hello!
It's been a really really busy week. Elder Rada is a really hard worker and he's helping me get this area in shape. Hopefully I'll be able to remember all the stuff that happened this week.
First of all, Sister Chun Facebooks a lot. You should add her as a friend. Her name is Chitose Chun. Maybe I'll just have her add you guys. So if you get a friend invite from some Asian lady from Cerritos California named Chi Chun just remember I live with her and she's really cool.
Well we've been doing a lot of work. Last week we found TWELVE new investigators. Not all of them are solid and not all of them were really there for their return appointments, but then again a good portion of them were. The Lord truly blessed us this week. The week before was a little alarming because we didn't find anybody so I prayed a lot and I even fasted a couple of times and then Elder Rada came with his 18 months of missionary experience and we found tons of people.
We had Zone Conference on Friday. This time we had our meeting in the mission home! That was neat. I haven't been there since November 4th 2008. We had a training on how to use our time more wisely. We were instructed to stop visiting people that we don't need to visit. Immediately a name and a face popped into my mind- Bro. Swanson. Hopefully he doesn't get offended. President Sexton told us that there around 3 million people in this mission. Then he asked us "Who's going to teach all those people?" Then he told us "You don't have time to teach ALL of those people. You only have time to teach those that will prepare themselves to be baptized." Last transfer we had 48 baptisms as a mission. For the first time in years we exceeded our goal- which was 47 baptisms. So we're definitely supposed to keep inviting people to be baptized during the first lesson.
Since I got here we've been teaching this less-active family named the Gonzalez family. They have an eight-year-old girl named Samantha and we've been preparing her to be baptized. She was baptized on Saturday by a member of the ward named Bro. Kau. She asked me to confirm her. I'll send you a picture of Samantha after I print it today.
We have a new Spanish investigator named Carlos. In this area we're supposed to find, teach and baptize in English and Spanish so we don't really have limits on who we get to teach (unless they speak a language other than English or Spanish of course.) Anyway, Carlos is so prepared. He's 87 years old and he called the MTC to have missionaries come visit him. We get referrals from the MTC via text message so we received his information and then went to his house to meet him. During our first lesson we invited Carlos to be baptized June 27th and he said he'll prepare himself for that date. He came to Church on Sunday and we spent an hour at that Spanish ward to make sure he was fellowshipped. He loved church.
Yesterday we taught our investigator named Lorraine and we had a member named Sis. Jensen come to the appointment to meet her and invite her to church. Lorraine will be coming to church this Sunday. Last night we taught another new investigator named Fred and we brought a member named Logan Ruru to the appointment to meet Fred. We invited Fred to prepare himself to be baptized July 11th and he accepted. As you can see we're working on bringing more members with us to lessons. During Ward Council on Sunday we gave out assignments to the presidents of each auxilary to find people to come to the appointments we specified to them. Elder Rada says that teaching lessons with members present is the secret to having a lot of people choose to be baptized. This new companion is teaching me a lot of useful stuff.
Hey thanks for the package! Thanks for the Ensigns and the Gospel Art Book. That'll be handy. Elder Rodriguez actually went and bought a copy of that right before my package arrived. Hannah that notebook of drawings is awesome! Thanks! It's cool to see how you're art skills have become better and better over the months. Thanks for the Bob Dylan T-shirt! I'll be able to listen to good music again... someday.
This morning Elder Rada cooked a huge breakfast. He knows how to cook really well. He made Sister Chun and I these huge breakfast burritos. It was really good and I'm already really full.
Well, it's been a productive week. I'm happy about that. We'll be having some baptisms this transfer I'm sure. So Lynsi's finally engaged eh? Tell her to send me an invite :) Glad to hear you made it to St. George alright (eventually)! Talk to you again next week!
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
June 4th, 2009 (Email)
Hello again!
Wow I got a lot of e-mails today. I let Launa know that I can receive e-mails and today I got e-mails from her, Jackie and Hannah Fitch. That was cool! Sounds like lots is happening!
I didn't know Jordan got his mission call until today! That's great! New York New York South! I'm going to write him soon. And I didn't hear anything about the swine flu in the MTC either! They just have to drop them off at the curb now? That's awful!
