Home

     I did not expect to have one of the greatest birthdays of my life while away from home here on my mission. I am overwhelmed by the amount of love and support I received from everyone back home. I don't know how my mom did it, but she gathered messages from many people I have not heard from on my mission, with expressions of faith and inspiration. She also wrote me the sweetest card that I've ever gotten, just expressing that she is grateful that I'm a part of our family. That strengthened me so much! In the middle of the day I got a phone call from President Cooke wishing me happy birthday, and the Sisters in my district called and sang for me! Then we had the most amazing dinner at the McComb's home, somehow she found out what my favorite birthday meal is! Brother McCombs was just coming home from a 15 hour flight from Japan! Even so, they still decorated the house and had a birthday celebration for me. It struck me how one year ago on my last birthday, I didn't know any of these people. I didn't know anyone in my district, I didn't know my mission president, and I didn't know the families of the Patuxent Ward. Yet they have become the dearest friends to me. When I was in the missionary training center, we were trying to figure out how to comfort the missionaries in our zone that were dealing with homesickness. I heard a quote during that conversation that has stuck with me my entire mission. "Home is where the people you love are." That inspires me to learn to love the people that I am around, no matter what part of the world I am in. I certainly love the people I am serving with here in Maryland, and I feel like I'm home.
     My testimony of the priesthood of God was strengthened this week. Elder Thorpe and I have participated in 8 priesthood blessings within the last few weeks. Some of which are the most powerful spiritual experiences I have yet had. The Sisters in our area said that they had a strange feeling in their home, and had a hard time feeling the spirit while they were there. One of the Sisters has been haunted by bad dreams. We accompanied a member of the Bishopric to go bless the home. It is difficult to describe how I felt, but when I walked in, I felt like something really was amiss. It felt more like a public place rather than a home. Brother Coleman gave a powerful blessing on the home, and when he closed in the name of our master Jesus Christ, I felt the air lift in the room, and I felt the glow of home. Afterwards Brother Coleman taught us that the power contained in one worthy priesthood bearer is more powerful than all the powers of wickedness in the world, I believe that is true. I think the real meaning of Zion is my idea of home. As we seek to build Zion, and be a Zion like people, we will feel like we are home. We're not just getting to heaven, we're learning heaven.

A Lost Pen

On Tuesday we started knocking on doors in a neighborhood right off highway 5. We didn't get more than 100 yards from the car when it started dumping rain on us. The raindrops are so big here, I didn't want my scriptures to get soaked, so we made a mad dash back to the car so that we wouldn't get soaked to the bone. When the rain subsided, the clouds cleared and the rest of our evening was illuminated with a beautiful sunset. A few families let us I. To talk for a few minutes, but none were interested in investigating further. When we got home Elder Thorpe realized he was missing his special pen. This pen was a gift to him from a very good friend, and he was really torn up huge loss of it. I felt bad for his sorrow, and prayed that we would be able to find it. We searched the apartment, we searched the car, and it was no where to be found. We decided to go back to that neighborhood soon and see if it had dropped that night. The next few days passed and it didn't feel like there was a good time to go check, until Saturday evening. As we retraced our steps, I saw the pen glimmering on the side of the road, unscathed, just laying there! Elder Thorpe was overjoyed, but I also noticed a man watering his garden. I ran over to talk to him, he was taking care of his okra plants.. He was Filipino! I think I am more cultured in Filipino than Chinese, so it was great to talk with him! He found out quickly that I don't speak much Tagalog, but I do know a lot about the food and he loves to cook just like my dad. We got talking about the church and he seems to be well settled in the Catholic Church, but he would like to come to church and talk again sometime! Isn't that amazing how what we thought was a tragedy led us to a miracle? I'm learning just how involved The Lord is in our lives. It might seem that he isn't doing a lot because we don't see him personally, but in reality he is doing so much. It's great that I'm on a mission and I have the opportunity to serve others, but the credit goes completely to Him. This is His work, and we are His children. If we follow the promptings that He gives to us, we get to be a part of it and receive the joy that comes from helping others return back to Him.

Welcome Elder Thorpe!

