Hey there familia and
amigos! I hope that this letter finds you guys alive and kicking as well as I
am. All is good here, just making the most of the heated days and sweating up a
storm like no other! The time is going bye faster and faster and I can’t even
believe it! But this week was good, we had a good time baking in the sun,
getting some things done, and helping those people that needed our help. It is
all good here in the desert of Comayagua baby! So lets get down to it shall we…
So this week we helped
prepare O.C for her baptism, another gator dunked and extremely happy for the
decision that she made. She is wonderful and has been blessed in so many ways.
So the quick low down of O. is that she has listened to the missionaries for
years and has never taken the step to move forward for no reason really. It just
wasn’t the time and very important. We told her what was up and what she needed
to do and now she feels alive and better than ever before. We are very happy
for her and I know that she is doing great with this change in her life.
We are working on five
other gators for this weekend. Familia V. are there names and they have changed
their lives so much, especially the husband to say the least... wow it has been
an AMAZING time working with them and helping them align their lives more with
what the Lord expects from them. They are great and are going to be getting
married this Friday and baptized the same day. So we are SUPER happy for
them and all that is going on with them and the positive changes happening in
their lives. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers this week and in the
coming weeks.
SWEATING ALL DAY
EVERY DAY LIKE NO OTHER.......
What else? Well, President
F.came and worked with us one day thisweek, I have never had that opportunity before
so that was pretty cool. He took us out to eat at Wendy’s and we just talked
and had a good time. He had a great time with Familia V. and they broke down
when he came to visit them. It was a great experience for them to feel the
spirit really strong for someone that really wants the best for them. They have
had a ton of challenges to say the least but the change is amazing. We are all
so happy for them.
Thinking thinking
thinking.... every day seems like a blend from one day to the next… haha I think
honestly that’s all I have for you guys.
Take a look at something
that I read and studied this week that I really enjoyed and hope that you guys
can get something out of it as well as I did.
The
Savior’s Selfless and Sacred Sacrifice by
President Boyd K. Packer. President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
The Lord is always there. He has
suffered and paid the penalty if you are willing to accept Him as your
Redeemer.
We
all live on spiritual credit. In one way or another, the account builds and
builds. If you pay it off as you go, you have little need to worry. Soon you
begin to learn discipline and know that there is a day of reckoning ahead.
Learn to keep your spiritual account paid off at regular intervals rather than
allowing it to collect interest and penalties.
Because
you are being tested, it is expected that you will make some mistakes. I assume
that you have done things in your life that you regret, things that you cannot
even apologize for, much less correct; therefore, you carry a burden. It is
time now to use the word guilt, which can stain like indelible ink and cannot
easily be washed away. A stepchild of guilt is disappointment, regret for lost
blessings and opportunities.
If
you are struggling with guilt, you are not unlike the people of the Book
of Mormon of whom the prophet said, “Because of their iniquity the
church had begun to dwindle; and they began to disbelieve in the spirit of
prophecy and in the spirit of revelation; and the judgments of God did stare
them in the face” (Helaman 4:23).
We
often try to solve the problem of guilt by telling one another and telling
ourselves that it does not matter. But somehow, deep inside, we do not believe
this. Nor do we believe ourselves if we say it. We know better. It does matter!
Prophets
have always taught repentance. Alma said, “Behold, he cometh to redeem those
who will be baptized unto repentance, through faith on his name” (Alma 9:27).
Alma
bluntly told his wayward son, “Now, repentance could not come unto men except
there were a punishment, which also was eternal as the life of the soul should
be, affixed opposite to the plan of happiness” (Alma 42:16).
There
are two basic purposes for mortal life. The first is to receive a body that
can, if we will, be purified and exalted and live forever. The second purpose
is to be tested. In testing, we certainly will make mistakes. But if we will,
we can learn from our mistakes. “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him
a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:10).
You,
perhaps, may feel inferior in mind and body and are troubled or burdened with
the weight of some spiritual account that is marked “past due.” When you come
face to face with yourself in those moments of quiet contemplation (which many
of us try to avoid), are there some unsettled things that bother you? Do you
have something on your conscience? Are you still, to one degree or another,
guilty of anything small or large?