My new companion is Elder Rada. He is from Columbia. He said he lived in New York once too. He has a strong accent -- even stronger than Elder Rodriguez's accent. So hopefully I'll get used to it soon so I don't have to make him repeat himself too much. He's in awe at how awesome this area is. He came from apartment in Long Beach so he's still in shock at how pampered we are at Sister Chun's place. Elder Anderson was pretty darn sad about having to leave. He's known he was leaving for 6 weeks now but it started to really sink in last night. He said it was like leaving home again.
Last Friday we went on splits with the District Leader and his companion. I went with the companion, Elder Hawkins, in their area in Bellflower/Lakewood. They don't have a car, so I had my first taste of what it's like to be a bike Elder. I'll tell you what hurt: mis nalgas y mis otras cosas. We rode around for about 20 miles talking to all sorts of people both Spanish and English, making many abrupt stops to talk to people on the sidewalk. And those Elders don't know how to eat! I don't know where they get all the energy they need to ride around like that all day every day. It was fun though.
Hannah got to shake Taylor Swift's hand? Wow! I guess I'll read about that in the letter in the en route package today (fingers crossed!)
We had a slow week last week. I was gone for two days out of the week for splits but it sounds like it was slow while I was gone too. We didn't find any new investigators! :( But things are picking up. Yesterday morning we received a bunch of referrals and we found a new family as a result of that. We also went to teach our newest progressing investigator Lorraine and she had a lot of great questions about the Book of Mormon and its purpose. She said she'd be baptized if she receives a witness that the Book is true.
Well, I have faith that Transfer 6 will be a good transfer. We will see miracles as we strive for obedience and as we diligently do all that we can to follow those promptings we have been promised.
Hope you have a great week! Sorry this e-mail's short I'll have a longer one next week.
Love
Elder Tyler Lewis
Wow I got a lot of e-mails today. I let Launa know that I can receive e-mails and today I got e-mails from her, Jackie and Hannah Fitch. That was cool! Sounds like lots is happening!
I didn't know Jordan got his mission call until today! That's great! New York New York South! I'm going to write him soon. And I didn't hear anything about the swine flu in the MTC either! They just have to drop them off at the curb now? That's awful!
My new companion is Elder Rada. He is from Columbia. He said he lived in New York once too. He has a strong accent -- even stronger than Elder Rodriguez's accent. So hopefully I'll get used to it soon so I don't have to make him repeat himself too much. He's in awe at how awesome this area is. He came from apartment in Long Beach so he's still in shock at how pampered we are at Sister Chun's place. Elder Anderson was pretty darn sad about having to leave. He's known he was leaving for 6 weeks now but it started to really sink in last night. He said it was like leaving home again.
Last Friday we went on splits with the District Leader and his companion. I went with the companion, Elder Hawkins, in their area in Bellflower/Lakewood. They don't have a car, so I had my first taste of what it's like to be a bike Elder. I'll tell you what hurt: mis nalgas y mis otras cosas. We rode around for about 20 miles talking to all sorts of people both Spanish and English, making many abrupt stops to talk to people on the sidewalk. And those Elders don't know how to eat! I don't know where they get all the energy they need to ride around like that all day every day. It was fun though.
Hannah got to shake Taylor Swift's hand? Wow! I guess I'll read about that in the letter in the en route package today (fingers crossed!)
We had a slow week last week. I was gone for two days out of the week for splits but it sounds like it was slow while I was gone too. We didn't find any new investigators! :( But things are picking up. Yesterday morning we received a bunch of referrals and we found a new family as a result of that. We also went to teach our newest progressing investigator Lorraine and she had a lot of great questions about the Book of Mormon and its purpose. She said she'd be baptized if she receives a witness that the Book is true.
Well, I have faith that Transfer 6 will be a good transfer. We will see miracles as we strive for obedience and as we diligently do all that we can to follow those promptings we have been promised.
Hope you have a great week! Sorry this e-mail's short I'll have a longer one next week.
Love
Elder Tyler Lewis
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
May 26th, 2009 (Email)
Hello again!
Parents, y'know it's good that you're both cutting back on the "liquid candy." Now that I think of it I do feel a lot better now that I hardly ever drink any soda. I brought it up to Sister Chun that I didn't gain any weight until I stopped drinking Coke. But she responded by informing me that my body was reacting as it was trying to cleanse itself of all the bad chemicals. So either way I guess the weight gain can be traced back to Coke. A few days ago the Lesateles gave us dinner and they handed us each a Coke. I drank about a third of mine when I noticed that I was starting to have a stomach ache and I didn't really like what I was drinking anyway. Pretty odd but I guess I'm completely off the stuff now.
