backlog - part 3

May 2, 2011 [journal entry]
I've been praying a lot for help with the language, but Sunday night was the first time I did with so much sincerity. And that prayer was answered the very next day. Today, I'm so grateful for that.

May 3, 2011 [journal entry]
I'm so grateful for today. It started kinda bad and discouraging, because we really messed up teaching. But at devotional, Elder Ellis of the Seventy and his wife spoke. And they spoke on faith. And it was an answer to my prayers like no other I've ever received. I realized that for all that I've been trying to be a good missionary, I've been trying to do it alone, which is impossible. I must rely on the Lord, put Him and His plan for me first, trust and have faith, then everything else will come after. I hope to keep this in mind and strive to do what He would have me do.

May 4, 2011 [journal entry]
One week down.
The Lord really does humble you when you think too much of yourself. We thought we finally had this down, but today and yesterday have really made me question myself, my real convictions, and even my being here. I'm not sure I have the faith to do this. But taking part in our first missionary service helped, and the continued support of my companion and district sustain me through all my struggles. I'm so grateful for them, and pretty sad I've only got 2 weeks left with them.

from Conor Duncan conor.duncan@myldsmail.net
to [everyone]
date Thu, May 5, 2011 at 9:35 AM
subject First P-day, second email

HI EVERYONE!!! :D

Sorry about Saturday to those who only got a tiny snippet from me. I'm only allowed a half hour per week to look at and reply to emails, and I had to prioritize. But I was smarter about it today, so I have time to be a bit longer. First of all, you all need to get my email address out to everyone you can think of who might want to hear from me, and either send me the address, have them send it to me, or, heaven forbid, WRITE ME A REAL LETTER ONCE IN A WHILE!! I'm not trying to harsh there, but EVERYONE in my 12-elder district but me have been getting letters and packages from their friends and family, and since email is only once a week, while you can read letters whenever you get them, I've been feeling rather lonely sometimes. I'd love to be able to hear from everyone more than just all at once, once a week, and since I'm still in the U.S., snail mail is still reliable. But I'm only in the States for two more weeks, so you're running out of time to do that. I've heard here that one of the easiest ways to do this is on www.dearelder.com. There you can type out your letter, and they'll get it to me by mail. I don't know all the details, but just check it out, please. (And Mom, you said something about sending me stuff, including that soap dish. If you sent it, I didn't get it yet.)

But anyway, except for the occasional bout of loneliness, and the more frequent bouts of frustration and discouragement, I'm doing great here in the Missionary Training Center!!! Spanish is coming so fast, it's really strengthened my faith in the Lord. I've learned more in my week here than I ever did in 2 years of high school. My companion and district are great, too. There are 3 of us off to Guatemala in 2 weeks, 2 of us in my mission, the other in Gua C. North mission. The rest of the 12 are off to either Panama or Honduras (someone find out and tell me the name of Elder Rivas's mission, I wanna know if it's the same). We all get along fantastically, and we're progressing so rapidly, it's amazing.

That's all for now, let me know what's up with you guys.

Till nxt week, LOVELOVELOVE,
Elder Duncan

May 5, 2011 [journal entry]
First P-day!! It was so nice to just unwind and do laundry before lunch. the love among our whole zone is so great, they're all so great. Then going to the temple was great. I said a prayer in the Celestial Room, and I'd never felt the Lord's presence so strongly.