Monday, November 10, 2014

Just Smile and Have Fun! WEEK 74!


Lieve Familie,

              Before I get started here I just want to thank you all for the letters, emails, and support I receive. Seriously I miss you fam and love you so much. You are all so inspiring and amazing and have all had a huge impact in my life. I am so grateful and just thinking about you all makes me realize just how blessed I am and how much I truly truly do love each and every one of you. LOVE YOU GUYS SOOOO MUCH!

 Well what a week it has been. It has been a great week, a week that just seemed to fly right by!

It was lots of work and just busy busy busy!  I was only in Eindhoven 2 out of the 5 days during the week, one of the days being last Monday (p-day) so I spent a majority of my time once again working in other cities and with other missionaries. It has been a great experience and I truly do love it. It is hard to be away and I find myself sooooo tired and exhausted, but it is great to be there for someone who is in need. It’s so important to just stay positive and happy in this life- especially when the weather just keeps getting colder and colder and more miserable. The only thing you ever have in control of is how you ACT and your attitude. So I am grateful that I choose to be grateful and positive no matter how cold or rough it gets. :)

   This last week I’ve learned a lot. A lot about Christ, forgiveness, attitude, judging others, seeing the good in others, and etc. It truly is amazing at just how much you can learn every single week from being on a mission. Amazing because everyday you pretty much do the same work/same things (knock on doors, teach the Gospel, talk to people on the street, etc), but everyday is different and there is a lesson to be learned at every turn you make. It is very much like life. For most of us we actually fall into a sort of routine of doing the same basic or common things daily such as chores, work, going to the gym (I hope), school, homework, etc. and it just becomes our “normal life”. That’s great because were all staying busy in doing good and helping others, but I just hope (this goes for myself also) that we are learning the lessons that we need to learn while doing so. This last week it happened to me and I felt like I learned the lessons I needed to learn while fulfilling my chores/responsibilities as a missionary. But it happened to me in a way where I wasn’t taught by another missionary or person, but rather, I was taught by the Holy Ghost. As I really look back on my last week, I can really see where the spirit taught me valuable lessons. The scripture in Alma chapter 37 always comes into my mind when I think about this...

 Verse 36: “Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever”
 Verse 37: “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good.....”
The parts that I have highlighted always stick out to me because Alma is telling us to always have the Lord with us and in everything we do. In other words you could say, he is telling us to always have the Spirit with you. The Holy Ghost is the greatest teacher and will teach you all things in a way so that you will be able to understand and HE will always “Direct thee for good”.  So as we go about doing our daily chores, work, school, and everything else we do.. Let us all strive to do better at keeping Him close by us and being open for him. He will teach us valuable lessons and helps us to become better people. I love the quote from Elder Bednar regarding the teachings of the Gospel..
“In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, The Gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something.”
I absolutely love that quote and hope that we can all realize the importance of making daily or weekly progress of becoming something. Becoming someone better than who we were yesterday. Becoming better people! After all that is what the Gospel teaches us and challenges us to become. I hope I can also do the same!! 
Family I love you all so much and miss you guys like crazy! I must say though that I love my mission and I am so grateful that I still have time to learn and to grow and to be out here. Time to finish Strong and to ENJOY TO THE END!
LOVES!
    Big Dude!

Pics: At the car wash!!

       
  Beautiful drives!

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