A lot happened this last week. Elder Anderson got a phone call from President Sexton last Thursday. He's going to be an Office Elder now. He'll be the Finance Secretary and his desk will be right across from Pres. Sexton's Office, which is hilariously ironic keeping in mind how many times Elder Anderson has complained about or tried to "bend" the rules. So that's right where he needs to be. I've enjoyed being Elder Anderson's companion though. We've had fun and we've worked hard.
Last Friday Elder Anderson went to the Mission Office to start training for his new assignment. His new companion is currently working in the Long Beach East zone, so I got to work there with that Elder's companion named Elder Newby. Long Beach is a pretty nice area. We visited a strange part of town called Leisure World where tons of old retired people go to live. We went to visit less-active members since it's against the rules to proselyte there. It was a strange little place. People drove around in golf carts and there were tons of rabbits running around everywhere nibbling on the grass.
Yesterday we went on splits with the Zone Leaders. Elder Anderson went with Elder Laughlin to the Mission Office (Elder Laughlin's going to be an Office Elder too) so guess where I got to be?-- I spent the day with Elder Rodriguez in his area! It was fun. He works in Spanish so we got to teach a bunch of lessons in Spanish yesterday. My Spanish has improved since my Greenie days with Elder Rodriguez. I understood a lot more and I could say a lot more. We taught the 10 Commandments to a homeless man named Mario who's going to be baptized this Sunday. He was really nice. He's had a rough past and still has a rough time getting by but he has a strong testimony and he's excited to be baptized. He committed to live all ten of the commandments and he also committed to live the Law of Tithing. Yesterday for lunch we ate at a member's home. They fed us Cerviche- which is this really good crunchy tortilla thing with mildly spicy seafood all over it. We had dinner at an investigator's home. Her name was Ana. Before we ate we taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ana is going to be baptized in about two weeks. After our lesson we ate carne asada and fried platanas (a type of banana.) Ana had a little black chihuahua-like dog named Negrito that wanted everybody to scratch his butt. He'd sit right next to my shoe and would wait. It was pretty hilarious.
Sa' Lesatele was confirmed on Sunday. Her father-in-law did the blessing in Samoan. It was fun standing in a confirmation circle and not having any idea what the speaker was saying.
Hawwaiian Gardens had a huge police-raid last Thursday. Apparently about 1200 police people went through and raided just about every home in the entire city. One out of every fifteen people were arrested- which means at least one out of every fifteen people has ties to the local gang- the VHG. A recent convert named Christina Reyes lives in HG and we haven't had a chance to visit her yet since the raid. She already has two sons in prison so it would be a fair bet to say that she was affected in some way or another. We think she has more family living here and there in HG. So that part of town may be safer now. We'll see.
Hope you have fun at the Taylor Swift concert Mom and Hannah! And have fun mowing lawns Dad! And have fun in St. George everybody!
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis
Parents, y'know it's good that you're both cutting back on the "liquid candy." Now that I think of it I do feel a lot better now that I hardly ever drink any soda. I brought it up to Sister Chun that I didn't gain any weight until I stopped drinking Coke. But she responded by informing me that my body was reacting as it was trying to cleanse itself of all the bad chemicals. So either way I guess the weight gain can be traced back to Coke. A few days ago the Lesateles gave us dinner and they handed us each a Coke. I drank about a third of mine when I noticed that I was starting to have a stomach ache and I didn't really like what I was drinking anyway. Pretty odd but I guess I'm completely off the stuff now.
A lot happened this last week. Elder Anderson got a phone call from President Sexton last Thursday. He's going to be an Office Elder now. He'll be the Finance Secretary and his desk will be right across from Pres. Sexton's Office, which is hilariously ironic keeping in mind how many times Elder Anderson has complained about or tried to "bend" the rules. So that's right where he needs to be. I've enjoyed being Elder Anderson's companion though. We've had fun and we've worked hard.
Last Friday Elder Anderson went to the Mission Office to start training for his new assignment. His new companion is currently working in the Long Beach East zone, so I got to work there with that Elder's companion named Elder Newby. Long Beach is a pretty nice area. We visited a strange part of town called Leisure World where tons of old retired people go to live. We went to visit less-active members since it's against the rules to proselyte there. It was a strange little place. People drove around in golf carts and there were tons of rabbits running around everywhere nibbling on the grass.
