January 28, 2013

January 28, 2013

"We were sitting in class and we were role playing a certain investigator so that we could practice teaching that person. As we were teaching, my teacher Brother Burdette, stopped us and said "Before you talk again, just stop and listen and don't say anything until you know what to say from the Holy Ghost. After he said this, I was scared I wasn't going to get an answer or know what to say. So I said a quick prayer in my heart and waited...and waited...and waited. My mind was blank but all of a sudden I started talking and saying things I never even though of saying. And I just talked to the investigator (well, the Holy Ghost did) but it just bore simple and humble truths. It was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had, to have the Holy Ghost use me as a tool and talk through me. I hope I will have this happen again as I teach the real people out in the mission field."

A Little Bit of Light.

Lately I have been into reading past conference talks! They are SO crazy good!! Every spare second I get I am reading more and more! So amazing! Two that I have read that have really stuck out to me are "See Others as they can Become" and "Willing and Worthy to Serve" both given by President Monson. I can't stop reading, it's weird because you know me, I am NOT a big reader!! In those talks some things that hit me hard and are good advice to anyone who IS a missionary, HAS a missionary, or simply, just living through life. "When that same call comes to you and to me, what will be our response? Will we murmur, as did Laman and Lemuel, and say, “This is a hard thing required of us”? Or will we, with Nephi, individually declare, “I will go. I will do”? Will we be willing to serve and to obey?" This quote hits close to home, because by being so close to a missionary while they are preparing to leave and watching them say goodbye to everything they have ever known, I know it is not easy. It is not necessarily what you want to do and you may think it will be too hard. You either have two choices, you can be like Nephi, or Lamen and Lemuel. President Monson also said, "Miracles are everywhere to be found when the priesthood is understood, its power is honored and used properly, and faith is exerted. When faith replaces doubt, when selfless service eliminates selfish striving, the power of God brings to pass His purposes." Faith is the first and most important principle of this wonderful gospel, and since Dillon has left, I have really understood that statement. Without faith, this gospel is nothing. With this new announcement of the changing the age of both brother and sister missionaries this timing of The Lords Second Coming is creeping upon us quickly, and he needs US to spread his word quickly. I believe that this statement is not only for the the boys but the girls as well. "Brethren, the world is in need of our help. Are we doing all we should? Do we remember the words of President John Taylor: “If you do not magnify your callings, God will hold you responsible for those whom you might have saved had you done your duty”? There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save. The blessings of eternity await you. Yours is the privilege to be not spectators but participants on the stage of priesthood service. Let us hearken to the stirring reminder found in the Epistle of James: “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” It is scary to me that if you fail to do your mission here on earth you will be held personally responsible for those lives who you could have touched and changed for the better. That makes me so happy to know that I supported Dillon and his choice to serve a mission, I know I wouldn't want that guilt on my shoulders. I got an email from Dillon today! He is doing great!! Been sick, but I LOVE that he is doing so good! Him and his roommates created a band and call themselves "The City of Enoch" he is still the same old goofy kid who left two weeks ago! I love him so much.

Ties on Ties on Ties on Ties.

We all know that two years seems like such a long time!! Seven Hundred and Thirty Days??! Like how in the world am I supposed to make a chain countdown with 700 chain links?! To make this a little easier and a lot more realistic we decided to look at it as only 24 months. Twenty Four months doesn't seem that long, right? Oh Boy..... In just 24 short months my best friend would be back in my arms! To make it a little more fun and a lot more exciting than the traditional paper chain links, every month I will send Dillon a package with a tie and some other surprises that every missionary needs. This will be our countdown! 24 Ties. Dill arrives at the MTC today at 1:00 and I already have a package there waiting to be opened with his first of many ties. I can already tell that sending packages is SO fun! Ties on Ties on Ties on Ties.

Goals.

Everyone knows that while you are serving a mission you grow so much spiritually. Dillon hasn't even been out for seven  days and in just one letter I can already tell how much his testimony has grown and the love he has for his Savior, and I know this is only the beginning and he is only going to keep growing. The last thing I want to happen is for him to grow spiritually and for me not to progress and things to be "weird" when he gets back. I want to prepare myself over these next two years to be the  best person,wife, and mother I can be for him and I also want my testimony to grow and to serve my own little mission here.  In a fireside given by Vaughn Featherstone he talks about Missionaries and Girlfriends. He says "Of coarse the first duty is to serve the Lord's work,which you have been called to do; second is to your family, and third is to the girlfriend. He then goes on to say that leaving a girlfriend behind is hard but it is better to go out there with support than getting out there wishing you had it. Also he says how lucky it is for the young woman, the missionary left behind is, to have the opportunity to share this mission for the next 24 months with one of the Lords chosen servants. Her testimony will become stronger in the gospel because of  it." I am so excited to be able to become closer to my savior and get to know him on a completely different level. Ever since the day I said goodbye to my best friend, I have never in my life been so happy. Some might ask how could I be so happy, when I just said goodbye to the love of my life? By spending alot of time next to my bedside on my knees, and through the love of my savior I am able to look at this new chapter through an eternal perspective. It's not the end. It is a new beginning. I am on a spiritual high and I LOVE it!! I am so excited to be able to continue to learn about Christ and see Dillons testimony grow and develop as well.

I have decided to set some goals to keep on track for my personal growth.   Also so I will be ready and on the same level as Dillon when he comes back in 726 days.

