I know that the Book of Mormon is true

Hey friends and fam,

The subject is inspired by a few of the week's events - first of all, I finished the LdM (Book of Mormon) this week! Finished my first time studying it in Castellano - took me almost 11 months!!! That's what I'll call "feast upon the words of Christ." Well, as some may know and Brigham more than anyone can attest, I tend to talk and walk in my sleep. My boy Elder Philpot is learning that the hard way - hahahaha. Well, a few days ago, according to him, I sat up in bed in the middle of the night and said, "Hey Elder, I know that the Book of Mormon is true, y sé que si usted lo lee, sentirá la influencia de Dios en su vida." Hahahah half in Eng, the other half in Spanish. Had some powerful experiences with this book this week, and they stayed with me into the night O.o.

I remember back in December of '13, Dad you sent me an email talking about some personal study in Moroni 10. If I remember correctly, you basically conclude that at the end of the day, the salvation has to be something individual, personal. If I'm right, my studies will offer a fresh, different take, given the great advantage of comparing 2 languages. 

 32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

 33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through theshedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

In Spanish, Moroni is talking here in the 'vosotros' form, which translates to "you all, y'all" or a group in essence. While in English this appears to be an individual invitation, I'd like to propose that the salvation is something that has to involve others. Christ suffered and died for ALL, every person, black, white, bond or free. I believe that to truly take advantage of his sacrifice, we must accept the ordinances of His Gospel, which begin with baptism (personal) but progress to familial (temple), AND help others to do the same (share the Gospel, redeem the dead) -- aka THE WORK OF SALVATION. I'm learning a lot about selfless vs selfish here on the mission. While it seems contradictory, the way for one to truly be happy is to try and make others happy, aka serve. I often learn that the hard way. Let us all try and be more dedicated to others and less to ourselves. 

Mom, you wanna know more about piano and being a DL (District Leader)? I'm still playing hymns here in Tucuman for Sac Meeting, but not for long. The ward pianist is an Argentine Mozart, but he broke his wrist just before I got here. Hmmm, coincidence?? Hahaha no just kidding, but it's fine with me - less stress. I still like playing but I'm getting bored with the same old hymns and don't have time to practice new ones - looking forward to freedom after the mission to practice classical and modern, as well as learn to spice up the hymns.

Apart from that, our area is rolling - we're planning 10 baptisms for the 29th, which would be a dream. 2 families of 4 and 2 girls that are part-member families. Pray for the Lobos, Borquez', Diaz' and Quinteros families. Also for Valeria. I freaking love Elder Philpot - we're already toooo good of friends. Probably gonna try and live with him at BYU in 2016. He graduated with me but went to BYU for a year while I opted for the field. He's just a boss.

Love,

Elder Blake