Elder Dickerson: Week 1

Hola everyone! The first week in the CCM (MTC) was so awesome! The first three days were super hard but everyone kept saying "Just make it to Sunday" And it was so true. Sunday was really awesome. There's no spanish classes so you get a little break from learning but we got to watch a talk that Elder Bednar gave in the Provo MTC a few years back. And it was exactly what I needed. Anyway, my companion is Elder Stagg. I'm so glad he's my companion. He's such a hard worker and we really get along well. We got to teach our first lesson in Spanish on friday. Let me tell you it was rough. But every time since we've gotten better and been able to invite the Spirit more. Also the gift of tongues is real but it's a process. God only gives it to us if we do our best and work for it. I can't believe how much we've learned in a week in the CCM. It was really discouraging at first because we talked to guys who have been here for 3 or 4 weeks and they were so good. But with prayer, fasting, and working hard, I can see how much God has helped me and my companion. The spirit in the CCM is amazing. Everyone is going through the same homesickness and struggle to learn spanish but we all are relying on the Lord to help us through it. It's so awesome! They just opened the brand new cafeteria last week and it's really nice. And the food is actually pretty good. Except I learned about the beans the hard way lol. This week was full of a lot of emotions but I know this is where I'm supposed to be. The people in Chile need this gospel and they need to know the peace that it brings. Something funny I learned this week was if this church wasn't true, missionaries would've screwed it up by now lol. Because at the end of the day we're just a bunch of teenagers. The only difference is we have the spirit of God and that's the only way we are able to teach and spread this wonderful gospel. I love you all and I hope everyone is doing great!

What he wrote to the family but I wanted to share: Hey guys! I just want you all to know that I love you and I miss you all so much! Thank you for all the emails. It makes me miss everyone even more but I love them. The spirit is so strong here and I love it. I'm gonna be honest, the first three days sucked. They were the longest days of my life. I didn't know anyone and I missed you guys but once I made it to Sunday it got a lot better. It was fast Sunday so we all fasted together for help with the language and stuff. Then we watched a talk from Elder Bednar. It was awesome. It was about turning out instead of inward just like Christ would do. I was pretty selfish the first few days. I was struggling with the language, I was homesick. Ever since I started to think about and help others, everything got a lot better. They always say that the most important conversion is yourself but what I didn't realize is the only way that happens is when you lose yourself in the work and don't think about yourself. And that can apply to life in general too. Love you guys!