February 20, 2012

Dad + Family,

Everything is just going so great lately. We had a baptism Saturday, we have three men over the age of forty who are looking very serious about joining the church with their families, and on top of all that I'm just having fun! I sent a letter to President Judd right before this and I told him that sometimes I just wake up in the morning and can't wait to go tell "new" people that I haven't met before about the gospel. We've had so many powerful lessons lately and we've got so many hopeful baptisms on the way. I am loving the missionary work SOOOOO much! It's weird, because I never thought I'd actually be excited to tell people about all this, but over time I've really gained my own testimony of it all. It's all true. To doubt it or to discount the feelings of the Holy Ghost is simply stupid. This church is where true happiness lies. But one thing that most people have hard time with is that this church isn't based off facts and logic, but instead having faith in something that you only know feels right. I think that's why so many people say "listen to your heart". No one says "listen to your mind" or "follow your thoughts". We all have the Holy Ghost, and some of us only the Light of Christ. But either way we can receive an undeniable feeling that something is true. But faith seems to be something that the world says only stupid people have. "Blind Faith" is what so many people think having faith is. For me, I know by feeling from the Holy Ghost that I'm secure in whatever my Heavenly Father asks me to do and shows me who to be. It doesn't make sense sometimes how in the world what he tells me to do will work, but I have never had one time in my life where if I followed it, it didn't work. I wish people could all just look past logic and trust the feelings they have from the Holy Ghost more than they trusted the logic of the world. Because the Holy Ghost reveals things "as they really are" (2 nephi maybe? not sure.). If you want real knowledge, it all comes from the Holy Ghost. And if it comes not from the Holy Ghost, it's not of God (D&C 50....I'll get better at my references in time, ha ha). I feel like I've been trying to figure out so many lessons my whole life, and in the end it was all there in the Book of Mormon and other scriptures. I am positive that this church is God's true church with all the answers to everything. But it's not free. It can't be free. Only through faith and hard work towards something we may know little about, but trust, is it revealed. There's an answer to every question we have about anything. But it all depends on how much we want it. Just like the story I've said about Dad taking me out to get my 30 dollar prize for good grades. I saw something 30 dollars, but then I saw something for 50 dollars that was better, but the fact was, I didn't have any money, and Dad would only let me have 30 dollars. He told me I could wait and save 20 dollars, but instead I just said I'd get the 30 dollar prize. Then he told me that I didn't "really" want the 50 dollar something. I told him I did, but he told me I didn't. It frustrated me that he thought he knew what I wanted. But he said "If you really wanted it, I would save up for it and make the effort." This church, or God, works the same way. It takes some effort. No one every gained anything by doing nothing. It's a change, and it's a little scary to be honest. To give your trust to only a feeling that you had from the Holy Ghost. But "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always have what you've already got". Dad told me that once. It's pretty darn true though. It's all about change, if you don't want to change, you'll never have anything better. "Happy is the man that God correcteth." Once again I don't know where that's at, but it's an accurate quote and it's from the Old Testament (I think Psalms).
I loved your letters. I got the package with the Deodorant and the shaving sticks and stuff. Thanks a ton! The smell of the deodorant reminds me of home, ha. I'll send Kade's recording. It's a little long, I like to talk too much, ha ha. I think it's like 14 or 15 minutes long. I hope it's good. Everything is going so well, I can't really complain about too much. Things still aren't easy all the time, but there's so many rewards that it's too easy to look past those small things that might get me down. President Judd asked me to read Moroni 7 and 1st Corinthians 13, and told me to study, learn, and embody those scriptures and I would be a great (not just good) man. He told me to do that about a month and a half ago, and since then I've just loved those chapters so much. I've prayed for the things they talk about, and more than anything I'm learning the mysterious, but never failing power of prayer. Since the time he told me I've really become a better person, someone who's easier to get along with and less judgmental. The two chapters focus mostly on charity. Charity is awesome. I also found Mosiah 4 (27) which also ties in with those scriptures. I'm using these letters as sort of a journal for my mission, but I'm still writing in my journal every few days. It's just that it takes so much longer to write than it does to type, so I hope you enjoy the long letters, ha ha :) Everything with my companion is going well, I'm learning more about him, and I'm understanding him more. That's where conflict comes, when understanding is wrong, and people don't want to be patient enough to try to understand so they get angry and problems arise. But if you're patient, it's always easy to look past those things in the end. Well, I've written a ton, but just know that I feel like I have a perfect life right now. I hope everything just gets better and better back home. I can't really complain about too much right now. I'll send another e-mail with the recording and answers to mom's questions. i also received Sister Treadway's letter to me, just so she knows.

--Elder Littlefield