Too
frequently we receive letters from those who have made tragic mistakes and are
burdened. They beg: “Can I ever be forgiven? Can I ever change?” The answer is
yes!
Paul
taught the Corinthians, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is
common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above
that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that
ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
The
gospel teaches us that relief from torment and guilt can be earned through
repentance. Save for those few—those very few—who defect to perdition after
having known a fulness, there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no
transgression, no offense small or large which is exempt from the promise of
complete forgiveness. No matter what has happened in
your life, the Lord has prepared a way for you to come back if you will heed the
promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Some
are filled with a compelling urge, a temptation that recycles in the mind,
perhaps to become a habit, then an addiction. We are prone to some
transgression and sin and also a rationalization that we have no guilt because
we were born that way. We become trapped, and hence comes the pain and torment
that only the Savior can heal. You have the power to stop and to be redeemed.
President
Marion G. Romney (1897–1988) told me once, “Don’t just tell them so that
they can understand, tell them so that they cannot misunderstand.”
Nephi
said: “For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord
God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the
understanding” (2 Nephi 31:3).
So
listen up! I will speak plainly as one called and under obligation to do so.
You
know that there is an adversary. The scriptures define him in these terms:
“That old serpent, who is the devil, … the father of all lies” (2 Nephi 2:18). He was cast out in
the beginning (see D&C 29:36–38) and denied a mortal
body. He has now sworn to disrupt “the great plan of happiness” (Alma 42:8) and become an enemy to all
righteousness. He focuses his attacks on the family.
You
live in a day when the scourge of pornography
is sweeping across the world. It is hard to escape it. Pornography is focused
on that part of your nature through which you have the power to beget life.
To
indulge in pornography leads to difficulties, divorce, disease, and troubles of
a dozen kinds. There is no part of it that is innocent. To collect it, view it,
or carry it around in any form is akin to keeping a rattlesnake in your
backpack. It exposes you to the inevitable spiritual equivalent of the
serpent’s strike with its injection of deadly venom. One can easily understand,
with the world being what it is, that you can almost innocently be exposed to
it, read it, or view it without realizing the terrible consequences. If that
describes you, I warn you to stop it. Stop it now!
The
Book of Mormon teaches that all “men are instructed sufficiently that they know
good from evil” (2 Nephi 2:5). That includes you.
You know what is right and what is wrong. Be very careful not to cross that
line.
Although
most mistakes can be confessed privately to the Lord, there are some
transgressions that require more than that to bring about forgiveness.
If your mistakes have been grievous, see your bishop. Otherwise, ordinary
confession, quietly and personally, will do. But remember, that great morning
of forgiveness may not come all at once. If at
first you stumble, do not give up. Overcoming discouragement is part of the
test. Do not give up. And as I have counseled before, once you have confessed
and forsaken your sins, do not look back.
The Savior Suffered
for Our Sins
The
Lord is always there. He has suffered and paid the penalty if you are willing
to accept Him as your Redeemer.
As
mortals, we may not, indeed cannot, understand fully how the Savior fulfilled
His atoning sacrifice. But for now the how is not as important as the why of
His suffering. Why did He do it for you, for me, for all of humanity? He did it
for the love of God the Father and all mankind. “Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
In
Gethsemane, Christ went apart from His Apostles to pray. Whatever transpired is
beyond our power to know! But we do know that He completed the Atonement. He
was willing to take upon Himself the mistakes, the sins and guilt, the doubts
and fears of all the world. He suffered for us so that we would not have to
suffer. Many mortals have suffered torment and died a painful, terrible death.
But His agony surpassed them all.
At
my age, I have come to know what physical pain is, and it is no fun! Nobody
escapes this life without learning a thing or two about suffering. But the
personal torment that I cannot bear is when I have come to know that I have
caused another to suffer. It is then that I catch a glimpse of the agony the
Savior experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane.
