05/05/07
E. Babs,
What’s new with you? How has this week gone? It’s Saturday night, so I’m getting an early start on this compared to the last few weeks starting late Sunday night and going till I am done. We took a drive up to Bountiful today and went to Stosh’s house and visited with them for a bit. Checking out Josh’s new 50 inch LCD flat screen HD TV. He is watching the 7th game of the jazz play off game in Houston. Houston will win, so I don’t know why he wanted the pain in 50 inch high definition. But his choice. That’s gotta be expensive. I just turned it on, it looks like it is 84-82 for Houston with 6:55 left in the 4th. It will end by the time I finish this letter, so I’ll let you know what happens.
I just put your 3 generation pic on the blog tonight while we were at Ma’s and Pa’s. Oh yeah, so that’s what we did, after Stosh’s house, we went to the Mandarin to eat some good Chinese food up there in Bountiful. It was an hour long wait and not worth it, so we bailed and went to café Rio for some good burrito action. Then went to Ma’s and Pa’s to read your letter, update your blog with the pic you sent them, and hang out for a bit. Dad is still having a hard time with the loss of Abby. We watched some Antiques Roadshow and that was about it. Came home and the girls got to bed and I’m just trying to finish up this news letter I’ll do weekly for the EQ and watching the jazz game while I write you. This is Heck week for the test. I need to study my butt off and get ready for this 4 hour crazy test. I’m going to fail it anyway and feel like a chump for taking this class, spending well over 1500 bucks on it all, taking 3 days off just before the test and failing anyway. What an utter waste of time this is going to be. Regardless, pray for me this week anyway. I’ll need all the help I can get on this.
I watched the PBS 2 night special on the Mormons. A documentary on the church and its history. Have you heard much about that or from that since it aired? I wonder how much that will affect you as a missionary out there. I think it will create some interest and get missionaries in doors more. Of course I think it will affect some people negatively, but for the most part, I bet it will help create some buzz and interest in the near future. You’ll have to let me know how, if at all it affects you guys. I got bugged the first night and turned it off because of some of the stuff the peeps on there were saying. But I kind of came to the conclusion the next night that I had this expectation that the church was perfect and realized that it’s not. The Gospel of Christ is perfect and we in the church strive for perfection, but the church itself has it’s warts that will be exploited by its opponents forever. So I watched the 2nd night and liked it better. I think it was pretty honest for the most part, but left some of these “intellectuals” a little too much freedom to say whatever they wanted.
Dude, the Jazz just won. Unbelievable. They come home to host the Golden State Warriors now for the quarter finals. There are Rockets fans in the crowd crying right now. Pitiful!
I really liked in your last letter when you talked about your interview, what attributes you had worked on and will be working on, and that you account to the Lord each night. That is an aspect I had not thought much about. It is a huge Covey doctrine to hold people accountable and one of his tidbits I spent a lot of time philosophizing in your leadership epistle. But I had not considered doing that with the Lord each night in prayer until I read that in your letter and am amazed at yet another principle you have figured out and understand better than and before I ever did. So I tied that thought I got from your letter with my favorite talk from conference by Elder Eyring. I took that combination into our presidency meeting on Wednesday night and gave the thought to the presidency since it was my turn for the thought of the week and I think it was well received.
“The scriptures make the danger of delay clear. It is that we may discover that we have run out of time. The God who gives us each day as a treasure will require an accounting. We will weep, and He will weep, if we have intended to repent and to serve Him in tomorrows which never came or have dreamt of yesterdays where the opportunity to act was past. This day is a precious gift of God. The thought “Someday I will” can be a thief of the opportunities of time and the blessings of eternity.”
