Skip to main content

Week 9


9th week... I've been here for 8 weeks and a day now. My visa isn't through so this may not be my last week at the MTC. The rest of my district leaves next Tuesday andWednesday. I'm losing my companion who has become one of my closest friends and I'm trying to emotionally prepare for that by just being super excited that he gets to go to Anaheim and serve the Vietnamese people. His Viet name is Thắng For those of you in Southern California, go visit the Viet branch sometime and say Hi for me. Take him cool things, just not chocolate, he doesn't like chocolate.
I have finished my goal of reading through the entire Book of Mormon during my stay at the MTC, and it was glorious. This is probably the first time I've read through the Book of Mormon with purpose and actually trying to understand instead of just reading to read. That's not to say I've never studied it, I have and understood a lot of the doctrine before, but I have a much greater conviction of how the Book of Mormon can help in people's lives. There are several of you who may be reading this who have never read the Book of Mormon, you may not even believe there is a God, but I testify to you, there is a God. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ to Atone for all of our sins and to ease our spiritual burdens. If you have any intention of ever trying to find out for yourself, go to Mormom.org and request a copy of the Book of Mormon. In combination with the Bible, the Book of Mormon gives a great understanding of the Doctrine of Christ and of the Father. It truly is a restoration of the truthfulness of His everlasting Gospel.
I want to thank everyone who has written me. Your letters, packages and emails have really meant a lot. I have been strengthened by your support and want to thank you all for your prayers. Being a missionary can be a great sacrifice, but it also brings so much joy.

Popular posts from this blog

Another Day, Another Destiny - 11/25/13

So, this week has been a good one. The weather (while crummy this week) is going to get HOT by Wednesday. I'm mostly over a cold that I managed to get from my companion (side note: I know it's good to share, but sometimes I wish people wouldn't). Our awesome investigator came to church this week. We even got permission to go into the city to show her the International branch there. It was great to get to visit the ward where I served and know everyone. I'm likely to return there in the future as well.    A tender mercy of attending the branch this past Sunday, was that, while at the branch I had an investigator that said they wanted to join our choir. At the time, no one had even thought about a branch choir, but I didn't want to tell him we didn't have one, so I got to work talking to the branch music leader. She didn't really want to, and thought that too many people would join, but I insisted. I encouraged her nearly every week. My last week in the b...
Read more

Spiritual Insights (9/2/13)

So, this week I had a little more time to study independently (and unlike other weeks, I remembered to bring my notes to the library) so today, my blog post is going to be mostly on how to answer the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Many people have asked this question, and many people have used it as grounds to disprove that there is a God. Don't let yourself get caught in that trap. God is real, he loves you! If you don't know it now, seek him out and I promise you will find him. In my studies, I have found a few scriptures that helped prove this in my mind. In Joseph Smith's adversity he was comforted by these words from the Lord, "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;" (D&C 121:7) and was later counseled, " 7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if th...
Read more