• Read and finish all the Work & Glory books. (I'm  crazy I know)
• Get my Young Womens Recognisiton again.
• Learn how to be the BEST cook, because of right now.. I am TERRIBLE in the kitchen.
• Have my first job.
• Read the Book of Mormon cover to cover twice.

I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to be able to share Dillon's missionary experiences with him through letters and get to know him through a different perspective that is only made possible through serving The Lord through a mission.

January 23, 2013

January 23, 2013

    
 "I have only been here a week and I have already grown so much. Mostly because of my companion Elder Skelton, because he is such  a good example to me. One thing that we have learned is how to teach by the spirit.  Our first few lessons went awful because we didn't know how  to work  together and we were trying to memorize the lessons in Preach My Gospel. But that was a bad idea. Now we learn the material from Preach My Gospel and then when we teach, we tell what we know. It is so much better that way, because it enables  us to teach with and by the spirit. The coolest thing is when you are teaching  and you can feel the spirit just take over. A lot of the time when that happens,  the lesson goes in a completely different direction than we had planned and then while you talk the spirit confirms  the truth of what you are saying to both myself and the investigator."
   

Letter Number One.

January 17, 2013

Hey Meg! I am at the MTC and I am loving it just like you said I would. It is really so awesome here, and the spirit is so strong. There are people here from all over the world. I love looking at all the elders and sisters name tags to see where they are from. We really are the Army of Helaman. One of my favorite things to so here is learn words in different languages. But the spirit here is undeniable, the second I got dropped off it just over come me. Everything here is centered around our Savior and how we can learn to teach it to the people we come in contact with. It really is cool how everyone just does what they are supposed to without being asked and we are on time for everything, not because we get in trouble if we don't, we do it to show our love to our Savior _!| because through exact obedience we can receive more blessings. As missionaries we need ALL the blessings we can get. So don't forget to pray for all of us. My P-day is on Wednesday and other than this letter that's when I get to write home, and to you. Thanks for the package! All the elders were so jealous, but I shared a lot of it with my roommates and I now have a new favorite pillow case that I love and I hung the picture up and now I am wearing this nice looking black skinny tie. You seriously I ow me so well I love it so much and you make me so happy! You really were on top of having a package here so soon. The MTC is amazing! I have never said so many prayers in one day. But it is good because we need the spirit here with everything we do. We even start our gym time off with a prayer. When we play basketball everyone calls each other "Elder" and it is kinda really funny. There are 4 of us in our room a s my companions name is Elder Skelton and he is really cool! We are a lot alike and I enjoy getting to work with him. He played soccer and he likes shoes too! He is from Arizona. The schedule here is crazy busy and you have to go to bed right at 10:30 and we wake up around 6. The only time we get to be in our room is when it is bed time. Other than that we are studying in a class room. One of our teachers names is Sistwr DeAron and she looks exactly like Sydney Yates in your grade. It trips me out! My other roommates names are Elder Cox he is from Utah and Elder Prince from Canada. I wish you could see my schedule, there is seriously no free time. I guess the day before I got here Elder Holland spoke here so I can't believe I missed that! You should see how official I look with my name tag, but it's more than that, because we are wearing the Savior's name so we have to act like he would in EVERYTHING we do. This is one thing I need to work on is being more humble because I won't be able to do anything without Christ to help me out. Thanks for all you do for me and keep an eye on BK for me. Before I left, my mom made me change my Facebook profile picture she said because I am a missionary I should have a picture that looks like one. How are things going at home? What do you think you will do about D State now? How is high school ball? Remember everything happens for a reason. I found a scripture that I really like that I think you will like too. Alma 32:16 (all of alma is great for missionaries!!)
Love,
Elder Hurt

P.S. The sister missionaries (I can't spell I am so tired) but they are so weird. They always get mad at the Elders for "messing" around. But if you want to get mail to me faster while I am at the MTC you can use dearelder.com but I still really like hand writers letters "smiley face" I am so lucky that I don't have to learn another language because we have already taught our first lesson and if we are learning a different language you would be expected to teach in that language. We are so busy as missionaries but I love it. Anything and everything entertains you after being in class all day. So I made new friends at gym! Elder Holt and Elder Pursser, us three ball up all the other elders and I always wear my D-state shoes and everyone always says how much they like them!
Gods Speed

The Little Things.

So today has been one of those days, you know those kind that NEVER end? Yeah that would be today! I am missing my best friend so much!! But he is doing great and LOVING the MTC! Today I am missing the little things. Our simple conversations, our goofy inside jokes, and just the way we would look at each other. He is PERFECT!! In this weeks letter to him I sent him a lucky nickel he can carry around with him, with a note that said "If I had a nickel for every time I thought of you... I  would have one nickel, because since Senior Sunrise 2011, you haven't left my mind. For christmas this year I got the best present. I opened my stocking to find this necklace that reads "Called to Serve" "West Virginia" "2013, 2015"  I wear it every day as I go about my life, growing individually, and becoming more like my savior.

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Also this past week I have been very busy woh practice, games, and team nights. Although I have been super busy I am still always thinking about my best friend. So much so that on Friday night Autumn and I decided to have a sleep over. Around 2:30 am I turned to her (thinking she was Dillon, of coarse) and asked her to cuddle. She kindly accepted the offer, and briefly started stroking my hair. Shortly after, we both realized she wasn't Dillon. It was a strange night to say the least. But that is the story if my life. I miss him so much I am legitimately going crazy!! But I got my first letter!!! So things are going up!!