Steenie y Spoonie

 What's Up!!!

My time here at the CCM has F L O W N by. My next P-Day will be in McAllen! 

GOOD:

- MAN I LOVE MY DISTRICT! I definitely know all these kids were placed in my life for a reason. They have taught me a lot and I am gonna miss seeing each one of them everyday.

- I brought up my nickname from home with the Elders I share a room with and now I have become known as "Spoonie" here within my district. Pretty epic style I think. Elder Steen got roped into the nickname game too and now we are often referred to as "Steenie y Spoonie."

- Spanish is getting much better! The CCM is so amazing! We sit in rolly chairs in class! I suck at basketball! I get to see Em everyday! My teachers are awesome! The sunsets are WOW! Hermano Alvarado called me "guapo" this week! I fly to Texas NEXT MONDAY! Had to borrow one of Steen's nametags to class last Monday because I forgot mine! Elder Searle and I wore the same tie on Wednesday! Please send me rice krispy treats!

BETTER:

- Dale G. Renlund was INCREDIBLE. Wow. Elder and Sister Renlund both gave amazing messages about the divine nature of our calls as missionaries and how every call is a result of revelation from God. Something mentioned was that in this gospel we teach the gospel to people one at a time. We need to see people as individuals and take the time for them all to feel seen. After his address, Elder Renlund asked if we would all fistbump him on our way out. He looked every single one of us in the eyes, told us thanks for coming and gave us a fistbump. Talk about practicing what you preach. 

- In our sacrament meetings at the CCM, the speakers are selected during the meeting. Like nobody knows who is going to get asked to speak until after the sacrament has been administered. Granted they only ask for 5 minutes, but we are all still at the point where a 5 minute talk in Spanish is intimidating. Anyways, this Sunday I came to church and the Branch president said "Now we will hear from Elder Stringham" ...yay jaja. No it was a good experience because it both helped me feel comfortable with where I am at and have an increased desire to improve in Spanish this week. 

- We got to attend the temple again this week!! I am always grateful for the opportunity to be inside the Lord's house. An added bonus was that we went to the temple with Emily's district! We got to catch up on the bus ride and take a few pictures together at the temple. So grateful for the opportunity to visit the temple while in the CCM.

BEST:

This week we had a practice lesson with our teacher. We call these activities "Teach an Interested Person" and essentially it is a role play. Hermano Soto was playing the part of "Miguel" and Elder Steen and I were practicing our first contact with "Miguel". After the contact we had feedback with our teacher and what he said really hit me.

"You two are very good teachers but it sometimes feels too serious. Missionary work IS something to take seriously... but to effectively complete missionary work, YOU HAVE TO BE YOURSELF." 

We are all different and all important. God knows who we can uniquely help and places them in our path for us to find. Heavenly Father doesn't want robots. Don't strive to become like your neighbor that you think is perfect, instead strive to become the most perfect version of you. In the words of Marcus B. Nash in his October 2021 General Conference address, "Be you and hold up the light." 

My commitment to myself this week is to be me. Share the gospel through my personality, my experiences and my perspectives. I challenge all of you to do the same, in whatever way works for you.

- Elder Stringham

"Work Hard, Keep the Commandments, Have a Positive Attitude and Show Gratitude."