Hey Blake!! April 30th, 2012
Summer is approaching! YAY for warm weather, NO SNOW! flip flops (hopefully you can wear them on your P-days ha) and for BBQ's, getting some sun, oh yeah and no snow!! ha oh And for hopefully being able to take Boston swimming for the first time this summer! ha so excited to get his chubby little legs in the water! lol. Thanks for your letter back! And I really appreciate you writing that little one to Boston! It was cute, and I put it in his scrapbook! :) You're such a great example to him! He has such amazing Uncles!!
I wanted to write you real quick about a fireside I went to last weekend. I don't know if Andrew wrote you about a calling he recently received to be a part of Camp Helman. Did you ever go to something like that in Young Mens? It's where they go to a camp and have a very similar expereince as to what the MTC will be like on the their mission. Anyways it sounds absolutely awesome! Andrew was called to be a "District Leader" during the camp of a group of about 8 young men. He's super excited, and honestly Andrew is perfect for this calling! It is NO SMALL THING though. Man it has been a sacrifice on our family so much already. Almost every Sunday for the last 2 months and until end of June, Andrew has to go to the Stake Center and be trained by Stake Presidents and past mission presidents on how to better teach these Young men. He also gives lessons on various gospel topics, and then they critique him. So it's EVERY Sunday night at 7. Which means we have to leave early from all family dinners/events and I am home alone with Boston. :( At first this made me kind of upset but the Stake president has assured the men called for these positions, like Andrew, that their families will be very blessed for their sacrifice. So I remind myself of that.
Anyways I went to the fireside last Sunday where the young men could come with their parents to hear about the upcoming camp this June, and see if they want to attend. It was AMAZING Blake!! ITtwas such a wonderful meeting, and the spirit was so strong. They started doing Camp Helaman 8 years ago in our stake and since that time not ONE missionary has come home early from their mission!! NOT ONE!!!!! Before this program like 1 out of every 3 were coming home. It was BAD! So it's an amazing program. I hope every stake starts doing it!!
Well during the fireside there were some good speakers and I wanted to share with you what my stake president spoke about on missionary work. First thing he shared was this quote, " Life is change, GROWTH is optional." Meaning Life is always changing, no matter what, and we always have choices we can make and consequences that follow, good or bad. But GROWTH is our choice. We can CHOOSE to learn from our mistakes, and NOT make them again. We CAN do it! We can also learn from the good things we do, and do them again and continually GROW into a better person! So remember Blake, "LIFE is Change... GROWTH is optional!"
Second thing he shared was the story of his mission, and how he was this wimpy little missionary that was scared to death to start his mission. He was a skinny little guy and was hoping to get called to somewhere close and stateside. lol (Not that that means you'll have it easy. ;) But the Lord always has another plan for us than what we have for ourselves. He called him to Costa rica, and was sent to the MTC close to there somewhere. He had an awfully hard time learning Spanish, and his first area was a 3 some (I know you can relate! ha) But get this, it was with 2 Elders, both from Honduras, they were from the same ward, so they were already GREAT friends, and neither one of them spoke a lick of English only Spanish! ha Talk about hard!! But he went on to say it was the greatest experience of his life and made him grow so much, and step out of his comfort zone, and turn to the Savior. Now he's an absolutely AMAZING stake President!! :)
Last thing, one of the last speakers spoke about a hard time he was having on his mission because he felt he wasn't having any success... He hadn't had not one baptism the whole time and his mission was nearing the end. Then he was called in for an interview with his mission president and he expressed his feelings, of being a "failure". His mission president then immediately opened his scriptures and turned to the scripture about the worth of every soul is great in the site of God. And how when even one soul is saved all of heaven rejoices! (I wish I knew the scripture reference I'm sure you do! ha) After the mission president finished reading the scripture he looked up at the disheartened missionary and said, "Elder... that ONE soul, is YOU!" It was him Blake! His particular mission wasn't about having tons of baptisms, or converts, or whatever, even though I'm sure he still affected many lives. It was about saving himself, and strengthening his OWN testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ, so that he would be ROCK solid for the rest of his life!! This speaker was now a 2 time mission president!! An AMAZING man!!
Blake, I know you've already had successes, amazing ones, on your mission! But I wanted to share that story with you because even if you hadn't, or on the hard days when you may feel your not having much success, remember that that one soul saved can be you! It can be each of us! Every day that we make good choices, and not give in to being sinful, or judgemental, or having bad thoughts etc... Heaven rejoices!! You have an amazing opportunity to be out on a mission right now Blake!! Enjoy every flippin second of it!! :) It's setting a ROCK solid foundation for the rest of your life!! I love you bro! have a great week!! We're always thinking about you and praying for you and your safety! I hope your knee gets better. :(
Lots of Love,
Your favorite sis. :)
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