Hey mom!!! so basically i have to say i'm sorry for no email....it's not my fault!! haha we had an AWESOME Zone Conference yesterday, and it was all day, so today is a mini-pday to buy groceries and email, and then afterwards get right back to work. So i apologize. And i didn't know that we were gonna have this conference until like thursday, so i couldn't let you know. my bad. but anyways......CONGRATS!!! you all made it through one more year of school!! time sure does fly when you're having fun eh? :)
That's super sweet that Brando and Lacey made it to your house! and she's learning! slowly but surely she's learning to just walk in to the house eh? maybe she'll just start coming over too, and not wait to be invited! but idk, that's a big step. And really the only ones who ever did that were Frack, Scott, Chase, Damian and Kendal! hahaha :) But that's sweet that their senior trip was good! St. George would be a rockin place to hang out for a senior trip!
Ash only has 361 days left?? man that's ridiculous. Seriously cuz i can remember so vividly when i only had that many days left. That's wierd to think about. It's wierd to think that she'll be in college when i get back. She'll actually have more college done than i do!! hahaha that's messed up!
Headed to CALI!!! right on! That's really gonna a great trip for you and dad. I'm super stoked for you guys. it'll be nice to get away. That's something that i've noticed is kinda hard here. Everyone is just trying to work to earn enough money to pay the bills, and they don't have a lot of family time. That's super super hard, but it's also something that is super important. I've been thinking a lot about family home evening. We just taught our recent converts to have a family home evening, and i've really been understanding the importance of having that night together. It's a time to strenghten the relationships as a family, and to learn and grow in the gospel. Just a little reminder from Portugal, that the prophets really are inspired, and FHE is really an essential part to family unity. Just sayin :)
OH!! before I forget....I got Dad's letter today, and inside were all the notes from the wedding!! Thanks SO MUCH everyone who sent those!! It was so fun to hear from you all and it made my entire life!! :) You all rock! hope you all know that. and i'm so grateful for all of the amazing examples in my life. You have all helped me become who i am, and i thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to be raised in Gem Valley. You are all amazing people, and you have a special place in my heart and I love you all.
Wow! the Lord really is watching out for you. 2 blowouts in the suburban would have been terrible! Honestly, it's amazng how the Lord works. You weren't even thinking about the tires, it was the oil. But because Dad followed the Spirit to check the oil, they were able to find out about the tires. Our prayers are answered in little ways taht we don't even expect. Sometimes it's just a little thought taht pops into our head, a memory or something like that that brings a smile to our face. That's been one of the tender mercies that the Lord has given me. And then the fact that we have such incredible friends. The Andersens have done SO much for us, and they're still looking for ways to help us. Man I love Grace!! :)
Man I was just thinking about Kim and Jason Stoddard the other night! That's super cool :) and she had the coolest calling ever!! Spiritual Enlightenment Leader? yeah that's rad. and to be in nauvoo and do baptisms for the dead in the temple there!! oh man! I miss the temple. I think i've already said this, but really it's such an amazing thing to see the members here sacrifice so much to go to the temple. They talked about the amazing blessings of the temple and how we need to be prepared spiritually. and how yes they have to prepare physically, (sometimes for years) to go the temple, we also need to prepare ourselves spritually for the temple. And honestly that is so true. and that actually ties into one of the things that I wanted to talk about today. Yesterday in the Zone Conference, the AP's talked about Christ-like Attributes. As disciples of Christ (which isn't just missionaries) we always need to be striving to become like Christ is. And there were 2 Attributes that really stuck out to me. The first was Virtue. This ties in to the temple. What is virtue. Virtue is being pure of thought and mind and heart. We know that the spirit can't dwell in unholy tabernacles right? Well if we want to be able to feel the spirit, and have the spirit put thoughts into our minds, we have to have clean minds, so the spirit can dwell there. And sometimes we think, ah...no big deal. I don't think anything really bad. Well DUH! (can I say that as a missionary? I hope so) but seriously. Satan isn't gonna tempt us with anything really big at first. Satan isn't gonna tempt us to think about things really really bad the first time, because he knows that we will push that thought out of our minds the instant it's there. He's gonna start with just little things. Little things taht we'll rationalize. Especially here in Madeira i've noticed it. There are so many tourist and so many distractions. And the big things are no big deal. like the billboards with the immodest girls. I can push those out no problem, because i know that's really bad, and i can't think about it. So i sing a hymn and it's gone. but i'll always find myself thinking about little things that aren't as bad, or really "sinful", but are simply distracting from the work. like, "oh cool! look how cool that boat is!" or "man all of these tourists speak english! Maybe i'll go talk to them!" and that's not bad. It's not a sin. In fact it's a good thing. to talk to these tourists and plant seeds and help them feel the spirit. and we still talk to them. But we have to think. Is this the best thing i could be doing? or is there a better way to use this time? So when we see the tourists, we'll say hi and get to know them, but we've got to help the people that live here first as our priority. and all the boats. It's not bad to look at the beautiful creations the Lord has given us, but wehn it leads to me thinking about what i'm going to be doing in 2 years, and maybe i'll do that when i get back, it's not good. it's distracting from the work and i'm not doing the Lord's will. and that's all Satan wants, is for us just to be distracted for a second, cuz then he'll get us to one more. One step more. and then before we know it we're not thinking things that are appropriate, and the spirit can't be in our minds. And then we have to repent. But then that also brings me to the 2nd attribute. Patience. We're human. All of us. You, me, my companion, you're mother-in-law, the Jehovah's Witness that won't let you talk for 2 seconds, all of us. and all of us make mistakes. The Savior was the perfect example of patience. WE need to follow His example and be patient with everyone. We need to be patient with the people who are just imperfect in a different way.
But also, we need to be patient with ourselves. this is probably the hardest one to do. For everyone. We feel like we're not perfect. We feel like we're less perfect than the other people, or we feel like maybe the Lord can't use us because of the mistakes that we make, or that we've made. Mom, I'm here to tell you that the Lord loves you. He loves everyone of us with a perfect love. He loves who we are, and who we want to be. But sometimes He gets really sad, and hurt, when we won't be patient with ourselves. When we're not patient with ourselves, we don't have faith. When we think that the Lord can't use us, or that the Lord isn't accepting our sacrifices, we don't understand the Atonement. Our brother and Savior sacrificed His perfect life, so that we could be imperfect. He suffered for our imperfections, 100% aware that we would have more just after we repent. He knew that going in. And He suffered anyway. We have to try and improve everyday. When we make mistakes, we have to fix them. Christ said to be "perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect". But He knows we can't without Him. He knows we're going to make mistakes, and He loves us anyways. He accepts our sacrifices, but if we don't accept our own sacrifices, we're not fully utilizing the Atonement, and His sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice, was a complete waste. Don't be like me. I didn't fully understand the Atonement, and I will never fully understand it, but I have learned a little bit more now, that the Lord will accept our sacrifices. He's patient with us and every single time we repent and make the decision to change and become better, He accepts it. but we have to be patient with ourselves and our shortcomings.
Well mom, I'm sorry i didn't respond to all of the questions you had this week, but i really wanted to share this little learning experience with you. Mom, I love you so much and i'm so grateful for all you do for me, and I hope you know that you're in my prayers. Heavenly Father blessed me with the best mom in the world. Eu te amo.
Love,
Elder Jordan Brady
No comments:
Post a Comment