October 4, 2010

Hola!! How are yall doing? Things are awesome here in Chile. Its starting to heat up a bit but the nights and mornings are still a little chilly. We played a little soccer as a zone this morning with another zone (the zone that my old companion is the leader of) by the beach. It was really pretty and we had a good time.

General Conference was amazing. I feel so spiritually renewed. Its my first one in the mission even though Ive got almost 6 months so I had a completely different look on things as I watched the sessions. 10 Hours of talks sounds like way too much but its actually not enough! I think each apostle should talk twice and each member of the First Presidency should speak 4 or 5 times! Oh well, they have other things to do I guess!

I learned something really significant from each talk. I went into the first session with a question. After the first talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, my question was answered. Elder Holland has been ¨dropping the hammer¨ the past few conferences but he took a different approach this time. He really showed his love and made it known for every member of the Church. My question that I had in my mind was, ¨How do I show my love for others?¨ He showed appreciation for everyone and I learned that a way you can show your love for others is to thank them for the little things that they do that maybe nobody ever notices. He thanked the ¨behind the scenes¨ members, or ¨helpers¨, who never necessarily have leadership callings. Something he said really touched me. He said something like, ¨ Leaders hope to one day attain the sight in the eye of God like these 'helpers' already have.¨ Thats not the exact words but close. That was one talk that I really enjoyed and learned a lot from.

Another talk that I was really effected by was actually very similar to Elder Holland´s. It was from the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and Prophet in our day, President Thomas S. Monson. He spoke on gratitude. He gave the example of when Jesus Christ and his disciples were with the large group of followers and needed to feed them. The disciples said that they only had a few loaves and a couple fishes. What the Savior did at this time is a wonderful example for us. He gave thanks to Heavenly Father for what they did have, blessed it, and fed the people with just that little bit of food. President Monson told us that we never know when it will be ¨too late¨ to give thanks and if we look and search deep enough, we will see how blessed we really are. He said one thing that was extremely powerful. He said that to live with gratitude forever in our hearts, is to touch Heaven. This is definentely one thing I am going to work on because especially if our Prophet says it, then we had better do it!

Well, my letter home this week is pretty much just about General Conference but it really was the highlight of the week. We are working hard and Im so grateful to be in this work. I cant imagine how it would be and feel if I had said ¨no¨ to not serve a mission, especially now that I have seen the blessings of having faith in the Lord and serving him. For example, having faith that he will make some 19 year old boy who cant speak Spanish and has a whole lot to learn about the Gospel, into a missionary of Jesus Christ. This is a miracle and I know that the Lord will bless us if we are humble and willing to obey.

To leave yall, I want to share about one more thing. It is the significance of having a living Prophet on the earth. I have overlooked the importance of this until now. How amazing is it that we have a Prophet on the earth, called from God, to lead us through the temptations and struggles of our temporary life here on Earth? In the days where the Gospel was not on the earth (for example- after Christ was crucified and his apostles killed off), there are people that would do anything to have a prophet leading them to safety from the darkness of the world. Now, we have a Prophet to do this! I know Thomas S. Monson is called of God to guide us and to lead us to safety. I invite those who want to learn if we really have a prophet on the earth, to pray and ask Our Heavenly Father and to pray if Thomas S. Monson is that prophet. I promise and testify that if you open your heart then you will recieve an answer.

Love yall!

Elder Gregory