October 3, 2011

Wow, how amazing was conference?? I really loved President Uchtdorf´s talk about forget me nots. I loved when he mentioned that it is important not to forget the WHY of the Gospel. I would like to share with you all my “Why.”

I have always loved learning about history and reading stories and watching movies that make me wonder what it would be like to live in a different time, place or reality. It seemed so much more interesting and fun and always had some sort of appeal. I´ve gotten lost in music and books that have given me momentary feelings of being on cloud nine or that sort of thing. The trouble with all of that though, is that it isn´t real. The happiness that it brings doesn´t last. You can´t trust it to be there for you long term. There is only one source of happiness that is real and lasting – the happiness and joy of the restored Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is real. It is what we will have when all of the flashy fun things of this world are over. The pure joy of the Holy Ghost and the peace of living the Gospel are REAL. It is a happiness far beyond that which can be found in anything the human mind can invent. It is the happiness that is there for you constantly if you will live worthy of it. It is why I´m here. It is why I have the desire to serve my Savior; it is why millions of people all over the world are faithfully living this Gospel. It is pure, unadulterated, unbelievable joy.

That being said, I want to dedicate the rest of this e-mail to an awesome kid named Dylan. Dylan is 13 and was baptized in April. He has SUCH a strong testimony and these last few weeks I have been so blessed to see the power of that testimony. His mom, in an attempt to inspire him to improve his grades, told him that he would not be allowed to go to church, nor any activities, until she saw some changes. Dylan (remember now, this is a 13 year old boy) offered his laptop, offered all of his games and other privileges, offered time with his friends, offered any other punishment other than not being able to go to church. His mom agreed that if I come and tutor him that he can go to church. It was amazing to see the strength of a testimony when set against opposition. It is great to hear him talk about how excited he is to serve a mission in just 5 years (the age limit in Chile is 18). He wants to go to Egypt or Hawaii. It is such an inspiration to me to see the strength of the members here, especially the jovenes.

Love you!