(See underlined) This stood out to me only because you had pointed it out in your e-mail. This was already my favorite talk just because of everything else he threw down in it, but I loved that this was in there so bold and beautiful for me. I’m actually the Coach and certifier of the management team for the leadership principles that they are expected to follow and account for at work. I certify them bronze, silver, and gold when they reach certain levels. One of the key principles in that is that they declare usually just one thing they will do to make a difference that week and then the following week report and account for that one thing. Then select a new thing for that week and repeat the steps weekly. Elder Eyring brings this up later…
“A morning prayer and an early search in the scriptures to know what we should do for the Lord can set the course of a day. We can know which task, of all those we might choose, matters most to God and therefore to us. I have learned such a prayer is always answered if we ask and ponder with childlike submission, ready to act without delay to perform even the most humble service.”
You could see the light bulb appear above my head when I read this paragraph. So morning prayer, I can go to the Lord, ask him what he would have me do or tell him what I have to work on that day or that week and then at night, give him a daily accounting for what my progress has been or if I achieved what I set out to do. But would he really tell me what he wants me to do or give me marching orders?
“When you ask God, He can and will reveal to you the opportunities to lift others for Him, which He has placed around you from your infancy.”
OK, I guess that answers my question. Not only will he place people around you on your mission to touch and influence and convert, but those who may have grown up with you, around you, and just generally in your little circle of personal influence since your infancy. Powerful stuff right there man!!
“That assurance from the Master can help those of us feeling overwhelmed by our circumstances. In the hardest trials, as long as you have the power to pray, you can ask a loving God: “Please let me serve, this day. It doesn’t matter to me how few things I may be able to do. Just let me know what I can do. I will obey this day. I know that I can, with Thy help.
By serving Him this day, you will come to know Him better. You will feel His love and appreciation. You would not want to delay receiving that blessing. And feeling His love will draw you back to His service, wiping away both complacency and discouragement.”
Man that’s good. Especially in a quorum of dudes who may have felt just as Elder Eyring points out, they have accomplished or done enough, they are too busy, they are discouraged to do much else after a beat down or two, they are just lazy, whatever the case is. What a talk! Loved it. If I’m asked to teach next month and I can pick my topic, it’s going to be from this talk. I could easily ramble on for an hour on this talk with various points that he discusses.
You may think that I would count this all as my quote of the week. Oh no. That was just some discussion on some ponderings of mine as of late. I picked a quote that relates to some points I brought up with this though about the Lord preparing folks for us. It’s by Alvin Dyer:
“Missionaries do not know when they go to a door, or when they meet their investigators in some other way for the first time, whether the Lord has prepared them for the gospel. Therefore each contact should be approached with the idea that they are prepared and will receive the gospel. An initial message by missionaries should be a declaration of testimony and when given under the influence of the Spirit is attended by the spirit of prophecy and revelation.”
I know you go about each door you knock, each person you talk to, each person you teach, that they could be the person the Lord prepared for you for that very moment, but continue to instill that on E. Gardner’s mind. The power of optimism and positive outlook and confidence that you are there for that person in that very moment for their eternal salvation really goes a long way. If the person you are teaching feels that confidence and power coming from your optimistic teaching and powerful testimony driven by the spirit of prophecy and revelation, they will not be able to withstand that spirit which will touch their hearts and confirm to them what they need to do.
I know you are such a good missionary Mike, I would love to come see you in action and feel the power and spirit you must emanate as you are on the Lord’s errand. I wish I could be there actually. I wish I could taste of that sweet fruit I partook of for two very short years again. I wish I could find myself that in tune with the spirit, or open my mouth and let the spirit speak for me. I wish I could feel the eternal effects of what I just did for a person take hold on their mind as we both come to the realization that what we just accomplished together is truly an eternal choice and life changing moment that will have everlasting ramifications. What a magnificent experience you are having. Don’t waste a single moment on idleness. Leave it all on the field this week. Let that ultra tired feeling at the end of the day seep into your bones as you hit the door at the crack of curfew and feel the spiritual reward and blessings screaming down on you from heaven with the sound of a mortar incoming. The Lord sees your efforts and knows the intent of your heart and will bless you so much more abundantly than you can ever pay back for it. Keep up the good work and know that we all support you, love you, and miss you on a daily basis.
Do some good.