        When new missionaries are introduced into the field, we have a special meeting for them to meet their companion. We sat on opposing sides of a theater in the Temple Visitor Center, and I had this feeling that my new companion would be the one sitting in the very back. Sure enough, we were both called up to be companions! I have a great love and respect for this man Elder Jim Thorpe. He is so bright, and so genuine in his love for the gospel and for the scriptures. My biggest worry about a new companion is always whether or not they will have a lot of and the right kind of motivation. His drive is his abiding testimony of the fullness of the gospel, and his strength is his care for the people. He has left behind his computers and the world of gaming he loves, to take on a mission for The Lord. It's such an honor for me to be his first companion here in the greatest mission in the history of life.
I wanted so badly for him to have a great first week in the field, so I set up as many appointments as I could. The first night we went out knocking on doors. We actually had a few great contacts! One stood outside with us for half an hour and opened up to us about his concerns of drinking alcohol. That night I felt that we should call the brother in the hospice house to visit with and strengthen him. We shared scriptures from the Book of Mormon, and he liked them and expressed how he would like to show them to his sisters. Then his sister walked in to come visit with him! What a miracle is that?? She was so nice to us and open to talking about religion. That night we got to go to a special priesthood meeting on the 7th floor of the temple. That was one of the holiest experiences in my entire life. I can't quite describe how I felt there, other than that it was the most glorious meeting place I have ever entered. Perhaps that is a lot like what the halls of heaven feel like. I felt like I was home surrounded by the loving families of the Patuxent Ward.
      The next evening we had one of the grandest experiences of my mission thus far. We got to our appointment a little early and decided to knock a couple doors. The second door a man opened the door to reveal 6 children all under 11 standing there staring us down! We had a great conversation about families and he allowed us in to talk more. Elder Thorpe and I bore our testimonies of how the gospel blesses individuals and families, and we all started to tear up. We have a follow up appointment this Thursday! The following lesson we had was amazing. It was with a young father Elder Fisher and I met over a month ago. He was on a business trip to Spain, then a mission trip in Uganda to help out an orphanage. He is such a great guy! And has a firm testimony of Christ and the power of repentance. We brought with us a recent convert from the other ward, who was previously a minister in the Lutheran church for 12 years. The man we were visiting had also invited a pastor from his church over for the discussion. Talk about a potentially dangerous situation! It started out very contentiously, as verses of the bible were thrown at us to prove that we were heretics to Christ. Brother Casto lovingly rebuked the pastor for being disrespectful and trying to aggressively convince us of our error, rather than trying to bring us closer to Christ by persuasion. I have never witnessed such a powerful, controlled correction before, but it was definitely done out of love, and it changed the spirit of the entire discussion. By the end the two men had accepted the challenge to read the Book of Mormon and sincerely ask God, if it is true. It was so remarkable for us to be a part of that kind of discussion, and I hope that these men find that what we teach can add to their faith, and bring a fullness of light and knowledge to their understanding of Christ.
     I feel The Lord helping me now more than ever. He's guiding me, He's changing me, and I am so happy! It's so worth it to put your trust in Him, and love the journey.

Power in the Gospel

     When I look at this picture, I am overwhelmed with a feeling of joy and gratitude. These two men are so important to me, they have been my best friends through all the ups and downs of my life, they're my brothers! But from our childhood, they never liked each other. It always caused contention and my heart to ache, because I love both of them so much, I always wanted them to feel that for each other. They are both amazing individuals, and I wanted them to see that. I've prayed for their relationship for so many years. Imagine a family where their was brotherly love and kindness between every single member? That seemed like a goal worth working for to me. The problem is that it's not a natural thing. When you don't like someone, you don't like them and it's difficult to overcome how you criticize and dislike them. I think so many spouse and family relationships are torn apart because of this natural affect. But the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to change us. It has power to change the way that we see things through repentance, and power to change the way that we feel through the atonement of Christ. I've seen my own self change in these ways. This picture is a testimony to me that the gospel works for others as well. The fulness of the gospel has been restored and it blesses families, how it has blessed my dear family.
I have an even greater urgency and determination to share the gospel now and throughout my whole life. We had a great opportunity to teach a devout baptist this last week. We scheduled to practice teaching a lesson to a member family, and decided to do some finding in the area while we waited for the time to arrive to head over there. The first door we knocked the man stepped outside and was willing to hear us out. He accepted the challenge to read the Book of Mormon, and I gave him 2 Nephi 31 to study, which talks about baptism, I don't know why I felt to give him that scripture. He told us we could come back, so we went about trying to find someone in the neighborhood that might come with us. The member that we taught in the evening had home teaching the day that the appointment was scheduled, but he suggested another member down the street, that we hadn't even thought about. We went over to ask if he would join us and he was happy to do it! It was perfect because this baptist's wife is Japanese, and the member's wife served her mission in Japan! They got along so well, and we had an amazing conversation about the restoration of the gospel. He is going to Japan to visit his wife's family for a few weeks, but we'll definitely be seeing him when he returns.
Saturday we got to go to the Washington Nationals baseball game as a mission. For the first time I felt like I was home with the entire mission there, because I've gotten to know so many more missionaries over the past year. Last year I knew only a handful of other missionaries. I love this mission so much, and I'm grateful for all the great men and women that I've gotten to meet and serve with. I am most grateful for my companion Elder Fisher. Though he is a relatively new missionary, I have learned more from and with him than I've learned as a missionary. I'm going to miss him this next transfer, but I know he will do great things for this mission throughout his service. The gospel brings such great blessings into our lives. Hold to it.