Joy in the Success of my Brethren

Yeah. I get pretty excited about the temple. 

Future missionaries! Zach (Brazil), Josh (Portugal), Bryce (Guatemala), Audrey (Oregon), and myself getting ready to go do a Temple session! 

Man.... I'm looking fly... Mormon fly. 

Hey guys! So, I know. I've been really bad about posting on here. Mostly cuz my life is boring and I don't have a lot to say. However, this week I feel like I should tell about an experience I had! 

So, this past Saturday was just one of those days. You know what I'm taking about. Just a day that everything piles up and doesn't stop. I won't go into detail, but yeah. It was a day. 

When I got off work, I came home and got a letter from my buddy Austin, who is in the MTC right now preparing to go to Mexico. I was just kind of frustrated because he wasn't around to talk to about my day. (It wasn't that big of a deal, but it comes into play later). 

So while I was writing him back, I had an epiphany. "Hey man. Say a prayer." So, I'm usually pretty good about saying my daily prayers! But, if I'm having a hard day, I usually never think to get down on my knees. (Which isn't good of me. I'm getting better.) Anyways, in my prayer I basically asked to be comforted, and that I would know I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. 

Before I proceed, I'll preface this by saying, it's a totally cliche story. But, I think that's really cool. Because if you think about it, all that means is, if everyone else can have an experience like this, you can too! 

So after I got done praying, I just felt like I should read my scriptures. So, I flipped open to Alma 28,where I was in my Book of Mormon reading. This chapter is about the Nephites defeating the Lamanites in battle. So, this was great! Except, the Nephites lost a lot of loved ones in this battle. So, I'm in no way going to try to compare my petty trials during the day to losing my loved ones in battle. However, as the chapter continues, it discusses that the righteous will be blessed through faith. So that was definitely comforting. At the end of the chapter it says, "And thus we see the great call of diligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord;and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing- sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life." (Alma 28:14) So there it is. The key to joy everyone. You're welcome. 

Although the chapter was really good, and applied to my current situation, I felt like I should keep reading. Holy cow, that next chapter was for me! This one starts out with Alma making a wish that he was an angel. So he could fly? No! So he could "go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!" (Alma 29:1) He then follows up this statement, by apologizing for making this wish, because he is already so blessed. Wow. Alma? What a stud. He has probably the most good intentioned wish of all time, and he apologizes for being ungrateful. That was really humbling for me, because everything I'd been wishing for that day had been selfish and petty. 

But wait there's more!! 

Alma continues, "And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he had extended towards me." (Alma 29:10) This is where it REALLY started to hit home. I got multiple meanings from this. First, obviously the joys that WILL come through missionary work. Definitely exciting and reassuring that I'm on the right path. I was also struck that so many of my friends are strong in the gospel, and how happy it makes me that that is the case, and that so many are going on missions as well!! And thinking about it just made me happy. 

Last little bit. In Alma 29:13-15, he writes: "Yea, and that same God did establish his church among them;yea, and that same God hath called me by a holy calling, to preach the word unto this people, and hath given me much success, in which my joy is full. But I do not joy in my own success alone, but my joy is more full because of the success of my brethren, who have been up to the land of Nephi. Behold, they have labored exceedingly, and have brought forth much fruit; and how great shall be their reward!" I notice Alma closes this with an exclamation point. He's obviously pretty stoked about his buddies out serving missions, and his own. And you know what? I'm REALLY stoked to serve my mission. And I'm super proud (in the good way) and happy for all my friends planning on serving, currently serving, or who have served their missions. And I realized, that because of that, I can be filled with joy. I shouldn't be bummed they're gone, I should be filled with joy, because the gospel of Jesus Christ is moving forward and being taught around the world: by my friends! And that, is pretty stinking awesome. 

All in all, it was a huge testimony builder for me. A few things I learned. 

• Heavenly Father loves us. A lot. 
• He doesn't necessarily answer prayers with a chorus of angels. Oftentimes we get an answer by getting gentle nudges from the Holy Ghost to just open our scriptures. 
• Our prayers do get answered! Just sometimes not immediately. 
• I know Heavenly Father heard and answered MY prayer. That's a pretty awesome thing to learn.
• I know I'm being prepared for my mission. I might be a little dense sometimes, but the Lord is working on me, and he's helping shape me to be the kind of missionary that Alma and the sons of Mosiah were. That's pretty humbling.
• This isn't so much a thing I learned as much as a realization but... 3 months till Peru! :D 

.... 3 months better go fast... ;) 

Thanks for reading! 

The church is true! :) 

Turning My Heart to the Work

Well guys, I figured sharing some of my thoughts and feelings as I am preparing for my mission would be a good idea. Also, I figured this would be a good place for my parents to post stuff once I'm gone. 

Over the past few weeks since I've gotten my call, I've been thinking a lot about a few things that I would like to reflect upon. Generally, although I'm proud of my testimony, and try to share it frequently, I seem to struggle with sharing it sometimes. Hopefully, this helps me get over that a bit, but I hope those of you who will read this will be patient with me. 

