Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Aaron's email October 25, 2011


Dearest Family,

Thank you so much for the package! The CD's are amazing!! The letters from the family were heartwarming as well, that was a very special treat, thank you for that. Tell them all I love each of them dearly and thank them for their love and support, they mean so very much to me and it was great to hear from them. It sounds like your weekend was a great time and congrats to dad on his hole in one! I'll be honest I've been itching to get out on the course for a while because there are about three within our zone, but I know what I must do, and maybe one day I'll be able to get out there:) I'm glad to hear all is going well. I hope Ash got my letter that I sent to her. Report cards are a very stressful time but I know that you can do it mom, you are the best teacher that I know:)

That's great that you both are giving talks this Sunday! You want to know something incredible? I will also be giving a talk this Sunday in the Alpine Ward. This is no coincidence :) but I will touch on that a little later. The talk I will be giving this Sunday is about Testimony and I've been searching and pondering about this topic for the past couple of days and about how testimonies can help us in families and strengthen them. I immediately thought of the talk given this past general conference given by Sister Barbara Thompson when she related the experience of "I didn't keep my testimony through that time, my testimony kept me" and that's what our testimonies do, they bless us, they can sustain us through times of trial, and our testimonies, as in Alma 32 can also be related to a seed, they must be nourished and cultivated in order to grow and bear fruit. Testimonies indeed come one step at a time and as we learn from the scriptures in 2 Nephi 28 the Lord gives to us "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little . . .unto him [or her] that recieveth [He] will give more" Our testimonies come as we are witnessed to by the power of the Holy Ghost, which also as we learn in the scriptures shall "teach [us] all things" (John 14:26). Those are some of the highlights I suppose that I will be talking about. I am also using the talk that you shared with me from the your ward program "Valiant in the Testimony of Jesus Christ" by Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge. By the way thank you for sharing these programs with me, I love that each one has a talk on the front cover, they are all amazing. This talk specifically relates to testimony because our testimonies are centered in Jesus Christ and He has told us to "Let your light so shine before men. . .[and] I am the light which ye shall hold up" 3 Nephi 18:24. We shouldn't be afraid to let that light shine, to let Him show through us that "we must be willing to speak up, stand up, and stand out for the truth" and share our testimonies often. I promise, along with Elder Corbridge that as we do "your light, which is His light, will shine" that "He will be with you".

Paige's baptism is scheduled for this Sunday and Elder McGee and I both are truly excited to help and see her enter into the covenant of baptism with our father in Heaven and partake of the Atonement. I will most likely be sending pictures of that next week. Something that is a miracle is I'm not sure if I've extended Elder Ballard's 90 day challenge to you but it does work. When Elder Ballard issued that challenge to us as missionaries, we went to work, and we met Paige on July 30th, her baptismal date is October 30th, I'm pretty sure that's close to 90 days. This brings me back to my comment that “this is no coincidence”. I've come to realize that in this work and in each of our lives that there truly are no coincidences, everything happens for a reason and happens because the Lord wills it to happen. That all of these experiences are truly for our profit and learning and for our gain. He is with us and His hand is in each of our lives.

I know that Christ lives; I know that He has "borne our griefs and carried our sorrows" that "he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities". He "made his soul an offering for sin" and "poured out His soul unto death" (Mosiah 14). He also conquered death; He lives so that we may also live. This I know with all my heart and testify of. He did the will of the Father and did so willingly, submitting His will to the Father's so that we may all have the opportunity to return to Him.

I love you all so very much and thank you for your support and encouragement, your kind words lift my soul and give me strength. I know that as we rely on the Lord and seek to put His will above our own, we will be blessed. It was wonderful to hear from you and I hope that you have a wonderful week; I keep you all in my thoughts and prayers.
-Elder Aaron Jordan Lloyd.

TOTW
"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;"
concerning the Holy Ghost "therefore doubt not for it is the gift of God; and you shall hold it in your hands, and do marvelous works; and no power shall be able to take it away out of your hands" and remember the counsel we received from our beloved Prophet that we must learn to :
1-Recognize it
2-Trust it
3-Follow
Again I love you all so very dearly and thank you again for your thoughts and prayers and wonderful package.

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