Monday, April 2, 2012

To Everyone,

This mission has been full of firsts for me. It is the first time I have lived away from a sweet mother who cleans and cooks for me. :) It is the first time I have been personally involved in others coming to Christ. It is also the first time I have gotten in a car crash. For those who have driven with me in past years you are probably not surprised. :) Believe it or not I have been an overly cautious while driving, but it only takes one mistake to get into a car accident. I was driving down the highway here in Running Springs and I made a left turn and I didn't see the oncoming car coming. They hit our back end. If they would have swerved a foot they would have missed us. that initial hit pushed us into the bumper of a car turning right. So the first half of this week we were on foot while I car is being repaired. :( Ironically enough we were able to talk to a lot more people that way and we picked up a new investigator! on Sunday I was able to turn this into a great analogy for living the gospel. when I got to this area I drove in snow and on ice for my first time. I also have never experienced so many drivers darting down skinny mountain roads so fast that you don't see them until the last second. We also have had the experience many times to drive through fog so thick you can't see the yellow lines on the road. But it was the moment when I wasn't fearful of crashing that I made a mistake. At the beginning of this life God has handed us keys to the new car that is our bodies. Though at times we may be careful in keeping gospel principals, when we let our guards down by letting ourselves be distracted or deceived by Satan, we crash. Where this analogy falls apart is that there is no auto body shop on earth that gives you a car better than the one you crashed when they are done fixing it. The Atonement of Jesus Christ on the other hand does. Not only are our spiritual wounds healed but we are lifted even higher than we once were. Yes I just turned a moment of my utter stupidity into a gospel lesson.:) Another first for me in my life will be this Friday, when I will have a chance to baptize someone. Dianna called me one morning B.C (before the crash :) and asked me If I would baptize her. I am so grateful that I will have the chance to be a part of this sacred ordinance. another first for my mission is the fact that we have two separate baptisms this weekend! One for Dianna and the other will be on Saturday for A.J Lundgren. I have loved becoming his friend and preparing him for baptism. At the priesthood session he came to me and a member of the branch council and said that after ten years of going through different missionaries and wards, he feels that he is finally ready. He said that it was the right branch and the right missionaries (ME!:) that have brought him to this complete 180 degree turn. I loved conference. Holland's talk about the "11th hour" and Uchtdorfs talk about "envy and forgiveness" were my favorites. I felt there were many things that I could 'liken' unto myself. :) well thank you for your prayers and letters.:)

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