Yesterday we went on splits with the Zone Leaders. Elder Anderson went with Elder Laughlin to the Mission Office (Elder Laughlin's going to be an Office Elder too) so guess where I got to be?-- I spent the day with Elder Rodriguez in his area! It was fun. He works in Spanish so we got to teach a bunch of lessons in Spanish yesterday. My Spanish has improved since my Greenie days with Elder Rodriguez. I understood a lot more and I could say a lot more. We taught the 10 Commandments to a homeless man named Mario who's going to be baptized this Sunday. He was really nice. He's had a rough past and still has a rough time getting by but he has a strong testimony and he's excited to be baptized. He committed to live all ten of the commandments and he also committed to live the Law of Tithing. Yesterday for lunch we ate at a member's home. They fed us Cerviche- which is this really good crunchy tortilla thing with mildly spicy seafood all over it. We had dinner at an investigator's home. Her name was Ana. Before we ate we taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ana is going to be baptized in about two weeks. After our lesson we ate carne asada and fried platanas (a type of banana.) Ana had a little black chihuahua-like dog named Negrito that wanted everybody to scratch his butt. He'd sit right next to my shoe and would wait. It was pretty hilarious.
Sa' Lesatele was confirmed on Sunday. Her father-in-law did the blessing in Samoan. It was fun standing in a confirmation circle and not having any idea what the speaker was saying.
Hawwaiian Gardens had a huge police-raid last Thursday. Apparently about 1200 police people went through and raided just about every home in the entire city. One out of every fifteen people were arrested- which means at least one out of every fifteen people has ties to the local gang- the VHG. A recent convert named Christina Reyes lives in HG and we haven't had a chance to visit her yet since the raid. She already has two sons in prison so it would be a fair bet to say that she was affected in some way or another. We think she has more family living here and there in HG. So that part of town may be safer now. We'll see.
Hope you have fun at the Taylor Swift concert Mom and Hannah! And have fun mowing lawns Dad! And have fun in St. George everybody!
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis
May 19th, 2009 (Email)
We had an earthquake on Sunday! It was pretty startling. Elder Anderson and I stopped by the Swansons shortly to see how they were doing since we didn't see them at Stake Conference. Christina Swanson, the daughter, wasn't feeling well so she asked us to give her a priesthood blessing. She asked me to do the anointing, and right when the drop of oil dripped on her head the floor started rumbling a little bit. From the driveway we heard Bro. Swanson yell "Earthquake!" and then the whole house started shaking. It was pretty weird. I looked at the walls and they were moving, and the next thing I knew I'd dropped to the floor next to the couch with my hands covering my head just like they'd taught me in elementary school. It was a 4.7 earthquake and it was "jerky" rather than "rolling." Buildings in California are build to be able to withstand "rolling" earthquakes, not "jerky" ones. The "jerky" ones are the bad ones. But 4.7 isn't enough to cause damage- but it sure got our attention.
So that was fun. The Cerritos Stake Conference was on Sunday. I saw David Ramos there. Elder Rodriguez was there too. It was pretty neat to be talking to both of them again- just like my Greenie days. President Sexton came and spoke. It was a powerful talk. He said, "I know that there are some in this congregation that are not members of our faith. To all of you I ask this question: Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God? We will be holding a baptismal service tonight in this building. We will also be holding a baptismal service next Sunday here too. We will also be holding one on the following Sunday. Will you prepare yourselves to be baptized on one of those dates?" The Stake President, President Nunnally, talked about the temple. His talk made me reflect on President Bednar's conference talk about his focus as Stake President. President Nunnally answered a question that has been in the back of my mind for the past couple of weeks. My question was this- How do we renew our temple covenants? I'd read in Preach My Gospel that enduring to the end includes continually renewing all of the covenants that we've made. Here's the answer: "The purpose of the sacrament is to renew all covenants, not just those made at baptism." I'm going to remember that this upcoming Sunday when I partake of the sacrament.
We met with Carlos yesterday. Carlos is the man that said he'd prepare himself to be baptized May 30th. We'll probably have to push the date back because he hasn't come to church yet, but he is progressing in other areas. He has read most of 1Nephi. He reviewed some of the things he's read in the Book of Mormon thus far. He mentioned the plates and Laban and he said "I'm to the part where Nephi is building a ship." So he really is reading! That's so awesome. And he said he would pray about the Restoration of the Gospel and said he'd like to come to church next Sunday. I love it when people are prepared.
