Ready For First Transfer

[sent May 5]

There are very many things about being a missionary that make me happy. 

When I teach and the investigator understands.
When the kids say 'Hey, Joe'
When I go to a members house and they give us a snack.

When I get to go to the temple.

When there are 3 different members that want to work with us.

When the members who feed tell me to eat more.

When kids ask me what my name is.

When I think of a scripture to use during the lesson and I remember where it is.

When it rains.

When it's windy.

When our recent converts bear their testimony in Sacrament meeting and the bishop and his counselors cry.

When I get to email and write to people that I love.

When they email and write me.

[sent May 11]

A lot can happen in 15 days. Here on my mission I have been able to use my time more wisely and more effectively than ever before. In the last 15 days I read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover. I was surprised by the speed I was able to read it. Of course it was in English, but still 15 days doesn't seem like a reasonably amount of time to read a 500 page book, especially if you're work 8 hours a day teaching people about the doctrines therein. So how did I do it?

As with anything that is done there must needs be a reason. My reason for reading the Book of Mormon was to become familiar with the doctrines of the gospel so that I could teach them better and more clearly. I also desired to finish the Book of Mormon before Mother's Day as a gift to my mom. Showing her that I'm doing what's right and I'm feasting on the word, and that my mission is transforming me into a student of the gospel.

However, this would not have been enough if it weren't for my time management. I read the Book of Mormon for an hour everyday, sometimes a little bit more, but never less. If I continue to read it for an hour everyday I could finish the entire book 30 times before I come home. Then, how great of a tool could I be in the Lord's hands? How well would I know the good word of God? How great would be my blessings and the blessings of those I taught?

An hour a day is all it takes to become great at something. An hour a day is the difference between mediocrity and greatness. If you do push ups for an hour every day then you'll become an expert at push ups. People will know you as 'the guy that does push ups'. If you play piano for an hour everyday then you'll become 'the one who plays piano'. Then what if you pray for an hour a day?

What would people say about you? What if you read the scriptures for an hour everyday? And then what if you read it for 2 hours?

The Lord has given us the gift of our lives so that we may grow and have joy. The Lord gives us 24 hours every single day of our lives. He has given us bodies that require less than 10 hours of rest per day. We have 14 hours a day to do with whatever we desire. If we tithe those hours then we owe the Lord at least an hour everyday. The Lord has promised to bless us as we follow his commandments. There is no other way he can bless us. He cannot bless us if we have not been diligent with the things he has already blessed us with.

Use your time wisely. This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God.

[sent May 18, 25]

Truly, the hardest part of my work is agency. Every person that we teach can choose to keep their commitments or not. Of course they also have the choice of whether or not they listen to us at all, but a lot of people are humble enough to listen to us. I really love all of the people that we are teaching. I want what's best for them, and I wish I could drag them to church and show them that it's true, I wish I could do their Book of Mormon reading for them and say their prayers for them, and do everything for them that they might be happy and blessed for time and all eternity, but I can't. This past Sunday none of our investigators came to church, and we invited all of them. Many of them even said that they would be there, but they all used their agency to do otherwise.

There are some days when I wish they didn't have agency and I wish that when we invited them to come they would just come, but I know that without agency, there would be no purpose for missionary work and no need for a church, no need for a Savior, no plan of happiness, no happiness, no sin and no joy. For if there was no agency no man could be rewarded for his actions, because his actions would not really be his. I know that if there was no agency then the sweet mother who prays to God everynight and walks 5 miles to church every Sunday would not be rewarded any more than the mother who does nothing. We need agency.

Because of agency we have great reason to rejoice. None of our investigators came to church yesterday, but all 7 of our recent converts did and so did more than a hundred others. We can truly rejoice because of them and because of how they used their agency they will be blessed. I know that the Lord loves each of His children and I will never give up on those that don't come to church, but I will rejoice for those that do.

There's a lot that's happened in the last week. I wish I could tell you everything, but I'm running short on time. I want you all to know that I'm thinking about you and praying for you, and I'm doing great. I'm eating well, the members here are great about feeding us.

I'm adjusting very well to the weather and the people and the environment here. I feel like I'm home, but this place is nothing like Oregon. I'm really excited about transfers, I've already started packing. My days and weeks are flying by. I'm working all the time and I'm enjoying it. I'm learning that it's not about me. None of it is about me. This life is all about the Lord and doing his work.

Love, Daniel