Week 4

Käre väner och familj,

I'm a zone leader now!  We took a nap this past Sunday because our schedule has earlier mornings than the other schedules, so we get less sleep, and we were planning to wake up at 2:15 and go back for Sacrament Meeting, but I didn't think I'd actually fall asleep, so I just set my watch alarm, and slept through that, waking up at 2:40 and running over there.  As soon as I got in, the branch presidency pulled my companion and I aside, and asked us to be the new zone leaders.  It's really weird because now we all get cell phones that can only call one number: the front desk.  I don't think it's useful since from everywhere on campus they have call buttons and hall phones with the same function, so I kinda don't like it at all.  The priesthood session choir is amazing!  Everyone should listen to the choir, even if you don't listen to the talks.  Even if it's a few days later online, that would be awesome.  We have some powerful songs we're singing.  Tomorrow for TRC we are skyping an actual Swede!  We get to teach an authentic fluent accented speaker!!!  It's crazy how long I've been out and how short it feels.  One of the guys in my zone forgot he had a little brother last night because of how long it's been.  Don't worry Jake, I still remember you. ;)  

It's crazy to think I leave in 2 weeks.  By General Conference I will have my flight plans, and hopefully my visa.  Might want to pray for that.  There is a lot of member missionary work that needs to happen in Orem, and I want to challenge you all to do that.  You cannot know who you'll impact, or who you should touch the life of, but you can know with a perfect knowledge that if it inviteth or enticeth to do good, it is from God, so do it with exactness.  You learn fast in the MTC to rely on the Spirit because He is everything here.  "If you have not the spirit, you shall not teach."  It is true.  It's not you shouldn't, you physically will not be able to teach.  It is awesome though because as you utilize the teaching principles in Preach My Gospel, you will have power in your teaching, which power comes from the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Here's a cool thing I learned this week: in Swedish the word for resurrection is Uppståendelse, which means standing up.  There is a talk here by Tad R. Callister titled "The Great Apostasy"  Where he talks about the plan of salvation and relates mortal life to learning how to stand and walk as a child.  At some point you have to let go of their hand and they have to learn how to stand.  They will fall, (avfall is Swedish for apostasy) but they need to learn to stand and stand.  It's not a one-time thing, it's a process.  We want to return to God again, so we need to stand for him, and when we fall get right back up just like in the poem "The Race."  A note about the word Avfall:  In Swedish they use one word to mean multiple things, then make compound words.  The word Av means off, made of, of, out of, away from, while the word fall means, fall, collapse, instance of, or decline.  The dictionary defines it as the English word waste.  Note in Doctrine and Covenants it talks about the earth being wasted if we don't do family history work.  Let that sink in for a while, and put together the other literal translations of that word.  Made of Collapse, Instance, away from, decline of, decline off.  Fall away from, out of fall.  This is great imagery for the apostasy, which can be a very difficult subject to teach about simply because it doesn't make sense why we need to do more than mention it to bring in the restoration.  We're working on that though.

Another fun story; the other night we had Kaluau pork, and I was hoping for something good, so I got some.  It does not compare to brother Timoteo's pork in the least bit.  It was decent, but not nearly as good.  I ate a plate, and was still hungry but just wanted pork, so I went back and asked for that.  There was a little lady serving who didn't speak much English, but she understood I didn't want rice, and wanted pork.  So she filled up my plate with a 3-5 lb pile of pork.  I got it, took it back to my table, and we all just sat and looked at it for a while.  It was probably the size of my head, and I had already eaten.  Not wanting to look weak, I decided to eat the whole thing.  Big mistake.  I got through almost all of it, there was probably 5 bites left, and I just couldn't eat anymore.  Needless to say I've gained more than 10 lbs so far here.  That and with priesthood choir taking away my gym time, there's almost no way for me to lose weight.

The Church is true.  Jesus Christ lived and died for us.  We have a living prophet today and he will speak to us this weekend.  Make sure to listen to the servants of God for they are His mouthpiece, and will speak all things to our benefit.  This includes local leaders.  I'm grateful for my bishop, his wonderful example to me, and the wonderful guidance and counsel he gave me.  Temples truly are the house of the Lord.  I feel so blessed to be able to go inside of them and feel the Spirit so strongly.  The power of God has been restored on earth today and I am here to testify of that.  God loves us, His children and does everything in His infinite power to bless us.  We just need to recognize it and thank Him for that.  I'm not the only one called to serve, but all of you reading this are called as baptized members, or soon to be such, to preach the gospel at all times, in all things, and in all places.  The missionaries can only do so much, and what happens when they leave?  Be an example of the believers, and you will touch the lives of thousands, maybe millions.  You cannot underestimate the impact of a kind word or gesture.  They mean a lot to everyone, and affect their posterity.

Med Kärlek,

Äldste Liddle