Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Email from Aaron on August 23, 2011


Dear Family,
  
The people that we are teaching here in the Alpine area are great; we have a big goal of expanding our teaching pool this week to just about double what it is now. Finding those to teach is a great challenge, and it will require a lot of diligence and hard work, but I know that as we do so and we exercise our faith and put in that hard work and diligently seek to find those who are prepared to hear the gospel, we will be able to achieve our goals, because I know that where there is true faith, there are miracles. As for the work itself, I am really enjoying it, there are a few slow days here and there but as mom counseled me, i will not let discouragement into this work. But an experience that we had teaching this week was with a man named Louis. His wife was baptized a little over a month ago and he has began asking questions so we are teaching him about this gospel. As we were teaching this week, the questions that he asked showed us that he is truly investigating the church, he wants to know the truth for himself, and that is a miracle in and of itself. We testified of the Book of Mormon and the witness that he can receive for himself if he truly reads, ponders and prays about this gospel. Among others that we are currently teaching is Kevin. He has such a strong testimony and attends church and loves every aspect of this gospel, but has to wait to be baptized. No, there have been no baptisms yet, but we are working as hard as we possibly can to find, teach, and invite all into the fold.

Side note for mom, you know how you love one clear voice? Elder Perry's mom is in that group, she actually sings the song Mother's Prayer. Just thought I would let you know, I think that's a pretty cool tidbit of information.

I know with all my heart that the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the word of God. In Moroni 9:25 Mormon gives his testimony of Christ and shares some amazing counsel, he says "be faithful in Christ. . .may Christ lift thee up, may His sufferings and death, the showing of His body unto our fathers and His mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever". Let us all remember Christ and truly strive to put our trust in Him and let Him lift us up. May He rest in our minds forever? This ties into my TOTW which comes from a High Councilman out here and it is that Adversity is a fact of life, it happens to everyone, it's how we deal with it, with the Lord's help, we can learn and grow from each of these experiences. None of us are exempt from adversity; it is part of our Heavenly Father's plan. Adversity requires patience. As we remember Christ and what He did for us voluntarily, and turn to Him, He can lift us up. D&C 24:8 and Alma 36:3.

I love you all dearly and I love this gospel. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and I know that Joseph Smith truly saw God the Father and Jesus Christ and restored His church upon the earth. You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

Love, your son,
Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Email from Aaron on August 16, 2011


Hello,                                                                                                              August 16, 2011

I had the opportunity to go to the San Diego Temple today, wow what an amazing and beautiful House of the Lord. The spirit is so strong there and it was truly an amazing experience. Being there testified to me of the divinity of our Heavenly Father's plan for us. I know that we are all where we are for specific reasons and purposes. That we each accepted this plan before we came to this earth and as we turn to the Lord for guidance and strength to do His will, He will guide us and direct us to the path that He wants us to be on. It may not be the easiest path, but we will be blessed and come closer to Him on that journey.

In sacrament meeting and in my personal studies the things that keep standing out to me are the sacrament prayers, I've been studying in Moroni and they are one of the first things that he testifies about. That the administration of the sacrament is done how Christ commanded and how He administered it, so we know that it is true. And "always remember[ing] Him" are the words that consistently stick out to me. In each of our lives, every minute of every day we can truly remember Him and show our gratitude for the things which He has blessed us with.

I will be in the Alpine area for 6 more weeks, I am not being transferred and I am truly grateful for this. I know that I have been called to the Alpine area to build His kingdom upon the earth. I am so blessed and grateful that I have been trusted with a portion of the Lord's vineyard, and with that trust comes my responsibility, I will continue to labor diligently and serve him with all my heart, might, mind and strength. I love this gospel and I know that it is true. I love you all so very much and you are all in my prayers.

Love,
Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Email from Aaron on August 9, 2011


Hello,

I was reading through the family proclamation this morning and one aspect is that parents have a sacred responsibility to teach their children to work. I am truly grateful that you as parents have reared me in righteousness and taught me how to work. I am so blessed that I have been raised in this gospel and have righteous parents that have taught me and raised me the best way that they knew how; with the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Something that I learned in District Meeting is that in order for each of us to progress as missionaries (and in our daily lives and in this gospel) we must set goals for ourselves. It is vitally important to our achievement and success. But goals must be specific; they must be HARD goals, now this stands for:

Heartfelt-we must be committed to this goal and want to achieve it with all our hearts.