His
suffering was different than all other suffering before or since because He
took upon Himself all of the penalties that had ever been imposed on the human
family. Imagine that! He had no debt to pay. He had committed no wrong.
Nevertheless, an accumulation of all of the guilt, the grief and sorrow, the
pain and humiliation, all of the mental, emotional, and physical torments known
to man—He experienced them all. There has been only One in all the annals of
human history who was entirely sinless, qualified to answer for the sins and
transgressions of all mankind and survive the pain that accompanied paying for
them.
He
presented His life and in essence said, “It is I that taketh upon me the sins
of the world” (Mosiah 26:23). He was crucified; He died.
They could not take His life from Him. He consented to die.
Complete Forgiveness
Is Possible
If
you have stumbled or even been lost for a time, if you feel that the adversary
now holds you captive, you can move forward with faith and not wander to and
fro in the world any longer. There are those who stand ready to guide you back
to peace and security. Even the grace of God, as promised in the scriptures,
comes “after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23). The possibility of
this, to me, is the truth most worth knowing.
I
promise that the brilliant morning of forgiveness can come. Then “the peace of
God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) comes into your life once
again, something like a sunrise, and you and He “will remember [your] sin no
more” (Jeremiah 31:34). How will you know? You will
know! (See Mosiah 4:1–3.)
This
is what I have come to teach you who are in trouble. He will step in and solve
the problem you cannot solve, but you have to pay the price. It does not come
without doing that. He is a very kind ruler in the sense that He has paid the
price necessary, but He wants you to do what you should, even if it is painful.
I
love the Lord, and I love the Father who sent Him. Our burdens of
disappointment, sin, and guilt can be laid before Him, and on His generous
terms, each item on the account can be marked “paid in full.”
“Come
now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool.” That is, Isaiah continued, “if ye be willing and obedient” (Isaiah 1:18–19).
Come unto Him
The
scripture “learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the
commandments of God” (Alma 37:35) is an invitation attended by
the promise of peace and protection from the adversary. “Let no man despise thy
youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in
charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).
Do
not expect that all will go smoothly throughout your life. Even for those who
are living as they should, it sometimes will be just the opposite. Meet each of
life’s challenges with optimism and surety, and you will have the peace and
faith to sustain you now and in the future.
For
those who do not yet have all of the blessings you feel you want and need to
have, I firmly believe that no experience or opportunity essential for
redemption and salvation will be denied you who live faithfully. Remain worthy;
be hopeful, patient, and prayerful. Things have a way of working out. The gift
of the Holy Ghost will guide you and direct your
actions.
If
you are one of those struggling with guilt, disappointment, or depression as a
result of mistakes you have made or blessings that have not yet come, read the
reassuring teachings found in the hymn “Come unto Jesus”:
Come unto Jesus, ye
heavy laden,
Careworn and
fainting, by sin oppressed.
He’ll safely guide
you unto that haven
Where all who trust
him may rest.
Come unto Jesus;
He’ll ever heed you,
Though in the
darkness you’ve gone astray.
His love will find
you and gently lead you
From darkest night
into day.
Come unto Jesus;
He’ll surely hear you,
If you in meekness
plead for his love.
Oh, know you not that
angels are near you
From brightest
mansions above?1
I
claim, with my Brethren the Apostles, to be a special witness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That witness is reaffirmed each time I feel within myself
or in others the cleansing effect of His sacred sacrifice. My witness, and that
of my Brethren, is true. We know the Lord. He is no stranger to His prophets,
seers, and revelators.
I
understand that you’re not perfect, but you are moving along that road. Have
the courage. Know that any person who has a body has power over one who has
not.2 Satan is denied a body; so if ever you
are confronted with temptations, know that you outrank all those temptations if
you will exercise the agency given to Adam and Eve in the garden and passed on
to this very generation.
If
you look forward with hope and desire to do that which the Lord would have you
do—that is all that is expected.
Con
Mucho Amore,
Elder
Long!
ENJOY THE PICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A LOT OF FUN HERE TO SAY
THE LEAST LOL
