Dear Mom,

Tell grandma that she still needs to do one next year too. I want to go to that thing again and help out and be in the Norwegian culture.

It was a lot of fun for me to skype as well. I'm really thankful for the Quezada family for letting us come over and using their ipads. We actually ended up talking to them for a little bit afterwards. They're all from Chile. There aren't very many Chileans over here, so it was a cool oportunity to be able to talk to them a little bit more about their country. Brother Quezada is from a city called Valparaiso. It got that name because it is known to many people as a city of paradise. If you pull apart that name: Valparaiso, you get 'va al paraiso' which translates as 'go to paradise'. He says that it's a very beautiful place. But then he said that basically the whole country is very beautiful. I found out that Chile and Argentina are very different from other hispanic countries. Many Hispanics aren't exactly super clean and neat and organized in their homes. However, Chileans have a lot of European culture in them. The Quezada's house is a lot different than most of the houses I go to. It had nice furniture and it was clean and everything was nice. It was a really cool family.

This last week we were able to teach Jenny, the girl that just got baptized, a little more about the Priesthood. We weren't really planning on teaching her about that, but we just ended up teaching her about it. We were talking a little bit before the lesson. Her boyfriend Josh, who is a little less-active, was with us as well. We taught her in the chapel because that was the easiest place to meet for us. We got on the topic of horror movies and creepy things happening after watching them. Haha! Jenny said that she gets scared of watching horror movies because of that. I told her what you said that grandma told you: If you watch movies like that, you're inviting Satan to sit right next to you. But, I told her that we do have more power than Satan, and that if we don't do anything to invite him, but he comes anyways, we can tell him to go away. I told her about the experience that grandma in Bountiful had when she heard the bang above her and then grandpa came in and commanded it in the name of Jesus Christ to leave, and it left. Then I related that to the story in the Bible when Jesus is on the boat with his disciples during a giant storm. Then his disciples ask him why he doesn't care. Then Jesus wakes up from his nap and commands the storm, "Peace, be still." -Mark 4:39. Then the storm immediately stops. Then I learned something new. As children of God, we are the only thing in the universe that has the ability to choose. Satan and his followers do not have free agency. Neither did the storm that was going on when Jesus and His disciples were on the sea. Neither do the trees or the mountains (Jacob 4:6). We can tell a person to leave all day long and they can still choose to stay there. However, as soon as it be the will of God, Satan and his followers have absolutely no choice whatsoever. No agency. They lose it and they are not allowed to stay. The storm in Mark 4 had to obey Jesus. It had no choice. It had no agency. It followed and obeyed Him. As children of God and those that followed His plan, we have inherited the ability to choose. I learned this while I was teaching Jennifer. Pretty cool experience. Then we talked about how we should surround ourselves with the Priesthood and remain worthy to be able to call upon the blessings of the Priesthood. It was an awesome lesson!

Great week this week. I really enjoyed talking to everyone. Next week I probably won't email on Monday, because we're going to have a zone conference with Elder Koellicker, or something like that, of the Seventy. The missionaries that are working in Zones 1,2, & 3 are going to meet with him on Monday, so we're switching our p-day to Tuesday probably. I'll let you know how that meeting goes with him. It should be pretty good!

Love you mom! Miss ya!

Q of the W:

1.  Do you go to the same ward/branch every Sunday?

Yes. The Union City Spanish Ward

2.  How was your dinner on Sunday night?  Yummy?  I should learn how to make it whatever it was called...

They are called baleadas. I don't know how to make the tortillas. But it's scrambled eggs with like cut up ham/turkey bits in it (or if you want to be fancy, steak strips), refried black beans, a creamy cheese that I don't know if you would be able to find at Walmart, and avocado. WAY GOOD! I'll pay attention to the cheese next time and maybe I'll ask her to write down how to make the tortillas. Pretty simple.

3.  How long are you able to practice piano on p-days?

Depends on the pday. Usually about an hour or so.