Sent: Monday, April 04, 2011 12:12 PM
HEY!
This weekend was incredible. First of all, I can't even express the
excitement I felt when they announced the temple. I almost came to
tears. I can't even tell you how much I miss the temple sometimes.
They will be completing the Quetzaltenango temple in June and it's
about an hour away from where I'm at. But we can't go. It hurts to
have it be so close and I can't attend. But that announcement got me
so excited! I'm totally getting married there. Please fill me in on
any updates you get :D
So for conference, we had our own "Gringo Room" in the stake center.
We all brought food and it was very peaceful. Listening to conference
in English was so wonderful. And I learned so much! I'll talk about
all that I learned in a minute. But on Saturday in the afternoon we
got to go to Pizza Hut as a zone. Four of us Americans split a
banquet special that almost killed us haha. It felt like Thanksgiving
and Conference in the same day (one of the best combinations ever?)
except that it was a Thanksgiving of pizza.
I attached some pictures. One is me with Elder Bosen and Elder
Iniguez. Elder Bosen is the whiter guy, he's our zone leader. He's
awesome. Another is all of us gringos during the Priesthood session
while we were singing. And the other is me and Elder Tacam (I look
like a pig haha!) I don't think I normally look like that, but
whatever.
Dad, thanks for all the news. And I love that quote from Henry Ford.
Sounds like Alex is doing great. Are his papers already in? Is he
coming to the Retalhuleu mission so I can train him? Haha and it
sounds like there are some really fun things coming up! I'm not
baggy, but hearing all the news and all the things I learned in
conference make me realize how awesome it will be to return home.
That's so sad about the Kleinhenz family. That's such a sad
situation.
Mom, I'm doing great! Thank you for putting Elder Palea's name in the
temple. He really needs is, even more today. His grandma passed away
today and he's having a real tough time. But he's doing well with all
the opposition. Thank you for the scripture you shared. I love you!
Mother's Day is coming up! And your birfday!
So, I want to talk about conference a bit. I wrote down five
questions that I've had lately about life, the mission, my potential,
etc. Every single one was answered clearly and fully. Amazing. I
was able to connect so many ideas and themes that I listened to and
it's so clear what I need to work on.
Elder Oaks' talk on Desire was to the point and powerful (as always)
and it made me evaluate my priorities. Now that I am refocusing on my
priorities, I can apply the hope, faith (and diligence), and charity,
which Elder Snow talked about. And then President Eyring talked about
Unity and charity. Let me just say that charity has been a theme for
me lately and I want it to become a theme for my mission. President
Eyring talked about how we need to love the Lord first, then develop
charity in the home, and then direct it toward everyone else. I
realized that I need to love the Lord more, then love my companion
more, and THEN love everyone else. The love for my comp has been a
weakpoint and I need to repent. Richard G. Scott's talk melted my
heart and I feel like that idea of love is so key and so overlooked.
And it's one of the key elements that relates to President Uchtdorf's
talk from the Priesthood session. All the things I was looking for
tied together and it was so clear what I need to do. I'm so excited
to apply it all.
As I sat there listening during conference, I felt like all of this is
so much more real and important than we can possibly realize in this
life. This is the Kingdom of God and I am helping build that Kingdom
in a fairly remote part of the world. It's hard, but I know it's all
true. I can't explain how I feel about it all. It's a powerful
feeling and I think Elder Holland explained it best. How blessed we
are to have this knowledge! Why aren't we sharing it with everyone??
Why isn't everyone accepting it? I mean, I kind of know the answer to
that, but I feel so much more motivated to just get to it. I love
what the prophet said about the future being as bright as our faith.
So true.
I loved General Conference and I was thinking of you guys so much. I
love you all. It sounds like life is so great and it's so good to
hear that. Keep it up! Haley, I love you, diligence is key.
Love you guys!
Elder Austin Tyler