I've found that I have better studies when I pray for study topics the night before. I've tried it three times now and all three studies have been sacred. I was prompted to study about sanctification, teaching by the Spirit, and more about the power of the Atonement- things that I've studied countless times already. But because I obeyed those promptings the Spirit revealed further light to me on every note of doctrine studied.
Elder Anderson and I are seeing improvement. We aren't spending as much time at the Swansons anymore. I know we'll be blessed as we continue to be more obedient. Elder Anderson told me that President Sexton already told him that he's going to be transferred June 2nd. So that means I'm getting a new companion and I'm going to have to take over the area pretty soon.
Dad you saw how many bears?! 13 eh? That's amazing! That's good that you are trying to be more healthy. I'm trying to do the same (as much as is possible). Thank goodness for Sister Chun though. She makes sure we eat way healthy.
Well have a great week!
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis
So that was fun. The Cerritos Stake Conference was on Sunday. I saw David Ramos there. Elder Rodriguez was there too. It was pretty neat to be talking to both of them again- just like my Greenie days. President Sexton came and spoke. It was a powerful talk. He said, "I know that there are some in this congregation that are not members of our faith. To all of you I ask this question: Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God? We will be holding a baptismal service tonight in this building. We will also be holding a baptismal service next Sunday here too. We will also be holding one on the following Sunday. Will you prepare yourselves to be baptized on one of those dates?" The Stake President, President Nunnally, talked about the temple. His talk made me reflect on President Bednar's conference talk about his focus as Stake President. President Nunnally answered a question that has been in the back of my mind for the past couple of weeks. My question was this- How do we renew our temple covenants? I'd read in Preach My Gospel that enduring to the end includes continually renewing all of the covenants that we've made. Here's the answer: "The purpose of the sacrament is to renew all covenants, not just those made at baptism." I'm going to remember that this upcoming Sunday when I partake of the sacrament.
We met with Carlos yesterday. Carlos is the man that said he'd prepare himself to be baptized May 30th. We'll probably have to push the date back because he hasn't come to church yet, but he is progressing in other areas. He has read most of 1Nephi. He reviewed some of the things he's read in the Book of Mormon thus far. He mentioned the plates and Laban and he said "I'm to the part where Nephi is building a ship." So he really is reading! That's so awesome. And he said he would pray about the Restoration of the Gospel and said he'd like to come to church next Sunday. I love it when people are prepared.
I've found that I have better studies when I pray for study topics the night before. I've tried it three times now and all three studies have been sacred. I was prompted to study about sanctification, teaching by the Spirit, and more about the power of the Atonement- things that I've studied countless times already. But because I obeyed those promptings the Spirit revealed further light to me on every note of doctrine studied.
Elder Anderson and I are seeing improvement. We aren't spending as much time at the Swansons anymore. I know we'll be blessed as we continue to be more obedient. Elder Anderson told me that President Sexton already told him that he's going to be transferred June 2nd. So that means I'm getting a new companion and I'm going to have to take over the area pretty soon.
Dad you saw how many bears?! 13 eh? That's amazing! That's good that you are trying to be more healthy. I'm trying to do the same (as much as is possible). Thank goodness for Sister Chun though. She makes sure we eat way healthy.
Well have a great week!
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
May 12th, 2009 (Email)
Hello hello again!
Dad, thanks for your mission stories. The story you shared with me today has everything to do with what I am going through here, though my case isn't as tough to deal with. Here's something funny- supposedly the term "bucketing" is a forbidden word in this mission. President Sexton forbade it for some reason way back before I came into the mission. But somehow or another I know the term. Bro. Swanson likes us to come over two to three times a week for more than an hour each time. By my second week here in Cerritos I knew exactly what was happening, and I told Elder Anderson what I noticed was going on. Since I don't know any other word for it I let him know we were "bucketing." Since I've seen very little change since I made my suggestion for us to spend less time at the Swanson residence I reminded my companion about it again Sunday night and if it keeps happening I'll keep reminding him because I don't want to be in an awkward situation when I most likely will have to take over this area. Elder Anderson is a good missionary, but even he admits that he's too comfortable with this area now. He's been here too long. He says sometimes he doesn't even feel like a missionary. He needs to get moved to a different zone so that he can be reminded about some of the rules we need to obey. Until then I'll remind him little by little.
