Hey Family
First of all. Mom, don't worry about my having a stomach ache. It's not a big deal. I made a goal to stop making negative comments about the food and my stomach pains and as soon as I did my stomach ache went away. The Lord teaches us through our trials. No matter how trivial or small they are. I really really appreciated all of your letters. Getting mail is the best. Tell Rob and Laura thank you so much for the letters. They made me feel so happy.
Conference was fantastic of course. We all go into this big auditorium to watch it on huge projectors. It's pretty great. Very powerful talks as you know. It's fantastic that you guys were thinking of questions during conference. Thinking of questions before conference or before personal scripture study or when we pray is one of the best ways to receive guidance from the Spirit. One of my questions was how can I be more open to receiving revelation from the Spirit. It's funny that that was just like dad's question. They talked a lot about personal revelation.
One of the goals that my companion and I have been struggling with is calling each other 'Elder'. It's very difficult because we have always called each other by our first names since we were 14. We are getting better, but it's kind of funny that we are having such a hard time with that.
I never see Amanda. I try to peek in sometimes, but I can never see her [at the MTC Cafeteria]. Maybe I will leave a note on my tray one day. I'm so excited about being an Uncle. When I was watching conference that one sister (can't remember her name :( ) [Elaine Dalton] talked about raising girls and I thought: Carlene and Brent are going to have a girl, aren't they. haha. It came true. That was a great talk, but it made me want to be a dad. Not exactly my purpose right now, but I am preparing for that.
I learn so much here it's ridiculous. My teachers are fantastic. Just as soon as I think I might finally have this teaching thing down, there is something else that I find out is extremely important that we missed. This is how Heavenly Father teaches. Line upon line. My professor told us a story about how a sister missionary was teaching him. The sister missionary started to bear her testimony, but because she didn't really know the language, what she said didn't make any sense at all. My professor said that he felt the Spirit so powerfully when she spoke that even though he did not understand what she said, when they asked him to be baptized he said he would. He said to us: They could have asked me to do anything and I would have done it because that girl's testimony was so strong even though it made no sense. That really taught me how important teaching with the Spirit is. Not that I don't need to learn the language, but that while teaching I need to focus on the language of the Spirit and not the language of Portuguese.
I am so happy to be here and I am so thankful for your prayers. I love you all so much. Nathaniel and Caleb, keep strengthening your testimonies. You are great examples to me. Prepare to serve a mission and study at least a little scripture every day. I love you all! You're the best family a missionary could ask for.
Elder Marc Skiles
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