He's a Trainer!

17 May 2010

Dear Family,

I am glad to tell you that my "refuerzo" ("reinforcement" as we say in the mission, to avoid the use of son and dad, which are sacred callings) got here to Argentina well and is doing a very good job. His name is Elder Berglund and I sent some pictures, but I´m not sure it worked. I´ll have to try again another day I think. He is from Springville, UT and has a desire to work hard here on the mission. He misses home quite a bit, but with time and patience those feelings will change into a desire to serve and help them. He is quite a bit shorter than me, and as with all of my companions, much stronger. He liked wrestling, swimming, baseball, cars, daredevil stuff, and anything physical. He also liked math in school. We get along fairly well and he´s already working hard. He has a lot of difficulty with the language--a lot more than I did when I got here. In the MTC, he and his companion never taught in spanish, so I am helping him learn evertything that he didn´t in the MTC. It will come with time. He´s already improved in the past week. I try to speak as much spanish with him as I can to acustom his ear, but still has problems understanding a lot of the basic verbs (and all of the other complicated vocabulary that I´ve aquired). So, I often speak in spanish to see what he can understand, translate it to english what he didn´t understand, and then say it again in spanish to help him learn. It´s a slow process, but helps. The change in diet seems to be a bigger shock to him than it was for me too. I´ve always embraced exotic tastes, so coming here I didn´t have any problems. I loved the food. But he´s doing great. He´s already approaching people to do contacts so that we can do 140 each week. I have to finish each contact, but he starts half of them. I´m trying to teach him to be diligent with that so that it becomes a habit "like brushing your teeth" as the President told me in an interview.

I realize that he is probably my last companion that I´ll have. The mission goes by really fast and causes one to have a continual change on one´s perspective of life. Realizing that my time here is coming to a close, I feel that I´ve reflected how those that are getting to end of life feel. By training now, and not earlier, gives me the great desire to prepare the next generation of missionaries of the great Buenos Aires West mission. I feel it to be my duty and my joy to make them the best missionaries I can so that they can grow off of my example and experiences, so that they can one day be much better than me. In part, that helps me understand that great purpose of life. We have been sent, called, and we for ourselves have decided to come here to help others acheive their potential. I´m beginning to understand what it means to be a good leader. It is not just get along with those that are under your supervision, to make sure they don´t do anything bad, nor to push them to do more; it is to give yourself for them so that they can reach the plateaus that one couldn´t reach. Just as with Moses, we go ahead and show the example to guide them to the door that we could never go through, but they can. I´m starting to understand and feel that great lesson, "It is better to help another than to help oneself." "This is my work and my glory, to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man." I have so much ahead of me in my own personal progress, but I think I´m turning a key that was locked before.

Mom, you asked about how revelation has played a part in my mission. I´ve learned a lot about how revelation works here. It is a lot different than I thought before. I´ve learned that it really is simple and is a part of every day life. We receive inspiration constantly every day, we just don´t always attribute it to the Spirit. To me, revelation is anything that persuades to do good. It enters the mind and the heart. In more common language: it´s any good idea we have. It´s any idea that pushes us to do the right thing. What is the right thing? Whatever helps another. And you know anything that is taught in the gospel will help another. Our duty is to choose between many good ideas. That is part of the purpose of life, to choose the best between many good ideas. And we have our entire life to learn how to do it well. I have started to use a "revelation journal." I´ve learned that I forget everything. So, at night when I´m praying and I have a "good idea" I write it down to do the next day or when I can. It helps me. Usually with good ideas we feel good about it, which is the spirit saying that it is good. But when we shouldn´t do something that we are deciding to do, we get an uncomfortable feeling. It often happens when I´m planning and I feel we aren´t going to be able to do it in time. And when we do it, it goes wrong usually. Like dad said, he had an uncomfortable feeling. It is simple, but yet so true. It isn´t magical. Just simple feelings. Good and bad ideas. So, I hope that helps Mom.

I love you all and am so grateful for how you have pushed yourselves to make me the best I can be.

With love,
Elder Drake Ranquist