Well, that's that. I believe that I forgot to tell you during my phonecall that I also tried sushi at that buffet place. The sushi was the best part. Surprisingly I especially like the kind that was mostly just the raw fish with a little bit of rice inside of it. I thought it tasted refreshing.
Yesterday I got to mow a lawn. It was a small lawn but I enjoyed every second of it. I know, I'm weird.
I read 2Nephi chapter 9 this morning. It took up the whole hour of my personal study time because it made me think a lot. I read it in preparation for the appointment we have with the Norris family tonight where we will be teaching them the Plan of Salvation. This chapter is mostly a big reminder about the consequences of sin. Jacob mentions that those that die in their sins will approach the Lord to be judged, see His face, "and remain in their sins." He explains that if we're guilty at the Judgment Day we will exclaim to the Lord "my transgressions are mine." I was thinking about what I have that belongs to me. Everything I own is the Lord's because He gave it to me; even my body is the Lord's because He created it for me- all I really have that's really 100% mine are the choices that I make ON MY OWN. There are righteous choices and evil choices we can make on our own. My righteous choices are mine and my evil choices are mine. They reflect my will. But, thanks to the Infinite Atonement, I can give away my transgressions and my bad choices so I don't have to confess at Judgment that that "my transgressions are mine." Even that doesn't have to belong to me.
That's just something cool I learned today that I thought I'd share. There are lots of chapters in the Book of Mormon that are just loaded with stuff to think about.
Well, I don't have a lot to say today that I didn't already say. Just remember I love you and have a great week! I'll send you my Mother's Day Talk pretty soon with a picture of Sa' Lesatele's baptism.
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis
Dad, thanks for your mission stories. The story you shared with me today has everything to do with what I am going through here, though my case isn't as tough to deal with. Here's something funny- supposedly the term "bucketing" is a forbidden word in this mission. President Sexton forbade it for some reason way back before I came into the mission. But somehow or another I know the term. Bro. Swanson likes us to come over two to three times a week for more than an hour each time. By my second week here in Cerritos I knew exactly what was happening, and I told Elder Anderson what I noticed was going on. Since I don't know any other word for it I let him know we were "bucketing." Since I've seen very little change since I made my suggestion for us to spend less time at the Swanson residence I reminded my companion about it again Sunday night and if it keeps happening I'll keep reminding him because I don't want to be in an awkward situation when I most likely will have to take over this area. Elder Anderson is a good missionary, but even he admits that he's too comfortable with this area now. He's been here too long. He says sometimes he doesn't even feel like a missionary. He needs to get moved to a different zone so that he can be reminded about some of the rules we need to obey. Until then I'll remind him little by little.
Well, that's that. I believe that I forgot to tell you during my phonecall that I also tried sushi at that buffet place. The sushi was the best part. Surprisingly I especially like the kind that was mostly just the raw fish with a little bit of rice inside of it. I thought it tasted refreshing.
Yesterday I got to mow a lawn. It was a small lawn but I enjoyed every second of it. I know, I'm weird.
I read 2Nephi chapter 9 this morning. It took up the whole hour of my personal study time because it made me think a lot. I read it in preparation for the appointment we have with the Norris family tonight where we will be teaching them the Plan of Salvation. This chapter is mostly a big reminder about the consequences of sin. Jacob mentions that those that die in their sins will approach the Lord to be judged, see His face, "and remain in their sins." He explains that if we're guilty at the Judgment Day we will exclaim to the Lord "my transgressions are mine." I was thinking about what I have that belongs to me. Everything I own is the Lord's because He gave it to me; even my body is the Lord's because He created it for me- all I really have that's really 100% mine are the choices that I make ON MY OWN. There are righteous choices and evil choices we can make on our own. My righteous choices are mine and my evil choices are mine. They reflect my will. But, thanks to the Infinite Atonement, I can give away my transgressions and my bad choices so I don't have to confess at Judgment that that "my transgressions are mine." Even that doesn't have to belong to me.
That's just something cool I learned today that I thought I'd share. There are lots of chapters in the Book of Mormon that are just loaded with stuff to think about.
Well, I don't have a lot to say today that I didn't already say. Just remember I love you and have a great week! I'll send you my Mother's Day Talk pretty soon with a picture of Sa' Lesatele's baptism.
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis
