amado: At first he just explained the Church Organization. First Presidency, Apostles, 70s...all that. And talked about how we have a special opportunity to be with at least 1 from the 3 most important quorums in the church. Later he talked about how we need to use the Spirit more. The conversion will come when we pray and then plan lessons for the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Only from the Spirit we can gain a testimony.
Elder Martino: As missionaries, if we aren't obedient, we aren't converted. I think that can apply to all members. If we don't want to be obedient to the commandments or the council of the prophet, are we really converted? He talked about how during our mission is where we will change the most, and that we really won't change that much after the mission. The changes we go through in the mission are for life. He also talked about how to receive revelation, we need to ask first. It just doesn't come. We need to look first and then we will find it or receive it.
Elder Falabella was there but he didn't talk. But I have heard him before.
Elder Walker: Something simple. Let the temple and its dedication inspire us. Something for every member. Let the temple inspire us.
Elder Christofferson: We should always express our gratitude and thanks to others. We are to be disciples of Christ. He also told us that we are their (the apostles) companions, but then told us to never do anything that would embarrass them. Also to never use the name of Christ in vain. The name has power and we also have his authority. Never use it in vain. He also joked that Peter is looking at us thinking...if I had planes, cars, email, phones....I would have converted the whole world in 10 months.
Pres. Eyring: First off...always smile. Everything will work out. So work hard and smile. It will work the way God wants it to work, and that is better than what we can do. SMILE!!! haha He also had us rolling on the floor during this part. He's pretty funny. Later he talked about how we have been invited to be witnesses of Christ like the Apostles and the 70. And that we should have deep in our hearts that Jesus is the Christ. And he gave us two ways to do it. 1)Read the Book of Mormon with deep prayer. 2)Know that through his Atonement and faith in him we can be better than we ever thought possible. We can see the blessing of the Atonement when we are faithful to the principles of the Gospel. But he also warned us to not become prideful.
Then we hopped on a bus back to Usu, and my District stayed in the house. We played the Monopoly card game. Super fun. I actually have it in my room if you want to try it out. It's real fun once you know how to play.
Saturday- Nothing big. Just the Cultural Event. It was fun to see the event. Some interesting dances. I also recognized some kids from San Miguel when they did their part. And we saw some kids from our branch during their part. So it was fun. We all had a good time watching the dances, and it talked about the history of the church.
Sunday- Due to difficulties with our satellite at the building where we are...we chartered a bus to Jucuapa. So we actually saw the dedication in Jucuapa. It was worth it. People were crying from sadness before we made that plan to go to Jucuapa because they thought they wouldn't be able to see the dedication. It was definitely a spiritual experience and a great opportunity for the people here. I remember a little from the NC temple dedication.
The talks during what we saw talked a lot about making the temple part of our lives. How it's a blessing that we need to use. Elder Walker talked about how this is temple 135 and with all the temples under construction and announced right now, when they are all completed we will have 160 temples in the world. He also talked about how when he was in Primary, the president of Primary told the kids to memorize where every temple was in the world...there were nine at that time. It's the temple for the kids right now. It's where they will receive many blessings in their lives. He told them to treat it as such. Their temple. Pres Eyring talked about how strong the saints are here and that they knew for a long time that Central and South America would be where the church would become very strong. The temple is proof of that.
And that's all I remember. . I didn't write down the temple stuff. Obviously.
Well...hope something helps you guys.
Have fun reading it.
Love you guys,
Elder Gilreath