Love,
Trav
What’s new with you? How has this week gone? It’s Saturday night, so I’m getting an early start on this compared to the last few weeks starting late Sunday night and going till I am done. We took a drive up to Bountiful today and went to Stosh’s house and visited with them for a bit. Checking out Josh’s new 50 inch LCD flat screen HD TV. He is watching the 7th game of the jazz play off game in Houston. Houston will win, so I don’t know why he wanted the pain in 50 inch high definition. But his choice. That’s gotta be expensive. I just turned it on, it looks like it is 84-82 for Houston with 6:55 left in the 4th. It will end by the time I finish this letter, so I’ll let you know what happens.
I just put your 3 generation pic on the blog tonight while we were at Ma’s and Pa’s. Oh yeah, so that’s what we did, after Stosh’s house, we went to the Mandarin to eat some good Chinese food up there in Bountiful. It was an hour long wait and not worth it, so we bailed and went to café Rio for some good burrito action. Then went to Ma’s and Pa’s to read your letter, update your blog with the pic you sent them, and hang out for a bit. Dad is still having a hard time with the loss of Abby. We watched some Antiques Roadshow and that was about it. Came home and the girls got to bed and I’m just trying to finish up this news letter I’ll do weekly for the EQ and watching the jazz game while I write you. This is Heck week for the test. I need to study my butt off and get ready for this 4 hour crazy test. I’m going to fail it anyway and feel like a chump for taking this class, spending well over 1500 bucks on it all, taking 3 days off just before the test and failing anyway. What an utter waste of time this is going to be. Regardless, pray for me this week anyway. I’ll need all the help I can get on this.
I watched the PBS 2 night special on the Mormons. A documentary on the church and its history. Have you heard much about that or from that since it aired? I wonder how much that will affect you as a missionary out there. I think it will create some interest and get missionaries in doors more. Of course I think it will affect some people negatively, but for the most part, I bet it will help create some buzz and interest in the near future. You’ll have to let me know how, if at all it affects you guys. I got bugged the first night and turned it off because of some of the stuff the peeps on there were saying. But I kind of came to the conclusion the next night that I had this expectation that the church was perfect and realized that it’s not. The Gospel of Christ is perfect and we in the church strive for perfection, but the church itself has it’s warts that will be exploited by its opponents forever. So I watched the 2nd night and liked it better. I think it was pretty honest for the most part, but left some of these “intellectuals” a little too much freedom to say whatever they wanted.
Dude, the Jazz just won. Unbelievable. They come home to host the Golden State Warriors now for the quarter finals. There are Rockets fans in the crowd crying right now. Pitiful!
I really liked in your last letter when you talked about your interview, what attributes you had worked on and will be working on, and that you account to the Lord each night. That is an aspect I had not thought much about. It is a huge Covey doctrine to hold people accountable and one of his tidbits I spent a lot of time philosophizing in your leadership epistle. But I had not considered doing that with the Lord each night in prayer until I read that in your letter and am amazed at yet another principle you have figured out and understand better than and before I ever did. So I tied that thought I got from your letter with my favorite talk from conference by Elder Eyring. I took that combination into our presidency meeting on Wednesday night and gave the thought to the presidency since it was my turn for the thought of the week and I think it was well received.
“The scriptures make the danger of delay clear. It is that we may discover that we have run out of time. The God who gives us each day as a treasure will require an accounting. We will weep, and He will weep, if we have intended to repent and to serve Him in tomorrows which never came or have dreamt of yesterdays where the opportunity to act was past. This day is a precious gift of God. The thought “Someday I will” can be a thief of the opportunities of time and the blessings of eternity.”
