Good morning from the MTC!
This week has been absolutely jammed packed with so much! Nonetheless, I love the MTC and how spiritual
and fun it is here. There is nothing
better to be doing than the Lord's work and it is so cool just how much the
Lord blesses us.
I'm really starting to love the song, "Because I have been
given much”. I really have been given
much. Many talents, many people who love and support me, many friends, many
flaws, many weaknesses, but God blesses us with weaknesses that we may come
unto him and become strong through him :) (Ether 12:27). I am so grateful for all the packages and
the love that has been shown unto me while I've been at the MTC! The MTC is such a cool place and it is such a
testament to the gospel and love of Christ. Everyone here is sacrificing 1 1/2
to 2 years of our lives to do the Lord's work, and we are all weak. We are not
all knowing, we don't know everything that there is to know, but I can testify
and witness that the Lord magnifies those he calls and that the gospel of
Christ will be taught by the weak, so through the service of God we can be lost
and then be found by losing ourselves. Finding ourselves is done by losing
ourselves in the service of our fellow men.
So this week has been such a ride for the ages. There have been
so many spiritual days and feelings. The
feeling of the Lord and the Holy Ghost is always so strong. I have also this
week had a reassurance of the power of faith. Faith is really not to have a perfect
knowledge of things, but to hope for things, which are not seen, that are true.
Faith is so amazing, and if it is hard to believe in something, just believe in
one thing. Don't believe in yourself,
believe in God. Believe that He will be there in your darkest hour right by
your side, because He will be there. He
does not forsake his children. He loves
all of us and we are His children. Like the ultimate father, and I can attest
that His love is like a father or mother's love because my parents are the most
loving people I know. He loves us and
actually knows us better than we know ourselves. God is not someone to be
afraid of. God really is our best friend
and knows us. That is why He gave us a
Savior. So he can know what we go through, that he can help us overcome all we
go through. That is the power of the atonement, it wasn't just simply Jesus
taking all our sins away. It was him
dealing with Every Single Pain and Affliction that we can possibly feel. He
knows how to overcome all those trials. In 1 Nephi 11:17 it states " And I
said unto him: I know that He (Heavenly Father) loveth His children (us);
nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things". We all have
trials. We all have heartaches. We all have ups and downs, and I don't know
why, but what I do know is that the Lord knows you can overcome it all and that
he will help you with your trials so you can become the best possible person
you can possibly be.
Also this week, my prayers have been answered through my faith
and through the actions of my faith. God doesn't simply bless you when you look
up to him and say help me out. Like
Elder Bednar says, revelation comes in different ways. I always think to myself
when I am discouraged about the Elder Christofferson talk about the “currant
bush (Please look both of these talks up at LDS.org).
In Aprill 2011, Elder Christofferson gave a talk called "As
Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten", and gave a story shared by Elder
Hugh B. Brown of the currant bush. Elder
Hugh B. Brown talks about how he purchased a rundown farm and went to go clean
up and came across a currant bush 6 feet tall and yielded no berries. The talk
follows down here:
"He told of purchasing a rundown farm in Canada many years
ago. As he went about cleaning up and repairing his property, he came across a
currant bush that had grown over six feet (1.8 m) high and was yielding no
berries, so he pruned it back drastically, leaving only small stumps. Then he
saw a drop like a tear on the top of each of these little stumps, as if the currant
bush were crying, and thought he heard it say:
“How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful
growth. … And now you have cut me down. Every
plant in the garden will look down on me. … How could you do this to me? I
thought you were the gardener here.”
President Brown replied, “Look, little currant bush, I am the
gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a
fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday,
little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say,
‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.’”
Years later, President Brown was a field officer in the Canadian
Army serving in England. When a superior officer became a battle casualty,
President Brown was in line to be promoted to general, and he was summoned to
London. But even though he was fully qualified for the promotion, it was denied
him because he was a Mormon. The commanding general said in essence, “You
deserve the appointment, but I can not give it to you.” What President Brown had spent 10years hoping,
praying, and preparing for slipped through his fingers in that moment because
of blatant discrimination. Continuing
his story, President Brown remembered:
“I got on the train and started back … with a broken heart, with
bitterness in my soul. … When I got to my tent, … I threw my cap on the cot. I
clenched my fists, and I shook them at heaven. I said, ‘How could you doth is
to me, God? I have done everything I could do to measure up. There is nothing
that I could have done—that I should have done—that I haven’t done. How could
you do this to me?’ I was as bitter as gall.
“And then I heard a voice, and I recognized the tone oft his
voice. It was my own voice, and the voice said, ‘I am the gardener here. I know
what I want you to do.’ The bitterness went out of my soul, and I fell on my
knees by the cot to ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness. …
“… And now, almost 50 years later, I look up to [God] and say,
‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt
me.’
