Letters

I get emails from a few missionaries that I know. I was particularly touched by these two emails I got the Monday before Christmas Day, so on December 21st. I wanted to share them on my blog.

This one is from Sister Madison Grover who used to serve in my Ward:


I wanted to talk about some of the stuff I studied this week, our
testimonies, repentance, and daily decisions.
Only those with firm testimonies and full conversions were able to
remain steadfast prior to the Savior’s appearance in America. The same
is true in our day. Only those with firm testimonies and full
conversions will be able to remain steadfast prior to the Lord’s
Second Coming. Is your testimony firm? Are you fully converted unto
the lord? Are you going to be able to remain steadfast? A careful
study of 3 Nephi 1–7 will help you understand how your testimony of
Jesus Christ and conversion to His gospel will give you the sustaining
strength you need to stay true to the Savior during the challenging
days in which we live.
Our destiny and ultimate fate depend upon our daily decisions.
We too should decide now. Will our lives be filled with regret and
despair? Or will we repent and strive each day to make our days
worthwhile and meaningful?
Those who stand at the threshold of life always waiting for the right
time to change are like the man who stands at the bank of a river
waiting for the water to pass so he can cross on dry land. Today is
the day of decision.
Since we are all on the Lord’s team, do we each have our own winning
game plan? Are you ready to play? If we, as members, really loved our
family, friends, and associates, wouldn’t we want to share our
testimony of the restored gospel with them? What if the day of His
coming were tomorrow? If we knew that we would meet the Lord
tomorrow--through our premature death or His unexpected coming--what
would we do today? What confessions would we make? What practices
would we discontinue? What accounts would we settle? What
forgivenesses would we extend? What testimonies would we bear? An
apostle said, “If we would do those things then, why not now? Why not
seek peace while peace can be obtained? If our lamps of preparation
are drawn down, let us start immediately to replenish them.
We need to make both temporal and spiritual preparation for the events
prophesied at the time of the Second Coming. And the preparation most
likely to be neglected is the one less visible and more difficult--the
spiritual. “Are we following the Lord’s command, ‘Stand ye in holy
places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold,
it cometh quickly’? (D&C 87:8). What are those ‘holy places’? Surely
they include the temple and its covenants faithfully kept. Surely they
include a home where children are treasured and parents are respected.
Surely the holy places include our posts of duty assigned by
priesthood authority, including missions and callings faithfully
fulfilled in branches, wards, and stakes”

I challenge and invite each of you to ponder your testimonies. Are
they firm? Are you truly going to be able to remain steadfast in the
time of the Lords coming? OUR DECISIONS DETERMINE OUR DESTINY!!
Remember that, continue to make the right decisions, keep the
commandments, keep your covenants. If you have things to fix, FIX
THEM!! The atonement is real!! God loves each of us!! There is nothing
we can ever do, to change that love. He is waiting for us to come to
Him, to humble ourselves before Him. Christ literally died to save
you!! I've felt the sting of sin in my own life and I've felt the
Lords redeeming love, I promise you will feel His love as you repent
and come unto Him. None of us are perfect nor will we ever be,
President James E. Faust explained that we must seek for perfection
now so as to be able to attain it in the next life: “Perfection is an
eternal goal. While we cannot be perfect in mortality, striving for it
is a commandment which ultimately, through the Atonement, we can keep”
I invite each of you this year to "Come Unto Christ and Be Perfected
In Him and Deny Yourselves Of All Ungodliness." (Moroni 10:32) I know
I will be doing the same and taking this scripture challenge to the
test. It's my own theme for the year.

Lots of love, Sister Grover

This one is from our cousin Zach Knell:

   There is one day, every year, where the whole world gangs up on missionaries.They taunt us by hanging colorful lights everywhere + singing, laughing, partying and making clear to us how far away we are from home. We can't go anywhere without being hazed by a society that loves this day so much, that they made it a holiday and called it "Christmas." 

   It's not a secret that Christmas is super depressing for missionaries. But it was still exciting to play basketball, watch Big Hero 6, Skype my family, and drive to a look-out over Eugene w/ my friends. It's a Christmas I got to experience in a whole new perspective and won't ever forget. And thank you for your packages and letters. I'm blessed to know every single one of you. :)

   When I look at my life at it's most basic function, I see a timeline of constant breaks and repairs. I frequent a pattern of feeling on, and then recognizing that I have fallen off track. The overwhelming feeling is that my outside actions do not reflect my inside characteristics. I know everyone struggles through this internal battle to some degree; It is part of God's plan. The veil keeps us from seeing things with an eternal perspective through ups and downs. And it's hard. But something else we know about God's plan is that he has provided a fixing system. He has provided a savior for us. 

   So, if Christ's gospel is the roadmap to accessing that "saving power," what is our vehicle in getting to that destination? I have learned that God isn't always willing to give us solutions, but He is more than willing to assist us in finding our way there if we ask Him, and listen. 

   In the Bible Dictionary, under prayer, it says: "The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them." I like the idea of prayer being a form of action that will always take us where we need to be - a vehicle of sorts, with a promised destination. 

   Because all the Ducks are on winter break, the work around here is dead. It's been a hard couple weeks. As I've struggled, I've been praying specifically for experiences that will remind me who I am and why I'm here. Experiences that will allow me to go into the darkness with faith. I have noticed that God is always willing to answer this prayer, we only have to be willing to ask.


Love you all