Letter April 10

Dear Mom & Dad, (y = and)

I love you! Tell everyone that I love them y that I love hearing from them y I can feel their prayers!. Tell the grand kids that I love them y that I love that they pray for me! Tell them to listen to their mom's. This week was great and Conference was amazing. I loved it all! I realized that the MTC isn't just teaching me to be a better teacher for my investigator in Mexico. After conference, I realized it is much more than that. They are preparing me to be a better teacher throughout my whole like, a better Sunday School teacher, and to be a better teacher as a parent and much, much more. Can you send me some more stamps? I have used a lot of them! Also, if you ever go to like DI or a thrift store, would you look for and old plaid tie or two haha? I would love an old plaid tie or two like that one I got at DI that was a clip on, but I want regular tie ones, haha. Just if you ever see one:). I got a CD made of my pictures that I have taken here. It was only like 2 dollars, so I will send that to you when they finish making it, probably like Monday. This week has just been so great! I am still doing good. The Spanish is still every hard y I'm not ready to teach in all Spanish, but the Lord will help me if I keep giving it my all! I love this work & I love the Atonement. I'm so grateful for it y it's amazing how much I use it. We watched a talk from Elder Holland and it was on the Atonement in Missionary work. It was so great y it really struck me how true it is. Even since I have been here the Atonement has meant so much more to me. We teach by the Spirit so much y we need every little bit of that in our lessons. Every rule, every min. we are late going to bed takes away from that Spirit so to get that back we must use the Atonement so that we can teach with that full power again. Ever since watching that talk, I have been thinking about it and that is what I thought of (see above example) and that I really use it so much more, like daily! Since realizing that our lesson on the Plan of Salvation has meant so much more, and to my companions also. Without even talking about it our lessons on the Plan of Salvation just became centered on the Atonement in every part. And by doing that, it has become so much more powerful. We taught it twice, both times to missionaries in our zone this week after watching that talk. We taught them as missionaries not as investigators like we normally do. So since they are missionaries it is usually hard to teach them the lesson because they already know it. But by centering it on the Atonement, the lesson became so powerful and during those two lessons, I don't think I have ever taught by the Spirit y felt the Spirit so strong! It was just so amazing. I am growing so much. I'm just grateful so much for the opportunity I have to use the Atonement daily in my life. I'm so grateful for this Gospel! Thank you so much for raising me in a home with this wonderful Gospel! I know that this is the only thing that can make us truly happy! Thanks for everything. I a great parents and a wonderful family. You are all so amazing to me and I am so very lucky. I'm sorry my letter isn't long today but I hope the email answered some questions that you had. I love you so much y I'm so grateful for all of you! Thank you for your letters y your prayers. The prayers really help y I really can feel them. I love you y miss you all.
Love,
Elder Despain