Words of Wisdom

I hope all is going well for all of you. I am so excited to hear the news about Emmaline, which is so cool. I look forward to getting to see all of the family, especially the newbies, really soon.

I got my truny papers the other day, so you will probably be getting a call from the new secretary one of these days if you haven’t already. They just changed, now it is elder Papenfuss, a friend of mine. So this past week we have been in a trio with Elders Papenfuss´ companion since he was in our district. It´s been pretty fun.

Everything here is going well, I’m liking life. We have a lot to do this week to try and meet all of the goals, we have been doing really well lately and we just have to keep it up. This is the last week before transfers so the pressure is on. We have found so many cool investigators lately; I would be bummed out to leave this area, but sometimes that is how things work out.

This last week was good. I learned a lot about things that I still need to improve. I was able to feel good in the lessons that we have been teaching in a way that I haven’t felt recently. I have seen things that have really given me a better perspective on life. I am so grateful for what I have been blessed with, my loved ones, my family, my friends, and everyone who once upon a time taught me something that I needed to know. Take care of yourselves. Be careful. I want you all to be around when I get back. Don´t make bad decisions, they only lead to sadness, and I guarantee it. Make sure you’re in good health, take things seriously, but not too seriously, there has to be a good balance of work and play in our lives. That doesn’t mean an equal amount of work and play, but a good ratio.

If there is one thing that i have learned it is that if we are working hard, the Lord will bless us. But if we aren’t enjoying it, it is because we have turned our sight away and we are not looking at the blessings we receive on a day to day basis. Sometimes I get down on myself being here. Sometimes things don’t work out as I had hoped. But I count myself among the privileged because whenever that happens, the Lord seems to smack me upside the head and make me recognize what he is giving me. This Sunday we had more people in church than we have ever had in my time here. We have super cool investigators, I’m healthy, I know I am going to see you all soon :) and all in all life is good. But that is only because I know where to look for the good part. Life´s a tricky thing right? The more we try to figure it out it seems that it had us figured out a long time ago. But that’s the point. We live and we learn as the saying goes. If it weren’t that way, what would be the purpose? So I say that we take what life gives us, we learn from it and we use it to help us be happier instead of getting us down. I love you all and I love the gospel. That is perhaps the most important thing that I can say helps me every day. Bad stuff happens. We deal with it. And how do we do that? Through the gospel. We are so blessed to know God’s plan. We have so much to be thankful for. We should show our Savior that we appreciate what he has done for us by living the way he wants us to, obeying ALL the commandments (we could make a list: go to church every Sunday and keep the Sabbath day holy, fulfill and magnify your calling, read your scriptures every day, pray always.... it’s a long list but if you’re not doing it you need to repent and do it) taking care of ourselves spiritually and physically, and taking care of others. Sometimes we feel bad in life, but 99.9% of the time that is our decision. We choose to feel good and be happy when we do God´s will. That is my wish for all of you. I love you. Take care until next week. Same time, same place...? maybe :)

Elder Jeff Rose