Dearest Family,
Thank you so much for your letters this week. Goompa and Nana, thanks for the Valentine's Day package! I know you're busy and have other people to send stuff to. It meant a lot to me. Grandma Springer, I did in fact get your DearEdler. Thanks for telling me about the temple. I'll talk more about that later. Laurel, thank you for the pictures of my first minutes at teh MTC (I get to be a host tomorrow! How cool is that?) And thank you Mom, Dad, Sarah, Ashley, Teresa, Chase, and Amanda for your letters. You'll hear from me soon.
Thank you again and again and again for being so supportive. All my friends are blown away by how many people are writing to me and cheering me on. And I hope you recognize how blessed we are to have each other. Since I've been here I've seen the Lord's hand in our lives and the blessings that come from being a together family.
I wish you could all be on missions, too. I am seriously SO glad that I came. i know the Lord was handing me a key to greater happiness when He prompted me to serve. I can't imagine all the spiritual floudnering I'd be doing if I hadn't come. I feel like I'm just barely starting life. I realize how wrong it is for us missionaries to say, "Back in real life I was..." when the reality is THIS--serving the Lord and doing that which will exalt and better our lives--is real life. The outside world is the facade. I cannot thank teh Lord enough for showing me that and giving me this opportunity to learn how to have everlasting happiness through servie and righteous living. I hope I never forget the peace and joy I feel right now.
I am so excited to go to Paraguay and learn also to let go of materialism and embrace patience and focus on people. My good friend Hna. Jensen left for Argentina yesterday. After a really long flight to Buenos Aires she's taking a 37-hour bus ride to Salta. Does that sound like fun or what? But she was beaming and I got so excited for my own upcoming adventure. I'm only three weeks away from culture shock and incredibly hard but rewarding work! I can't believe it's so close!
This week at lucnh an elderly man came and sat down next to me and my district. We all looked up as he said hello and we realized to our delight and slight intimidation that it was teh MTC president, President Brown! He talked wit hthe four of us for a half hour, asking all about us and then delving into a doctrine discussion. He asked us where we could find scriptures about repentance, baptism, etc. It was both a test of how much we've learned and a wonderful learning opportunity as he shared his answers with us. (I encourage you all to read 2 Ne. 31, 32, and 33, 3 Ne. 11, 3 Ne. 9:20-22, and 3 Ne. 27:13-20). I love Pres. Brown. Every meal he sits and chats with missionaries. And every time he speaks at devotionals he calls up missionaries he's met to bear their testimonies. My district and I were both relieved and disappointed when we weren't called when he spoke at Mission Conference on Sunday.
At Mission Conference Pres Brown spoke about making a good name for ourselves, especially as missionaries, quoting Helaman 5:6-7 and Alma 48:17. He also talked about being steadfast doers of good as representatives of Christ's name, quoting D&C 122:1-3, Mosiah 5:7-8, and Mosiah 5:12. I really want to follow his counsel and be a good example. I'm going to try all I can to add my name to the list of people who have given their all to build the Kingdom.
Speaking of builders of the Kingdom, I watched "Mountain of the Lord" Sunday night and am now really determined to learn more about my righteous ancestors, especially my PROPHET great-great-great-great-grandfather, Brigham Young. I'll have to spend a few long afternoons talking with you, Grandma and Grandpa Springer, about our ancestry when I get back. Also, as soon as I can I'm going to go through the SLC temple. I learned so much about it from "Mountain of the Lord" and I went there once to do baptisms. I could feel the love that went into the amazing craftsmanship of the interior, but I had no idea that, after the 39 years it took to build the exterior, the gorgeous interior was done in only ONE year! That's incredible. I need another look. :) I love temples. Every time I go I just feel that much closer to the eternal perspective. I'll be sad if (and when) I won't be able to go to teh temple every week anymore in Paraguay. I can't wait to see the Gilber temple completed in two years.
Anyways, the language is coming along fine. We had our first TRC trip all in Spanish this week and we very rarely ahd to resort to English. My only real problem lately is irregular verb conjugations. I need to study those a lot more. But I'm speaking fairly well, at least I think I am. When I go to Paraguay I'm sure I'll feel a lot less prepared, especially if (and most likely WHEN) my trainer doesn't speak English.