Animated-we must have a vision of the goal being completed and pray for the abilities.. .

Required- to achieve that goal, and finally the goal itself must be

Difficult-specific- because easy things don't inspire the imagination, difficult things do.

As our goals are difficult it allows us to stretch ourselves and reach that potential and ultimately grow as individuals. I have been setting goals for myself daily to grow and hopefully to become an instrument in the Lord's hands.

This was my first fast Sunday out here in Alpine and it was wonderful. The testimonies were so pure and heartfelt and the spirit was so incredibly strong in that meeting. A couple of things that stood out to me were that as children of our Heavenly Father in this day we are under attack by the adversary, he is sending forth his mighty winds and he knows exactly how to attack us, but also that our Heavenly Father gives us trials in order for us to grow in order for us to be tested to see if we will turn to Him and look to Him for help. The greater the trial the greater the glory. These trials in this life are individual and we have to handle them as individuals. Can you imagine how Christ felt as He walked to Gethsemane? When he fell on His face in pain he kept suffering and said "nevertheless not my will, but thine be done". Nothing that we may experience in this life is as difficult as what Christ went through for us, He can help us, if we but turn to Him and have faith in Him.

Thank you for the thought of the week, charity truly is the pure love of Christ and we can experience this and attain this through sincere prayer and dedicated, heartfelt service. Which leads me to my thought of the week that comes from one of the family favorites, TOTW: How do we change the world? One Act of Random Kindness at a time. I know that as we seek for these opportunities to serve others and bring them closer to Christ this world can be changed. As members of the Church, others look at us, they see something in us. We can show them what that is, the blessing of this gospel. Thank you for your support and love and I send it right back, I love you all very much and you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Love,
Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Aaron & Companions in the MTC the end of June

Email from Aaron August 2nd 2011

This week we had the opportunity to attend a mission conference and hear from Elder M. Russell Ballard, which also happens to be President Clayton's father-in-law. He talked about being an effective missionary, but he also talked about the importance of the members in the role of missionary work as well, I would like to highlight a few points: In the days of Joseph Smith many members often went to Joseph to inquire of the Lord what he would have them do, so Joseph prayed and many of those revelations are found in the Doctrine and Covenants, perhaps none greater than Section 11, when the prophets own brother Hyrum asked Joseph to inquire of the Lord and the revelation he received can be applied to me, and to all other people who truly wish to be able to become master teachers of this gospel. The answer received was; seek first to obtain my word, then shall your tongue be loosed, then, if you desire, you shall have my spirit. We must study His word, treasure it up in our minds continually, then if I desire, I can have His spirit and teach by His power. Now how do we get real converts? Yes the missionaries teach and prepare, but the members become friends, help them learn and grow in this gospel and can be missionaries themselves in many ways. By example and through a genuine love of others, especially through service. I, along with Elder Ballard extend the challenge to set a date and time that there will be someone that will be prepared to be taught the gospel, Pray for these opportunities to share and talk about the gospel but most importantly, remember to talk to someone, open your mouth and it will be filled, I give my witness of this along with Elder Ballard that we must let the Lord guide us and help us in this work, that we should allow ourselves to have the experiences that He wants us to have. Invite people into your homes, they will feel something, that we as members and this Church as a whole contain a message and power and authority that no one else has, this truly is His Church, this is His work and His glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Do not be afraid to share this gospel.
     Elder Perry and I are still working hard on setting up a branch out here in the high desert, but we are giving it all we can and we know that we cannot do this work without His help. I thank you for your continued support and love and thank you so very much for raising me in this gospel. I know without a doubt that this is the only true and living gospel upon the face of the whole earth and it was restored through Joseph Smith. Christ Lives, and through His Atonement, if we turn to him, we can receive a remission from our sins and sorrows and guilt's and worries of this life, all can be swallowed up in the power of the Atonement. I love you all dearly and I hope to hear from you soon.
 
     -Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd
 
TOTW: "be not afraid, only believe" Mark 5:36