August 27 2012

Yebo! My Family!

You know, I was able to tell you those miracles because of Josh's last letter and your help in my journal writing. I wrote all those miracles because I had brought my journal with me to email. As for this week it was stressful. I cannot tell you details because it involves another missionary, but it was hard for me. We can just say that I found out a missionary was doing jing things and I had to tell president about it. I spent the first of this week freaked out and only thinking of that situation. I was worried for a friend and I had no idea what was happening and well...everything is okay know. I worked with president Cook and all worked out. 

Journal writing I have written for everyday except Sunday. 

I guess you anticipated the happy/sad feeling of the year mark. Definitely, I was sad that a year has gone by, but I can say that the worst feel was that I felt I had wasted some of the Lord's time. I have been learning and I have been growing. This year I will cherish for what the Lord has done for me, but there is the burning in my chest that i have indeed wasted the Lord's time. I am just now barely learning how to overcome weakness, change desires, and effectively work with the spirit. I should have prepared [better] before mission. But this only encourages me to not waste a single moment of the coming year and 1 1/2 months. I wish to be a full and effective servant this coming year. I just want to be a servant serving with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. I want my will to be His will.

As for the week, well, this week went by really fast. The miracles have not ceased. They are still flooding in and the Lord is blessing us. Also I have made it a personal goal to make sure I start and finish studies on time this coming week and to be exactly obedient. My will is changing and I have figured out how to effectively change my desires. I want the Lord to trust me and I can only earn that trust through faithful obedience. Alma 18:34 has taken more meaning to me in these past weeks.

I am getting used to my companion. His teaching style is different. I feel that he teaches lessons and not people, so I want to help him with that. He is really POWERFUL though. One thing I love is that he likes to have conversations. I struggle to understand him sometimes, but I love talk with him. We still have some awkward silences, but I feel it will get better. I also love his rice. Yo! He makes POWERFUL rice and he is always cleaning up and saying we need to clean. Ha Ha! He also saw a picture of one of my friends and he is so taken down. Ha Ha! He wants to go to America to marry her. I love my new companion.
The finding has been POWERFUL this week. I can say that that was one of the biggest miracles I noticed this week. People were walking straight up to us asking us were they could come to church and that they wanted to be taught. They all ended up being jokers, but I still count it a blessing because that was our goal this week: to find. I have been stopped many times, but I have never on mission been stopped this many times. If you witnessed what I witnessed it was obviously a miracle. 
Another big miracle this week was Brother ** . This gospel is changing him. I can see it. I can feel it. The issue of marriage, well, we were trying to solve this issue this week when we found out that Brother ** does not know Sister *** father. We were almost positive the father would refuse a marriage. The sister to *** suggested we could just marry them without the father's permission. Brother ** said he would think about it. One night I asked him if he had come to a decision. He explained to me that he wanted to make the decision with his wife (she had left for the week so he was waiting for her to return), but he then looked me in the eye and said, "I do not care what I have to do. I want to be baptized." 

I have come to realize the importance of obedience. I now know why I want to keep the commandments and the mission rules, because I now know that is how we obtain that portion of the spirit the sons of Mosiah sought after in Alma chapters 17-18 and it is by that spirit we become effective "instruments in the hands of the Lord." This is why I am undergoing the "Purification Challenge." I am changing my will to His will that I may have the spirit. This work cannot be done without it. In Alma 18:35 it reads: "And a portion of that SPIRIT dwelleth in me, which giveth me knowledge [to do this work], and also POWER 'according' to my FAITH and DESIRES which are in God." Are his ways my ways? How do I make his ways my ways? Through faithful OBEDIANCE. 

About the stuff, thank you for doing all those things and getting everything. Personally, I do not know about the books if you should send them. I am struggling to read the books that I have. I think that if I get more I might overload. So I guess for now. Just hold on to the books you get. I want them for sure, but right now I want to focus on the books I have. The doctrine one is the most important though. That has to be one of the greatest treasures on earth. ha ha!

As for packages, I never received my third birthday package. It may come super late or it may have been stolen. I will let you know as soon as I get it.

It seems like you had a lot of fun in Idaho! I hope it was a fun trip. It was really weird to see a picture of you with Elder Boone. Ha Ha! What did he say about me? Ha Ha! So you went to bear lake, nellesen's house, homecoming, food, and then home? Sounds like a lovely trip!

I am also very joyous to hear about grandma and grandpa. Keep me updated on them. I pray for you and them every morning and night.

I thought I had already told you, but I saw animals! A giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, monkeys, epala (smallish dear thing), and some birds. The place we went was jing though. I still loved to see the animals though. Oh yeah, and an ostrich! Ha Ha! 

I love you buddy more than how weird it was to see you with boone.
I love you all. Sorry. out of time.

L O VE