(See underlined) This stood out to me only because you had pointed it out in your e-mail. This was already my favorite talk just because of everything else he threw down in it, but I loved that this was in there so bold and beautiful for me. I’m actually the Coach and certifier of the management team for the leadership principles that they are expected to follow and account for at work. I certify them bronze, silver, and gold when they reach certain levels. One of the key principles in that is that they declare usually just one thing they will do to make a difference that week and then the following week report and account for that one thing. Then select a new thing for that week and repeat the steps weekly. Elder Eyring brings this up later…
“A morning prayer and an early search in the scriptures to know what we should do for the Lord can set the course of a day. We can know which task, of all those we might choose, matters most to God and therefore to us. I have learned such a prayer is always answered if we ask and ponder with childlike submission, ready to act without delay to perform even the most humble service.”
You could see the light bulb appear above my head when I read this paragraph. So morning prayer, I can go to the Lord, ask him what he would have me do or tell him what I have to work on that day or that week and then at night, give him a daily accounting for what my progress has been or if I achieved what I set out to do. But would he really tell me what he wants me to do or give me marching orders?
“When you ask God, He can and will reveal to you the opportunities to lift others for Him, which He has placed around you from your infancy.”
OK, I guess that answers my question. Not only will he place people around you on your mission to touch and influence and convert, but those who may have grown up with you, around you, and just generally in your little circle of personal influence since your infancy. Powerful stuff right there man!!
“That assurance from the Master can help those of us feeling overwhelmed by our circumstances. In the hardest trials, as long as you have the power to pray, you can ask a loving God: “Please let me serve, this day. It doesn’t matter to me how few things I may be able to do. Just let me know what I can do. I will obey this day. I know that I can, with Thy help.
By serving Him this day, you will come to know Him better. You will feel His love and appreciation. You would not want to delay receiving that blessing. And feeling His love will draw you back to His service, wiping away both complacency and discouragement.”
Man that’s good. Especially in a quorum of dudes who may have felt just as Elder Eyring points out, they have accomplished or done enough, they are too busy, they are discouraged to do much else after a beat down or two, they are just lazy, whatever the case is. What a talk! Loved it. If I’m asked to teach next month and I can pick my topic, it’s going to be from this talk. I could easily ramble on for an hour on this talk with various points that he discusses.
You may think that I would count this all as my quote of the week. Oh no. That was just some discussion on some ponderings of mine as of late. I picked a quote that relates to some points I brought up with this though about the Lord preparing folks for us. It’s by Alvin Dyer:
“Missionaries do not know when they go to a door, or when they meet their investigators in some other way for the first time, whether the Lord has prepared them for the gospel. Therefore each contact should be approached with the idea that they are prepared and will receive the gospel. An initial message by missionaries should be a declaration of testimony and when given under the influence of the Spirit is attended by the spirit of prophecy and revelation.”
I know you go about each door you knock, each person you talk to, each person you teach, that they could be the person the Lord prepared for you for that very moment, but continue to instill that on E. Gardner’s mind. The power of optimism and positive outlook and confidence that you are there for that person in that very moment for their eternal salvation really goes a long way. If the person you are teaching feels that confidence and power coming from your optimistic teaching and powerful testimony driven by the spirit of prophecy and revelation, they will not be able to withstand that spirit which will touch their hearts and confirm to them what they need to do.
I know you are such a good missionary Mike, I would love to come see you in action and feel the power and spirit you must emanate as you are on the Lord’s errand. I wish I could be there actually. I wish I could taste of that sweet fruit I partook of for two very short years again. I wish I could find myself that in tune with the spirit, or open my mouth and let the spirit speak for me. I wish I could feel the eternal effects of what I just did for a person take hold on their mind as we both come to the realization that what we just accomplished together is truly an eternal choice and life changing moment that will have everlasting ramifications. What a magnificent experience you are having. Don’t waste a single moment on idleness. Leave it all on the field this week. Let that ultra tired feeling at the end of the day seep into your bones as you hit the door at the crack of curfew and feel the spiritual reward and blessings screaming down on you from heaven with the sound of a mortar incoming. The Lord sees your efforts and knows the intent of your heart and will bless you so much more abundantly than you can ever pay back for it. Keep up the good work and know that we all support you, love you, and miss you on a daily basis.
Do some good.
Love,
Trav
posted by Travis at 10:42 PM
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