Hola familia!
Sounds like you guys have had an awesome week! From LOTR to the Texas Tenors and Liberty for the United States, things seem to be going well! We celebrated a little here in our district meeting. We sang the National Anthem for one of the hymns and had hot dogs and watermelon afterwards. Pretty American I suppose. I didn´t realize how much I appreciated my country until I was far, far from it. I suppose I can understand Mom´s inability to use the computer; the natural affects of living and Amish-Mormon life :) But send her my love! I love the fishing pictures! But why is Ammon in pajamas? Good work on your tests by the way. Although you did not top my scores in English or Stats, you did beat my UPUSH by one. I admit defeat in that battle. But you have 3 more classes to go if you want to break the record ;)
So my thought for the week comes in two parts. First a thank you for Uncle Robby. I really appreciate what you wrote to me. At times I wondered if my emails were being read by anybody other than my parents, but I give thanks to the Lord that the Spirit has been able to work through me, a weak vessel to touch your hearts also. I know what I´ve said is true, and I love you all very much. The fact that you have come back to activity in the church has been the GREATEST blessing of my mission and I say that without hesitation. What could bring me or any of us more joy than to see our own family make the changes necessary to come unto Christ more fully in their lives? You are an incredible example to me. I hope you know that. All four of you! Keep up the good work, and soon you will be an eternal family!
The second part of my message comes from a scripture I read this morning and something that I have been thinking about a lot the last little while. Each of us have times when we get down on ourselves. When the days all seem gloomy and the cloud of despair looms over us, covering our self worth with a thick fog. I have often wondered how I could make so many mistakes,even as a missionary. Shouldn´t I know better? Shouldn´t I be better? More worthy? More strong? How could I be worthy enough to be called the Lord´s representative, when I do not feel even close to being good enough? As this type of thought lingers over us the first thing to do is pray. I have recieved such a testimony of prayer on my mission. I have made mistakes, but every time I get onto my knees and ask the Lord with all the fervor of my soul for forgiveness and help to become better, I have received it. And we all can. The scripture I found this morning comes from Jacob 4:7. It says: "Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things." We each have responsibilities in the Lord´s work, whether we realize it or not. And the Lord will show us our weaknesses when we are invested in these responsibilites. But it is so we can come to understand his grace. What is grace? Divine help, and the saving power of Jesus Christ (for a better definition read "His Grace is Sufficient, a BYU devotional speech by Brad Wilcox. I highly recommend it! Here´s the web address: http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1966). Does grace save us? Absolutely. But that does not give us a freebee. We must be changed by grace. When we come to understand our own weaknesses and that through the Lord´s grace we can be made better. We can change! I love that word. Change. I need it. Every day I need to be better. Every day there are things that I want to change. And guess what? I can! And every one of you can! That is grace. I love you all. And even more importantly, our Father in Heaven and our older brother Jesus Christ love you all. They want you to come back home to them. So why hesitate? Start now. Move forward. If you have been knocked down, get back up. And if you are on your feet, be prepared to get knocked down. Life is not easy. But what´s your bounce back time? Move forward. “Don’t give up, boy. Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead,You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come." (Jeffery R Holland "An High Priest of Good Things to Come" October 1999, also recommended).
Con amor,
Elder Charlie Flint