Dear family and friends,
This was a good week and there was no better way to end it than watching general conference. It was just what I needed to keep everything going. I loved President Monson's talk. It brought me to tears what he said about the Savior, "He is the light that shines in the darkness." There's nothing more true than that. I want to be close to that light.
I've been reading a letter my dad gave me right before I left on my mission. In it he said "to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, to be simple and to tell people that he came here he died here and we can live with him again." I've been putting it into practice and it makes a difference!
I believe that it's a combination of those simple truths, and the spirit of the Holy Ghost that really have an impact on people. In a lot of contacts this week with my companion we strongly said things like "we don't worship Joseph smith" and "we don't have to have faith in Joseph Smith. We only worship and have faith in Christ. It was sweet!
I did an exchange this week with one of our district leaders who is from Paraguay. It was an interesting experience because he seemed unmotivated and wasn't feeling well. I felt like I could do two things: be really strict and tell him we needed to get going, or be really helpful and compassionate towards him. I chose to really help him. 
I cleaned his apartment and we had a really good conversation, I asked him why he came on a mission and what he hopes to accomplish in the short time he has left (he leaves in January). We had a great day afterwards teaching two good lessons with members from the branch present. It drove home a point to me that you cannot really help someone until you love them.
Elder Kauffman aka Jack