Jack - September 27

Hey everyone, quick week for me this week. Not a lot happened other than the same old schedule everyday, so the week kinda flew by. We had an earthquake drill last week, and then about half an hour later there was an actual earthquake, at least some people think there was, I couldn´t feel anything so maybe it was just really small, I know Chile gets them a lot. Yesterday morning all of the previous groups of missionaries left the MTC for their missions. Both the previous group of north americans, there for 6 weeks (like me) and all of the latinos, there for 3 weeks. It was weird to say goodbye to them because we´d only known them for 3 weeks, but we´d grown pretty close, especially with our roommates. This week went a lot better with my companion, I don´t know what changed but we haven´t had any arguments and we´ve been able to practice teaching with much better unison and accord. Something I forgot to write about last week was something else that was said in the devotional we watched from Elder Bednar. He suggested that we should all read the Book of Mormon with a specific question in our mind that we want answered. Then as we read, mark all of the scriptures and passages that stand out and when you finish reading, do a little review and write a summary of what you learned. He said that by the time we´re his age (he was speaking to a bunch of missionaries in the original devotional) we should have bookshelves full of different copies of the Book of Mormon categorizing our growth in spirit and knowledge. What a cool idea. So this week I´ve been trying it out and it is incredible. I just started from where i was in my current reading, I didn´t bother starting over again. And I just started with one question in mind, but as I´ve been reading more questions and passages of scripture hace stood out to me. It has been the best experience I´ve ever had reading the Book of Mormon ever. Each time I read I say a prayer first to help me focuson my study and on my questions and it is amazing, I´m able to understand and learn so much more. I highly encourage everyone to try it. For your first time maybe focus on trying to find out if the Book of Mormon is true, even if you already have a testimony of it, and mark whenever someone bears testimony or anything else that stands out to you. It is truly an incredible experience. I hope everyone is doing well and I can´t wait to talk again next week.

Elder Blaylock