The only other out-of-the-ordinary thing to talk about this week is that my district and I are going to perform a musical number soon. We audition Thursday. We're going to sing a four-part harmony of "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" to the tune of "In Humility, Our Savior." Wish us luck! I love singing familiar songs to different tunes. It makes you think of the words more. My favorite cross-over is "The Spirit of God" to the tune of "Now Let Us Rejoice" and vice versa.
So I have another homework assignment for you all. I hope you're really doing these because they mean a lot to me and I'm serious when I say I want you to do them. This week, I want you to listen again to Elder Holland's 2009 Conference talk about the Book of Mormon (at least, I think it's 2009. I'm not sure which month. If you find it, please tell everyone else). Then I want you to watch that video that shows the growth of the church as red dots appearing on a red map (Dad, I know you know what I'm talking about, please let everyone else know). If no one knows what I'm trying to describe, I'll try to learn teh specifics and be more eloquent next week.
The reason why I want you to do those two things is because what I want to do more than anything right now as I type is explain with the voice of angels the importance of the gospel, the love that I have for the Savior, and the deepest desire of my soul--that each and every one of you (if you haven't already) will come to know the Savior and that together we can all follow Him and live together as an eternal family. Edler Holland is much more eloquent at saying things like that, so please watch his talk on teh Book of Mormon and then more of his talks if you can find the time.
But I really can't be silent. I feel really impressed to bear my testimony to you right now, and eloquent or no I'm not going to ignore this feeling. I've ignored teh Spirit enough times in the past and I plan not to do it again.
This isn't just a church. This isn't something that was invented by man to satisfy our need to beleive in something greater. This isn't a church only for Americans or Utahns or the white middle class. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is all-encompassing. It is eternal. It is the truth. And it is a gift that we must be eternally grateful for and do our best to share with others.
This is the gospel that has always existed, since the beginning of time. God is our literal Father and He sent us here to earth so that we could become like Him. An all-powerful Being, yet his greatest work and glory is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). This life isn't set up so taht we'll fail; it's set up so that by the end of it we will have grown and learned and become more like God. The Fall was meant to happen. Without it we would have been trapped in teh same state forever, like butterflies forever stuck as earth-bound caterpillars, never to taste the freedom that comes after hard work and a spiritual transformation. That transformation from caterpillar to butterfly comes through obedience to God's laws, which aren't pointless restrictions but sure and steady guideposts through a life of pain and confusion.
But God knows that we are imperfect. He knows that we'll all make mistakes and thus be unworthy to live with Him again. And so, because He wants nothing more than for us to be happy and live in His presence, He sent His perfect, Beloved Son to pay the price for our sins (John 3:16-17). Jesus Christ came to earth to do the will of God--to show us the way to happiness and Atone for us so that we can be happy despite our sins. I've personally felt the relief and cleanliness and sheer happiness that comes from turning to Christ and letting go of sins. It takes steps of faith, repentance from our sins to be forgiven and Atoned for, baptism to show our commitment to God and Christ, and receiving the Holy Ghost as a Comforter and Guide, and a life dedicated to the Work. It is possible, and it is the most desirable, worthwhile thing we can do with our lives. I KNOW this.
After Christ's crucifixion and glorious resurrection, breaking the bonds of death for all, the gospel was distorted and confused. There is only one gospel, but hundreds if not hundreds of thousands of different churches have sprung up, taking bits of truth and competing with each other. In order to show that only one way leads us to exaltation, God called a new prophet and revealed another book of scripture which, like a second and third point is needed to triangulate an exact position, shows the fulness of the gospel and the plain and simple truths of happiness and eternal life. I know that this is the truth. I know that God wants us to understand and be sure ouf our path, not have to guess which church is the one that will save us. He loves us so much. I want to cry whenever I think of how mnay people are unaware of that--how many people reject the church and the Book of Mormon without giving it a chance (2 Ne. 29). I want to do all I can, dedicate my whole life, to bring people with me down the path to eternal life. I love you all. I hope this simple, imperfect testimony reawakens your resolve to turn to Christ and that each of you finds a way to be a missionary and share the good news. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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