The quote that says "Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting
me down, for loving me enough to hurt me" always gets me. I don't know why
we go through the trials we do. But through our trials our faith can be
strengthened and God will come to our aid. Yes so thank you Mr. Gardener, for
cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.
Anyways, on to my week --- So last P-Day after we finished
emailing, I went to the temple. The temples really are amazing. I've never
really been able to live very close to the temple, but getting to go to the
temple every week is amazing. For all
that can go to the temple, go as often as it possible, and for others, you're
missing out. The temples of the LDS
Church are as amazing and they are so true. They are a testament of Christ and you have
never experienced how amazing it is until you've been inside of one. But after we got at the temple, right before
we got out, we were stopped by a man. He asked us where we were going. It was David Archuleta. My group didn't know
who he was, but I was shocked and asked if I could give him a hug. I hugged and talked to David Archuleta, and it
was so cool!
I've gotten into play a thing called Spike Ball on P-Day's. We
had a tournament and Elder Lunt and I are a sick combo!! I love playing spike
ball, it's like volleyball with a trampoline thing. At first I was skeptical,
but it is so fun!! We got decently tan too because it was blazing hot outside.
Then after that, came back and I zonked out until class time. Class time was
great because now that I am far ahead, I just talk to the zone resource person
and have him check my Korean. It is so fun.
Friday was amazing too, but at the same time, when isn't a day
amazing?! I went and did many things in
the morning. I'm so grateful for the
allotted time for personal study of the scriptures. My conversion to the gospel keeps growing and
there is no way you cannot keep progress in the gospel. Then during class time, we had to prepare
lessons for TRC (Home teaching) later in the night. Then during my additional study time I went to
go practice the piano -- that was for like 2 hours today.
Then after we got done teaching TRC, we taught a Korean member
couple and a former missionary who served in Korea about Prophet Joseph Smith. I have a firm testimony that he was visited by
God and Jesus Christ, and that he did restore the full gospel of Jesus Christ. If you think about it logically, when we are
teenagers, we are really starting to find ourselves and are looking for the
truth. Joseph who was a teenager, who hearkened unto God with real intent was
shown something amazing. He translated
an ancient book through the power of God. How hard is that to understand? If we can know that God can do everything and
can bless us to move mountains, how is it so hard to believe that he would
guide a boy who is like unto a child, and who humbles himself unto God and asks
him of his help, and help him restore the fullness of the gospel of Christ unto
the earth? He was a true prophet!!
Then later, after TRC, my teacher Brother Chandler gave a very
spiritually filled talk about not going through the motions: Days might veer
together, but don't go through the motions. Make every second count and that is
what I know I am doing. Don't waste
time, be strong and of good courage, be not afraid for the Lord thy God is with
thee (Joshua 1:9).
Then Saturday was a good day. My companion and I taught an
amazing lesson. Saturday mails didn’t come but I knew the Utes won for some
reason :)
Sunday was the day! I got
to play the piano in Church! It wasn't
perfect, but I played the piano to the best I could, and prayed God would help
me out. He really did and I did well. He really does help us when we feel
inadequate and helps us if we do the action to put forth our faith :) Also on Sunday the devotional was amazing and
I learned a lot. I learned that although the missionaries do some work, the
investigator is the one who converts themselves. The missionaries really don't
do anything. We are just here to help
others see that they need God and Jesus, and they do the rest. We are truly his
vessels to command, but investigators need to know for themselves that the
gospel is real and that God and Jesus want them to be the happiest they can
be.
Monday was nice too! Taught a great lesson in the Morning. I really felt the spirit and I am happy. I
talked to my teacher individually about my Korean. She said I really advanced
super far. She told me that I really don't need to beginner book anymore. :) But she did say that when Zone Resource
people come in or people that are fluent in Korean come into class, that I have
to either get pulled aside, or I need to pull them aside and just talk to them
in Korean non stop. I love this whole Korean thing!
Last Tuesday, our lesson went great as well! I love teaching. It is really the best way to learn the
language!! I am doing such great things, and I love my boys. They are amazing
people!! I wish you can meet them. The devotional was amazing too!! I got to
see a bird’s eye view of the Lord's work progressing, and the spirit that comes
from singing Joseph Smith's first prayer is sublime!!
Wednesday was good too! I love every day here.
That was my week, and now it's P-day! I love you all and know
that the Lord loves us all. Please know the lord loves you too, and use the
atonement that Christ has provided!
Love you all,
Elder
Wilson
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| In front of Provo Temple |
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| w/ a Pink Mercedes |
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