April 25, 2011
Hey!
Thank you guys for all the news and all the advice. I read something
this week about the leadership of the Savior. It said that instead of
condemning the sinner, he saw the inner needs of the individual which
caused the sin. That enabled him to love the sinner while he did not
love the sin. I thought about that with my companion. By no means do
I think of him as a sinner, but we have our differences and I
completely disagree with some of the things he does. But he is the
youngest in his family and grew up alone for most of his life. I see
that as a possible cause for some of his attitudes and personality
traits that I don't click with. That has helped me love him more this
week.
Dad, that quote by Herodotus was great. And I'm sorry I didn't give
you any ideas for the Eagle Court of Honor. I realized that last
Monday afternoon and felt bad. But it sounds like you gave an awesome
message. Tell those guys congratulations for getting their Eagle.
Mom, thank you for the advice. I like that point that Brother Walsh
made. And I just sent you a quick personal email. I look forward to
getting your letter :)
Mother's Day is in two weeks right? The 8th? Down here it's on the
10th, but I want to make sure and call on the true Mother's Day haha.
Brock, Math 112 is not fun, but maybe your teacher will speak English
haha. The key for me in that class was to go to the math help center
to practice and get help from the TAs and fellow students. Be careful
in there though. There are some crazies.
And HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! That year went so fast! What the heck!
Oh and Happy Easter everyone! It totally didn't feel like Easter, but
I did spend some time to focus on the true meaning of it all.
On Friday night the people brought out these life sized dolls (they
call them Judas) and started dancing with them. It was so weird.
Everyone was in masks and drunk and doing all kinds of shenanigans.
And at midnight I was sleeping like a baby. Suddenly I hear music
blasting in the street in front of our house. These Judas fools were
dancing in front of our house and trying to get everyone in the street
to join them. And houses here are not soundproof. They stayed there
in front of the house for an hour with these loudspeakers. Such a
stupid celebration. Ugh.
I finished the Book of Mormon this week. I decided to take Moroni's
challenge to strengthen my belief in the Book of Mormon. I was hoping
for a strong, undeniable spiritual experience. It didn't come.
Instead, I had a really long day. I was kind of frustrated. The next
night, we were at Luis' house. They've been having some really tough
times. We walked into the house and he tried to hide, he didn't want
to talk to us. There was a spirit of contention in the home. We
didn't know what to do. We asked them what's been going on. They
talked for awhile. Then my companion started to explain some things
to them. I had a strong impression to talk about the Book of Mormon.
I bore my testimony of the Savior and then of the Book of Mormon. I
read a few passages of scripture that applied to their situation.
They admitted that they hadn't been reading the scriptures as a family
and they really needed to do it. I felt the spirit so strongly as I
testified to them of the blessing that come through a study of the
Book of Mormon. It was the confirmation that I had prayed for. And
it didn't come when I was hoping for it. It came in a time of need.
When we left the home, the family was in smiles. The spirit was there
and they thanked us for our visit. It was a really cool experience.
We weren't on complete lockdown this week, but we had a lot of
meetings. On Friday morning we watched the 'Preach My Gospel' videos.
They're documentaries of six missionaries in the US and they teach and
stuff. It was kind of funny to see them all driving around in their
cars. Their houses have carpet, they eat big meals with the members,
the wards have tons of priesthood holders, and all that good stuff.
We were all laughing at them. But we learned a lot. There are some
really powerful moments in those movies.
Last night I was reflecting on the Atonement. We stopped by a members
home to make a phonecall and they were watching the Passion of the
Christ. It was a little too graphic for my liking, and we left after
about five minutes. But it added to all of the studying I had done
that morning on the Atonement. I sat there thinking about the
Resurrection and the Atonement and God's plan. It is all so perfect.
And we are all so blessed to be children of God. The Savior did more
than we can understand. I felt so horrible thinking that He did what
He did and I can't even overcome a bit of sleepiness in the afternoons
to focus on my language study. Those little things just made me feel
so inadequate. But I felt so loved and I felt like it was all okay as
I prayed about it all last night. It was a powerful day.
Thank you guys for everything. Changes on Wednesday, we'll see what
happens! Love you all soooo much! Seriously. I can't even tell you.
Thank you for everything.
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
