6/13/15

I am on a mission!!! It is finally hitting me. This is the most exciting and best time of my life. I keep trying to grab the days and hold on to them, but they keep slipping away! I never want to do anything else with my life, and I am not even in the feild yet! I. LOVE. GOD. and I know that He loves me. I have no idea why He loves me and I definitely DO NOT deserve it, but I know he does. I also have no idea why He blessed me or even permitted me to go on a mission, but I am FOREVER indebted to Him for this WONDERFUL blessing. I am one lucky elder. I am so glad we live in this day in age! The work is going forth! IT IS THE MOST EXCITING THING I HAVE EVER BEEN A PART OF! It is happening NOW. Our wonderful Heavenly Father called us and saved us for this day and age! WE ARE THE LAST WORKERS IN THE VINEYARD! SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? STOP READING THIS AND SERVE! We can talk when I get home... while we are serving. 

(You are only permitted to continue reading this after you have done something good in this world today) Did you do it? Okay, Good. God is Good. He loves you as well! I didn't really understand the real purpose of families, but now I KNOW that through them is the only way we can receive true happiness! Thank you for HAPPINESS!!! Please, oh please, express to the entire family how much I love them, and how much they mean to me. 

Now for some factual business. During a devotional with the relief-society general president I got to go up to the stage in front of like thousands of missionaries and talk and do some things. I got to put on this massive man's coat for demonstrations and stuff. The zone is doing good! we have an exceptional zone. We had calling changes from the first groups initial callings this week for everyone.... except me. Our lessons with investigators our going great. There is this one actual investigator that we are teaching, and he finally discovered that the church is true, but he has an alcohol problem. So this last lesson I talked about Christine and other stuff, and he is going to really work on it! There is no better  feeling that you can get by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ! It is Beautiful!!! I also have been playing the piano a lot for big events and stuff, and something REALLY AWESOME is that I got selected out of a thousand people to sing in a choir for every single apostle and prophet in a couple of weeks. I don't know if this is confidential, but at this time every couple of years, all the knew mission presidents come at this time to be trained by every member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the twelve apostles. EVERY ONE OF THEM. Wow, what a blessing! God is good! I appreciate the picture book you got me! It is so exciting! I am such an emotional person here in the MTC it is unbelievable!

 Also, yesterday, a bunch of us were walking to a class when decided to stop and talk to a random guy sitting on a bench. I am convinced He is an angel. He is from Chile and says that he is not a member, but he is a saint. We started to teach him about the first vision and asked what he felt about it, and he said: "Yes, why not? I know that God answers prayers." He then went on to tell us through tears and fluent-really-fast Spanish how when he was younger his mom said: " If you pray for something, God will give you anything you ask for." Later on when he was a small child, his two older brothers were gone for days in Chile, they were young as well. It broke his heart seeing his mom cry so he went and prayed for his brothers to come back so his mom would not be sad. Two minutes later he went outside and they were there. He was shocked. Later on when he was working and he had a son, his son got sick. He was at work and he heard a voice in his head say: "go home your son has cancer." He doesn't know what it was so he ignored it and just thought that he was going crazy. Then. He heard it again. He left work took his son to the hospital, discovered he had cancer, and was told he would die in twenty four hours. He did not die. He is alive and well, and only because his dad listened to that "crazy" voice in his head. This man is an Angel his testimony and faith could move mountains. Weather a member of the church or not, he is a man of God. God lives pray and HE WILL answer.

I KNOW. That God lives. There is not even a particle of doubt in my mind. God is our father. FACT. Jesus Christ is His son and made every good thing obtainable for mankind. FACT. The Holy Ghost is a real thing, not just interesting feelings every once in a while. FACT. You can either believe it or not believe it. BUT THAT DOES NOT CHANGE THE REALITY THAT HE LIVES! He Lives. If you die today. Are you ready to stand in His presence. If not, get that way. Now. You know not the hour when you will be called back to him. Be ready, I need you all to be ready. Every single one of you are far to important to me to lose. I love you all with all my SOUL! With all my HEART! With all my LOVE

These are excerpts from his letters home on 6/2
I cannot explain the PASSION, the FIRE, and the ZEAL that is in my heart right now! I am crying over the wonderful feelings I even have while I write this. I love God. HE IS HERE. HE IS REAL. Please be diligent in looking for him he is there, I feel like Joseph Smith: I know it. and I know that God knows it. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. Please focus on him! There is nothing else that really matters in this world. Nothing. I pray for you always, and my heart still aches... a lot, BUT I AM DOING THE LORDS WORK and I cannot come down. This time is extremely difficult, but it is good because it inspires me to work my very hardest every. single. moment. that I am away from you all. I will work with my whole soul. I am Christ's, and he is with me. Tell Caleb, Logan says Happy Birthday and please kiss him for me, but do not cry like I am when you tell hum that. BE HAPPY and SMILE ALWAYS. I am doing my best not to write in Spanish, but I have forced my mind to only think in Spanish. Our teachers say we are already to go on the mission, because our heavenly father has already blessed us with the gift of tongues. They say we can already speak as well as others can when they leave the MTC.