A few weeks ago, I was asked to give a talk on the Book of Mormon. At the time, I was really trying to nail down my testimony of it, I so was frequently praying that I could really gain for myself a testimony of the Book of Mormon. As I was preparing my talk, and reading talks, and studying my scriptures for answers, I just realized how incredible those pages were. As I was reading, the images that the Book of Mormon was describing to me started to pop into my mind. I felt like my heart was being opened for the first time to the Book of Mormon. Suddenly, it wasn't just reading. After 18 years of existence (I know, I'm kind of slow) it finally clicked. These were real people. These were real prophets. And this book was TRUE. I mean, I'd had a testimony of it before this point, but it just really came to me then. But holy cow! It's so much easier to read my scriptures now that I have come to a realization for myself of their truth. I guess I think it's a bit funny that Heavenly Father knew I was searching for answers about the Book of Mormon, and he made sure that I received that request to talk on the Book of Mormon. When I first was asked to speak on it, I won't lie, the first thing I thought was, "Seriously? I'm trying to figure this thing out for myself! How am I supposed to teach other people about it?" And then, BAM! Truths! Heavenly Father knows what He is doing, if we can just trust Him.

Today in church made me think a lot about my mission as well. I was home for the weekend, so I went to Elder's Quorum with my dad. Our Elder's Quorum president walked in, dressed up in his street clothes. After everyone kind of chuckled, he asked what everyone thought when he walked in the room. Most of the comments involved negative impressions, as he was in the church, and was dressed casually. When I thought about what I thought, initially my impression was negative. Yikes! That's not good. I thought back to President Monson's talk, See Others as They May Become. In it, he talks about an experience in which he talks N. Eldon Tanner, who tells President Monson about a young missionary who he interviewed. The area the missionary was from had a lot of success, and so Elder Tanner immediately assumed most of the success was due to member referrals. The missionary then told Elder Tanner that all the baptisms came from tracting. "Brother Tanner asked him what was different about his approach—why he had such phenomenal success when others didn’t. The young man said that he attempted to baptize every person whom he met. He said that if he knocked on the door and saw a man smoking a cigar and dressed in old clothes and seemingly uninterested in anything—particularly religion—the missionary would picture in his own mind what that man would look like under a different set of circumstances. In his mind he would look at him as clean-shaven and wearing a white shirt and white trousers. And the missionary could see himself leading that man into the waters of baptism. He said, “When I look at someone that way, I have the capacity to bear my testimony to him in a way that can touch his heart." That's the attitude I decided I needed to have! As Elder Uchtdorf also stated in last years October conference, "Dont judge me because I sin differently than you." I decided I'm going to try much harder not to judge, and to imagine everyone around me as my heavenly brother or sister. Even if I don't end up baptizing everyone I come in contact with, I still can set an example of Christ that people will remember.

As the lesson progressed, we learned that we were digging a bit too deep as far as the real topic of our lesson went. The lesson itself was simple: The Dangers in becoming casual in our religion. That's something I see a lot of. And, it related to what I have been reading in the Book of Mormon lately! I'm at the beginning of Alma. In the last few chapters I've read, it's been a roller coaster for the Nephites! They find the gospel, embrace it, and are prosperous for a period of time. Then, they let themselves get casual. They forget to pray, read their scriptures. They let the little things slip. As those start to slip, they start to let pride slip IN. They start to attribute their success to themselves, rather to Heavenly Father. And then, oops! All of a sudden, their prosperity is gone. War, famine, whatever happens, and then they realize their mistakes, and turn back to the Lord. It's kind of sad how many times it happens. But every time, it started off with becoming casual, just with the little stuff. I think that's something all of us (myself included) need to be more careful about. We can't write off the small things, because through small things, are great things achieved. Without that little stuff, how can we be expected to do the big stuff? Another issue with becoming casual is the example it sets for those around us. We go to church on Sunday, and we tell people that the gospel we have is special, and that it is true. But if we become casual in it, what kind of example are we setting? That what we have, isn't that special! And that's not okay, cuz what we have is pretty darn special! 

One last thing before I sign off! My testimony of mission work! Ever since I received my call to Cusco Peru (best mission in the world), I've seen the Lord's hand in my life more than ever before. I know I'm being prepared for my mission. Whether it's through the little things I pull out of lessons (like the stuff above!) or the fact that I honestly feel my Spanish coming back to me from high school. I haven't even THOUGHT about Spanish in years, and all of a sudden, it's all coming back. Coincidence? I don't think so! :)

Wow. I just like, testimony puked all over. Sorry for all the text, and for those of you brave enough to read all of it, 

KUDOS!

Anyways, there's a little glimpse into the inner thoughts of Daniel. If you're lost, it's okay. It makes sense to me, so it's all good. I'll write sometime again when I'm feeling prompted.