Happy Birthday Mom! I'm sorry I haven't written. I
really will try to do that. I keep trying to have a p-day where we don't do
anything so I can get caught up but my district just wants to do activities.
They insist on it even if it is a game of uno. Dang it. I want to prep on
prep day!
To answer your question I haven't received any letters
from the family yet. I have received some letters which I will respond to
(eventually). I should be able to get a camera next week.
Conference! I loved General Conference! The entire
stake, including our whole zone, came to Masan to watch conference. We got to
watch the whole thing in English with the other missionaries and a few more
English speakers. It was weird watching as a missionary. Afterward we were
talking to a member who was surprised by how few of the talks were about
missionary work. I was also surprised because I thought most of them had been
about missionary work.
If you get Will's letter I also noticed the same trend
about internalizing commandments. If we see them as someone else's ideas we are
going to resist them. (Will is a friend from our ward who is currently serving
in Brazil. This is what he said in his last letter home that Tristan is
referring to.) "Something that really stood out to me in conference is the
importance of internalizing goals. You have to want something for yourself. Even
if your mission president, your companion, and God all want you to be obedient,
if you don't want to be obedient... you're probably not going to be. That's the
beauty and struggle with agency. It's all up to us. So, I've been working on
internalizing the things that I should do as a missionary... not because
everyone wants me to, but because I want to. I want to read my scriptures, I
want to work hard. I want to help people gain greater faith in Jesus
Christ."
(Back to Tristan's letter)
I also really liked when they talked about repentance.
Recently I have been studying the Gospel of Christ more in depth and I have
learned so much. It is the most basic of doctrines but there is always more to
learn. It helps when you are studying with other people in mind. As I think
about how this would help our investigators I learn more that I can also use for
me. Awesome.
I loved Elder Ballard's talk about missionary work, Put
Your Trust in the Lord. Here is my favorite part; "Brothers
and sisters, fear will be replaced with faith and confidence when members and
the full-time missionaries kneel in prayer and ask the Lord to bless them with
missionary opportunities. Then, we must demonstrate our faith and watch for
opportunities to introduce the gospel of Jesus Christ to our Heavenly Father’s
children, and surely those opportunities will come. These opportunities will
never require a forced or a contrived response. They will flow as a natural
result of our love for our brothers and sisters. Just be positive, and those
whom you speak with will feel your love. They will never forget that feeling,
though the timing may not be right for them to embrace the gospel. That too may
change in the future when their circumstances change."
After hearing that I thought about a section of chapter 10
of PMG. It is about listening and includes an amazing quote from Elder Holland
(pg 185). Take a moment to look that up. Okay so, if we are prepared by study
and prayer and if we listen with love we will find an opportunity to testify
about the Gospel as we talk with others. Obviously this isn't just about
missionaries and investigators (notice the use of the word "friends" in that
quote). My goal as a missionary is to be able to sit down with an investigator
and just talk with them. Help them out and invite them to Christ without them
ever realizing that they are being taught a lesson. This can be your goal as
well outside of the mission. You don't have to use special language when
bearing testimony (I'd like to bear my testimony. I know.....). Just talk from
the heart. We love the Gospel. Why wouldn't we talk about it?
Anyway. I think that is the thought I'll be using in
member visits this week. Thanks for the support. Be happy. I love
you,
Elder Stapley
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