Well if you want to know about me... I guess I will tell you a little! So we got here Wednesday and were thrown into the middle of everything. The next day I was made zone leader over an entire mission. Which, is kinda crazy because I had no idea what to do and people usually become zone leaders after being here at least three weeks, but oh well! IT IS AWESOME. Our zone is amazingly powerful. My President, told me when we were talking the other day that he had never in his entire life a zone that was so powerful in the spirit! It is B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. Our zone is so tight, loving, friendly, and optimistic. The other day some girls in our zone were overwhelmed so they asked me to give them blessings. WOW. My first blessings ever given... They were so Powerful. God was in our midst. I thought that they were powerful because I was just really cool. However, as I thought about it later I realized that it was not me AT ALL. The sisters were really nervous to ask for a blessing and were all crying a lot. But they did. And because they exercised Powerful faith. The Lord Blessed them with a Powerful blessing. I am nothing, and for the first time, I am OKAY with being nothing, because Christ is EVERYTHING and I have found him!

6/9/15

WOW. What a week. If you really want to get a good workout mom, you need to try missionary work. It works body and soul, and works muscles that you never knew you had. I didn't think I would ever be able to love this Gospel more than I already did, but I do. I would gladly die for these Beautiful restored truths, luckily that is not so common these days! I hope you are having the times of your lives. A little more room in the house, not so much loud music, and a slightly less crazy life. I have a question: Have you felt any blessings because of this mission yet? I know the Lord has promised that He would personally take care of you ( and trust me, He can do much more for you now than I could ever hope of doing for you), but I would like you to ponder on it and see if you can recognize his hand more abundantly. I am being blessed. I have no idea why He is so good to me, a little white boy from Idaho, but He is. He sees you and is deeply concerned in the details of your life. Even now in this very moment I can feel the Spirit like never before. It is real! Why else would I have such majestic feelings while typing on a computer? 

So I gotta be in the same room as a "special" witness of Jesus Christ the other day. Elder Christofferson came a few days after the death of Elder Perry, his countenance was very down, but because of that his message was sincere and full of love. What an EXPERIENCE! I missed Elder Holland by one day when I got here. Oye! I have really been inspired to be focusing on Love during my time here at the MTC, do you have any suggestions dearest mother?

 I cannot wait to get out of here and go out to war against the adversary in the battles for souls! There is no greater work, and invite you all to think of ways that you could be missionaries. I decided that I don't want any leadership positions when I get out in the field. I just want to do the work, not deal with all the problematic missionaries. I did not come hear to manage people, but to proclaim EL ENVANGELIO DE DIOS!

I know blessings are real, they work. I have been a tool in many of them. Use them often and ask for them in faith, and your needs will be satisfied. One night this week the Tongan Elder woke up at like three in the morning after having a horrific dream about his family. For some reason I woke up as well, which is strange because I NEVER WAKE up during the night here in the MTC, but I did. He was really struggling and praying for help. He said that as soon as he said amen that he heard my voice telling him that it will be alright. I shared a few thoughts with him and when he was done sobbing he eventually got back to bed. It was so COOL! Heavenly Father is ALWAYS THERE FOR US. No really, LISTEN. This is not just a nice story. HE IS THERE. HE IS REAL. AND HE LOVES YOU ALL. Use that knowledge and believe it. 

I had a really amazing experience on Sunday as well, I was talking about sacrament and explaining it's importance, but I asked a kind of sarcastic comment during it. After the lesson the President got up and explained the importance of loving people and NOT EVER USING SARCASM or a HINT OF RUDENESS. Wow, chastised. IT WAS GREAT. I do need to be better, afterwards I thanked him and apologized, but after he had rebuked me e called me a Lion of the Lord! He emulated perfectly what is prescribed in Doctrine and Covenants 121. He first rebuked me, and then showed afterwards and INCREASE in love, by giving me one of the best compliments I have ever received. I am so GRATEFUL for his goodness.