A Powerful Testimony Shared

Sent: Monday, April 11, 2011 1:01 PM

Hey!
Interesting week, I don't really remember much of what happened haha
it went by really fast. But first, thank you for all of your support.
Hearing from each of you is such a boost every week.
First, to answer your questions.
Mom, I think the best way to help with Haley's work load is basically
be there for her. Being so involved next year will be a challenge,
and having someone to talk to was always a big help to me. It's
simple, but I dunno. It helped me. And keep her level headed haha!
And I dunno, just being available to help out with things when there's
a lot to do. I'm not sure that I could tell you a specific thing to
help her with, but just being there to support her will help out a
ton.
Dad, I do get the Liahona in English and it's always such a boost.
This month there's an old talk from Bruce R. McConkie in there. We
watched that talk a few weeks ago and it's so powerful. It knocks my
socks off. I assume it'll be in the Ensign too. And as far as
experiences to share in the Eagle Court of Honor, I'll have to think
about that one. I'll get back to you on that. When is the Court of
Honor?
For Easter down here they celebrate 'Semana Santa' (Holy Week). It's
been really weird as I've watched them making preparations for the
celebrations. It's a Catholic holiday. Huge groups of masked people
randomly start parading in the street. It's almost creepy, but kinda
funny. During the actual week they have various other celebrations.
They choose somebody to act as the Savior and carry a cross and they
beat him and make him walk for miles. And then they have something
called prosessions? I think thats what they would call it in English.
But they have a humongous float type thing made of gold and wood and
what not. They have a couple hundred people carrying it. They pay
money to help carry it and the purpose it to pay for their sins
through the weight of the float thing. It hurts to carry it and they
believe that forgiveness comes through their pain as they carry this
thing. Kind of a different way to celebrate Easter.
Haley! Keep it up in track. Isn't the 400 killer! I love it haha.
But keep on improving and be diligent. You're a sophomore, if you
keep working on your form and build some strength over the next couple
years you'll be the Flash. Promise.
Brock and Aubrey, I already responded to you guys. Love you guys!
So this week...
I had a pretty cool experience with an evangelical guy on Saturday.
He showed up while we were chopping firewood for a less active member.
He came up and took the axe and began to teach us how to do it haha.
Keep in mind that my comp is an expert at it. But then the guy
started teaching us Spanish. He assumed neither of us could
communicate. Haha it was awkward and funny. I just went with it.
Then I turned the Spanish lesson into a religious conversation. My
comp started talking to the member and so I was left with this guy.
Turns out he had studied to become a pastor, so he was pretty
knowledgable about the Bible. We talked a bit and he realized I was
one of the 'Mormones.' He told me that he likes what we do and all,
but he just doesn't agree with the whole Joseph Smith thing. He
emphasized the fact that Jesus is the only one that can save us. I
asked him who he thinks Joseph Smith is for us Mormones. He explained
that the way he understands it is Joseph Smith to us is like the
Virgin Mary to the Catholics. I said no. The Catholics worship Mary,
we do not worship Joseph Smith. I explained to him that Joseph Smith
was called by God to be a prophet, just as Moses, Isaiah, Noah, etc.
I then reaffirmed my belief in Christ as the Savior. Then he was
like, well Joseph Smith can't be a prophet because the Lord said in
the New Testament that Paul was the last apostle/prophet on the Earth.
I tried to avoid Bible bashing, but I was unsure as to what to tell
him. Sometimes it's intimidating to talk to some of these evangelico
guys. I told him I was unfamiliar with that scripture, and then bore
testimony. I said, 'I know that the Lord did not say that because He
gave John the Revelator power to stay on the Earth until His Second
Coming. If the Lord had said Paul was the last one, He would have
contradicted Himself. I know the Lord is perfect. I know that Joseph
Smith was called by God to restore the fulness of the Gospel and
prepare the world for the Second Coming.' I hadn't planned on saying
any of that. I just opened my mouth and had faith in the power and
authority of my calling and said it. The guy stood there quiet and
just looked at me. Then he said, 'I'm going to go study my Bible and
I want to talk to you again.' I said that would be great. I tried to
not be prideful about it, but it was a cool experience as I followed
the Spirit and avoided contention.

So I've mentioned how great my companion is. And that is still true,
but we've hit some speed bumps that have really made for a rough time
this week. I try to be humble and serve him. I try to love him, but
we got in an argument and the Spirit completely left. It was an ugly
moment. It took everything I had to swallow my pride and apologize to
him. But as soon as I did, the Spirit returned and I felt better.
But it was so hard to apologize. I felt that I hadn't done anything
wrong, but there was still a spirit of contention in there. It was
tough. But I learned a lot. Ugh this mission can be tough sometimes,
but I love it. Keep Elder Eckel in your prayers, he's having a tough
time. He sent me a quick note.

Thank you all so much for your letters. I love you and miss you a
ton, but know that I'm loving it right now. Things are tough, but I'm
growing up a lot.

Take care this week and keep doing great things!
I love you!
Elder Austin Tyler

I Loved General Conference

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