Learning to Be Humble

So this p-day I got to do something that I've wanted to do for p-day my whole mission. PLAY PAINTBALL. And it was preeeeetty fun. We went as a group of forty missionaries so there was plenty of people to shoot at and/or be shot by which always makes it more fun right? 

This week I was really able to see how the lord can give us specific direction on how to improve if we are humble and seek the improvement. On Tuesday we had a lesson with Jesica (it´s actually spelled with a j not a y) and a member present. The member has recently returned from her mission so after the lesson, figuring that she would be able to give good advice, I asked what we could have done better in the lesson. She surprised me by asking if we had practiced the lesson that morning. We had planned what we were going to share but we did not practice exactly how we were going to share it. The next day, Wednesday I received the same message from Presidente Alliaud at our multi-zone conference. He told us all that even if we hate doing practices of the lessons, it shows our love for the investigator and we are promised the guidance of the spirit during those lessons. I got the message loud and clear, DO PRACTICES. So Elder Fantham and I have set the goal of doing at least one practice each morning for a lesson of the day. 

It´s great to feel the hand of the Lord in your life. Even if that hand is turning your head so that you´ll notice something that needs improvement. All we need to do to be better is be humble. Be humble enough to ask what needs to be done and then be humble enough to actually do it. None of us is perfect and we have all fallen short of the glory of God, but if we seek the Lord and try our very best to do his will, he can purify us and help us make it where we want to go.

Good luck this week in all you do. Con cariño.  

Elder Lulich

P.s.

I´m sorry I haven´t been sending photos. I seemed to have misplaced (that´s the fancy way to say lost) the cable that connects my camera to the computer. I think I left it in the computer place we went to 2 weeks ago. If I don´t find it, there are other ways to get photos from a camera into a computer so I´ll figure it out.    

Helping Jesica Stop Smoking

This week was especially special because for the first time in my mission we are helping someone stop smoking. Or better said this is the first time in my mission that it has actually started to work. What really helps is that Yesica, the investigator, really has the desire to quit smoking. What really drives her to give up cigarettes is the fact that it will help her three year old son Thiago have a good childhood and a good future. This week we made a plan with her so that she can stop smoking before the 19th of this month. If all goes well, and I´m sure it will because Yesica is quite determined and she´s going to have the Lord´s help on top of that, Yesica will be baptized the 26th of this month.

I can really testify that the Lord is willing to help us. hes loves us and is willing to carry the things that we don´t have the strength to. We just have to be willing and put in our best effort to do all that he says and His divine love will change and better our lives.

OOh I've got good news. First and most important do yo guys remember Rocio the first person I baptized? Yeah her and her husband Ronan are going to be sealed in May! (I don´t know if I already told you that) and Also I got chosen (with a select group of other elders) to sing a special version of Nearer My God to Thee for the Easter choir. You guys can look up the version online it´s the vocal point one. 

Have a great week

"MMM.. que palaaabrita"

Sorry that it's been a while since I've written. I think it may have already been 2 weeks. Well there's a lot that has happened in that time. I think that the most interesting piece of news is that our investigator Nelson got baptized. Wait who´s Nelson? He´s one of the investigators that we invited to be baptized a few weeks ago. He progressed super quickly. He really is a testimony to me that the Lord is preparing people to accept this message. In the first week of this month we met Nelson as he was out for a run. He actually started to talk to us and asked if we could go by his house to talk with him about God. We went by later that week and in the first visit invited him to be baptized and he accepted. Nelson just kept progressing rapidly from that point; reading the Book of Mormon and basically everything else that we gave him. Nelson also loved being in the church, he even came to clean the church the Saturday before his baptism, just because he knew that being there would bring him blessings. Nelson is an example to me that this gospel makes people happy. When we exercise our faith in the word of the Lord and do what his gospel requires we will be greatly blessed. 

And apart from this I'm doing great. We got completely soaked in a torrential storm on Wednesday. One of those storms that fills up the streets. But luckily the rain was lukewarm. I kind of enjoy the storms here, there´s lots of lightning. 

But anyway have a great week! 

Elder Lulich

(explanation of title: a Nelson quote. My English translation would be "ooo... that word though")

Joining the Choir

I've been great! I've been getting sunburned these past few days from playing soccer. Saturday morning we played with the youth from the ward and Nelson, an investigator that will be baptized this week (woohoo)! Also today we played with the elder´s after our choir practice. I think my handling skills are getting a lot better. And that´s right mom, choir practice! The mission is getting together a choir to sing for Easter. Right when I heard about it I signed up. We'll be singing at the end of march. We had our first practice yesterday. It felt pretty good to sing in a choir again, it's been a while since the last time I held sheet music in my hands. Also my companion and I will be helping out with the stake choir for stake conference. So I've been getting quite a few opportunities to use my talents now. And it sure helps that my companion is musical too. You guys should hear how he plays piano. He can just sit down at any piano and bust out some improvised jazz song. It´s pretty awesome. Maybe one day I´ll be like that with the guitar... nah. 

I love you all, 

Tyler 

Sharing Jerky with Members

I got the package on Tuesday! Thanks so much, it was nice to see the new pictures. Everything that was inside was fine. The pants fit perfectly. I shared some of the jerky with some members of the ward.  One of the sisters that I offered jerky to said that just the smell of the jerky gave her a stomachache. Other members tried the jerky, made a face and asked "do you guys eat that often?" It was pretty funny to see their reactions. Thanks for the letters too. I want to try to send a few your way too. 

I love you guys.
 Tyler

Even though the members didn't enjoy the jerky,
Elder Fantham did!

Will You...?

Note: Just so you know that phrase that was the title of last week´s letter "this guy´s a crack up" is said a lot in New Zealand. It was not a result of my bad grammar.  

 Me and my companion with Lucas Requena. A member
who will soon be headed off to Brasil on his mission.

This week was great. Elder Fantham and I had the opportunity to invite several people to be baptized. The baptismal invitation is always a key part of what we do as missionaries. Without the baptismal invitation and other commitments that we extend we would just be ineffective teachers that tell people words that they can find in from other sources. Our objective isn´t that the people learn more about Christ, but rather that they learn more about Christ and though their ACTIONS draw closer to him. That´s why we always are inviting people to improve, to do more, to do things differently, because they only can build their faith in Christ through action on his word. 

Have a great week. 

This Guy's a Crack Up!

This week was spectacular. My new companion Elder Fantham set foot in Córdoba for the first time on Tuesday. And who would have guessed that he´s from New Zealand. That´s right; he's not Latino, he´s not from the united states, he´s a kiwi (that´s what he told me is the nickname for people from New Zealand). I thought that it would be hard to train someone who´s native language is English, but it is surprisingly easy, especially with a companion like Elder Fantham. He knows why he´s here and is willing to do what he´s been called to do. He has no problem testifying of what he knows to be true and he already speaks and understands Spanish fairly well. He is a great missionary.

This Saturday we were able to have some great lessons. I don't have much time to explain how they went, but I´ll just say that it is amazing to see how quickly I can grow to love and to want to help these people. I love the moment when I am listening to someone talk about their life and I just think," wow I know exactly what you need, it´s the gospel of Jesus Christ."

I testify that the gospel is for all people.

Have a great week