Email cuarenta y ocho

July 10, 2017

Hey y'all!
This was a good week. It started off on Tuesday with the Fourth. We went to dinner at the Tirados home and ate tamales. Then we exchanged with the Zone Leaders. I went to Little Rock with Elder Ogaard. We had a good exchange. Elder Ogaard had just met President Hansen, our new mission president, that morning. He told me about a story that President Hanson had told him, of when he was on his mission.

One day he and his companion had decided that they were going to leave the apartment and not return to the apartment until they had found a golden family. I stayed outside all day contacting, and didn't even go back to the apartment to eat. They eventually found a family in the parking lot of the store that wanted to listen to them and eventually got baptized.

So Elder Ogaard and I decided that we were going to try out the same idea. We left the apartment and went contacting all day long, talking to everyone that we could see it outside. We never managed to have a lesson but it was really fun talking to other people and it was fun to be able to get out and work.

That night Elder Ogaard asked me about my motivation to come out on a mission and to stay on the mission. I realized that a lot of my motivation to go on a mission was because of peer pressure. The night that I was set apart, I said a prayer and told Heavenly Father that I would be content if I could just bring one soul unto him. I was so made motivated my whole mission to accomplish that goal, and then last transfer I finally did it. I realize that since then I've been content with what I have already accomplished and because of that my motivation to continue serving has gone down a little bit. I realized that for the rest of my mission, I am going to need to have very specific, focused goals about what I want to accomplish on my mission.

 Thursday morning we drove back to Memphis at 5 AM in order to be there by 9 AM to meet President Hansen and Walnut Grove. President Hanson spoke for about 45 minutes. He is a very powerful man and you can tell that he lives righteously and worthy of the Spirit. He talked about how much he loves tracting, and the miracles that come from tracting. He also talked about obedience and work ethic. I am confident that he will have the mission moving in the right direction.

 We had a mini Zone Meeting right after and talked about how the mission is the refiners fire. It really inspired me to keep going through the grind, and not be afraid to work just because it's hard. One of the greatest lessons that I learned came during my studies this week. I was pondering the question why bad things happen to good people. As I thought about this I thought about Jesus Christ. He was the only perfect person to ever live. He never committed a single wrong or sin. He was perfect in every way. He was pure and Holy. And yet He suffered the greatest suffering that this world has ever known. He took upon Him the pain is the sicknesses the infirmities the suffering and the heart aches of every single person that has ever lived on the earth.

For Him it wasn't fair, but He went through it anyways because He loved us. So yes, bad things happen to good people, but the greatest of all suffered far more. His grace is sufficient to heal all wounds and heart aches, to dry all tears, and mend every broken life.

 I'm so grateful for all the priceless lessons I have learned here on the mission, and for how I have been able to come closer to the Savior. I love all y'all so much and I hope you all have a wonderful week!