Mom: Christmas came early! I wanted to share some parts of the letters we each got today from Elder Mack. We met Elder Lehr today at his homecoming and he brought back a bunch of things for us from Elder Mack, including letters! His letters are so wonderful.
Hi pretty girl! How are you? I miss you a lot! I miss going to the park with you. I miss pushing you on the swing. Do you like 1st grade? I bet you are having so much fun. You are going to be so smart. Hey, are you going on a mission? Heavenly Father wants you to go on a mission when you are bigger. Are you reading your scriptures? I love the scriptures. Who are your best friends? I hope you have good friends. What is your favorite class? My favorite class was math. Thank you for all the pictures that you have drawn for me. You are such a good artist. I miss you so much. I love you.
How's it going baby brother? You're freaking way tall now! I already think you're able to beat me up now. I'm way jealous of your new board. I see kids on the street here with homemade boards and it makes me miss bombing down hills on that ghetto Walmart board of mine. I love that longboard that Uncle Jo has with the paddle. Dad sent me a pic of him riding that thing. But dude, there is nothing like a mission. I have had so much fun doing the work of the Lord. I have really learned how to trust in him and let him lead. Remember though, God doesn't do all the work but you need to meet him halfway. You want to be successful? God will help! Give him your will and meet him halfway. On the mission, you pray everyday to find those who are ready to receive the gospel. He will help you but golden investigators don't just knock on your door and ask to be baptized. No. Haha! It takes work on our part and through the spirit we will receive our help and answers we have been searching for. Work hard bro! Pick good friends. Keep doing well in your classes.
Seester! I miss your million dollar smile and your beautiful looks and your gorgeous laugh. I miss it all! Sorry ah... Madame laurels president in the madrigals of the Manasseh tribe. Pff. Haha. Nah nah. Just kidding. I'm guessing you're expecting some brotherly advice for finishing up your LAST year of high school?! Let's see, senior year IS the best school year. It's just that awesome. Keep being active in school activities but at the same time work hard in school. A's are earned, not given. Don't get senioritis too bad. DON'T STRESS MOM OUT! That's very important and should be taken to heart. Here's a little equation for you. Happy mother = happy everything else. :) I don't know what friend groups you are in right now but stay in a good friend group. Have friends that lift up. Have friends with good standards. NO BOYFRIENDS!!! I forbid it until I get back. Haha! Continue to go to dances. I love getting those pics of you looking all spiffy but NO KISSING! Remember that part from Hotel Transylvania when Dracula almost bit the human guys head off? Me. I love this mission. It has changed my life and has helped me to give my will to the Lord and allow him to use me as a tool in this work. I hope you're thinking about a mission. It is hard and challenging but there is a quote that I really like. "I never said it was going to be easy, I only said it would be worth it." It takes work. Trust in your Heavenly Father and allow his spirit to guide you in all you do. I miss you but don't worry we'll still be bffttahsatt (best friends forever that talk about Harry Styles all the time) again. Haha!
I hope you had a fun time getting to know Elder Lehr. I'm going to miss him and his Lehr bearnessness. I miss you so much especially after hearing Jeffry R. Holland's talk. I'm so grateful for all the love that you have shown me. Elder Holland said in his talk that there is no other love that comes closer to Christs than the love that a mother has for her child. I hope you know how truly grateful I am for all that you have done for me. You are an angel. :) I hope you're not too worried about me. I have been getting sick a lot lately but I'm fast to get back up on my feet. God has blessed me with good health. I'm trying hard to take my vitamins. I love my mission. This second year has been flying by and I'm trying to do everything I can to work hard. There is a scripture in Abraham that says something like 1000 years of our time is 1 day in God's time and if you do the math, to God, a mission is 3 minutes long. Crazy isn't it? I will finish strong and God will help me as long as I give my will to him. I'm seeing miracles mommy! :)
I'm so grateful for the blessing that we have of living so close to the temple in Bountiful. With that blessing, I hope everyone takes action in that. I love knowing how often you and mom go to the temple. Elder Bednar recently came to Madagascar and brought up the question that everyone was wondering - When is Madagascar going to have a temple? People were thinking that we needed more members and that we need to have five stakes but Elder Bednar started talking about what happens when the temple is being built. He said that people go all the time, they take pictures and watch the progression of the temple. But when it is done people don't go often anymore. They might think because the temple is so close that they don't need to go as often. Elder Bednar says that when the Lord knows that the people are not going to do that and that they are going to make it a priority to go often, he will inspire his prophet and the people will get a temple. It is so important to go to the temple often.
It has been a blessing to serve the missionaries around here as district leader. I have a good relationship with each of them. I hope I am able to continue to bless missionaries lives through service like this assignment throughout my mission. I didn't think I was meant to really be a leader when president called me and gave me this assignment. I actually had an interview with him and told him my concerns about being a leader and he made me sound like I'm in the same boat as he is. He told me how scared he was when he found out he was going to be a Stake President. He kept thinking to himself that there were so much more qualified people than he is. I felt that way as well. The only thing that he knew was that God chose him and that he just needed him to serve with all his heart, might, mind, and strength. I pray everyday that I can serve in this manner to those I serve. The Lord definitely blessed me with many opportunities to serve and I'm trying to follow every prompting that I get.
The Holy Ghost is so so necessary for this work. He is literally our Liahona that we can always take around if we are worthy. I have definitely had moments when the Holy Ghost tells me to talk to someone, do something, say something, etc. One little thing that happened today was that I felt prompted to ask an investigator if he wanted a blessing. This investigator has been taught by missionaries for a long time. He doesn't really seem to learn but we teach him because his wife is a strong member who wants him to be baptized. He has a problem with alcohol and chewing tobacco. As I talked to him I felt the spirit and words flew out of my mouth and then I asked him if he wanted a blessing. After that blessing he looked at me and promised that he would try to get off of alcohol and tobacco and will definitely not touch them when the missionaries come over so that he can learn. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to see the conversions in people. The spirit teaches. He convinces. If you take the Holy Ghost away from these moments guess how much success you will see? No success. I'm always trying to be worthy to have the Holy Ghost and being truly converted to God and to be worth to see miracles here. Dad, the mission rocks! I love everything I'm learning.
So crazy to think that my one full year of a mission is almost up. Elder Lehr is done. When he trained me he was coming up on 10 months. Weird. It was so weird sending my mission father to the airport. Take care of him. He is so full of love. He helped me in such hard times.
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