I hope that everyone will take some time to read this email. It has a great message and story in it about how we need to remember to love our families and love the Savior. What a great email right before the Christmas Season.. hopefully when he sends his picture card i will be able to fill in the emails with some pictures.
Elder Houston's email:
December 19, 2011
hey family !!!!!!,
so im soooo pumped to get to talk to you next weeeek!! ill tell you what is going on now so that i dont forget ha. so i will probably call ya in the morning some time. i dont really know the time difference so that prob doesnt help. but we have to call from our cell phone so i will have it with us all day kk so i will call leave a message and keep calling until we can set up a good time the only thing we have planned is church at 1230 and that is only going to be an hour. then we have dinner at a members house at 6. but any other time we are good so we will figure it out no worries:).
hahahaha ok so steve!! man i really like was in shock! i couldnt even like think. ha it was soo awesome!!!!!!!!! that was such a blessing we had just got in from dinner like seconds before he got there to just grab something and were going to head out and he knocked on the door!!! oh man so awesome wish we could have talk for lil bit longer but was so good to see a familiar face and to see a real dump truck! ha all they got out here are these little sissy ones haha. i got some pictures to so i will send them probably today. ahh so much fun.
oh man holy cow so hunter got pretty messed up? then i will defiantly pray for him. i hope he is ok. i had a really bad feeling last night like the spirit was telling me something. it was so strong like it hurt and i felt sick. so i would keep a close eye on him. i could not find out why i was feeling like that so just keep an eye on him.
thats way cool about matt. ya i got to talk to him just a couple times and he sounded way good. thats great he is home now and i cant wait to see him in a couple of years, to thank him for the great example he was to me. i love that guy.
sooooo quite a bit happend this week, nothing to crazy. but i hope i can remember it all haha. we had our ward christmas party on tuesday, that was pretty fun and we got a lot of investigators there and they seemed to like it. Courtnie is still not staying focused. its been so hard to get in to teach her. and she is soooo close to being baptized. and i know she wants to so bad, but satan is finding every way he can to distract her, its killer, but we keeping our heads high and keeping at the fight. we also had exchanges this week and it was just a normal one but i just realized from it that i am getting soo much better at this time stuff. haha i dont know how Jesus did it, but man He's good haha. but really i dont think i have ever been this on time with out someone nagging me:) ha my entire life its awesome. oh we also had interviews this week with pres merkley and that was so amazing. the spirit was so strong and i gained a closer love for this beautiful plan that our Father in Heaven created for us.
so pres merkley just had a death in his family and it has really taken a tole on him. i guess one of his sons wife just got sick and passed away. she was only in her 30s and had two little girls. it was so sad to see him talk about it. but to see how positive he was able to stay was so amazing. i love pres merkley. he decided to talk with us about life and how we should treasure every moment of it. one story he told really stuck out to me, was one that he told about when he was a bishop. He talked about this women that came to him as a bishop and said that as a girl her parents had abused her and used her for there income. they had put her through the most terrible things. then telling her that if she would tell anyone that they would kill her and kill her dog. how bad is that that they were afraid that threatening her own life would not be enough so they said they would kill her puppy. just shows you how badly she was treated. well it got to the point that she could only come to one solution and that was to take her own life. and she did, but didnt. she told him that as she died she came to this place of totally peace and calmness and warmth and comfort, feeling nothing but love and peace. as she was there a man put his arm around her and took her to see people there and talked with her until the man asked her and said you are welcome to stay here if you would like or you can go back. the next thing she remembers is waking up in the ER being revived. pres merkley told us that there was such an innosence about her, the spirit was so strong with her that he knew with out a doubt that what she said was true. he said most people that have those things happen to her tell people for the show or the money but she had told him and a few others that was all. but after the woman told him this, he ask "so why did you choose to come back.?" why come back to all of that abuse and hate and pain when you cold have stayed in a place of love and peace. she said, i have no idea she could not remember. pres merkley told her that when we first heard of the plan to come here we knew that we would all have our agency. we knew that there would be death, wars, hate,
murders and rapist. but still we choose to come. it says in the scriptures that we shouted for joy when we heard the plan, even after knowing all that. because we knew of the joy that could come with it even with all of the pains and sorrow. he said "life is good treasure ever moment of it enjoy being with the ones you love. we only get this opportunity once."
I really liked that story it helped me think that we need to enjoy life and focus on the good not the bad and to think of the things that bring REAL and true happiness like family :) and friends.
i know this is the true and real gospel. our Father in Heaven does love us so much and wanted us and wants us to be happy. we always have our choice to grow and learn but He, with His Son have made it possible to have that happiness and all we have to do is follow Him. How amazing it is to know these things, to be able to pray and ask. i love it so much. sorry super long letter but i have to go i love you all so much and cant wait to talk to you all on sunday stay safe love you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
elder houston
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