First, I want to tell you all how much I know this church is true and how much I KNOW it's God's true organization on the earth today. It's a hard church, it's not easy. But I know it's not a brainwashing church. The church is all about agency, you'll never be made to believe. You can choose what you want, the church is just there to offer you everything you could want to be happy. This last week, starting Tuesday morning, We got the call that there would be no transfers in our district. That meant I would stay with Elder Sankah. I prepared myself mentally just in case that happened and I was ready to make things work for another transfer, but that's where my thinking was wrong. It's not about just making things work, there's more to it. Thursday morning our district leader needed to go do some baptismal interviews in an area that was an hour away from the apartment. I suggested that I go with him so that his companion and my companion could work in both areas. I also was just stressed out because my companion was very hard on me. Our district leader is sometimes indecisive, so he didn't give a direct answer, but Elder Sankah put it in his mind that because I suggested it, that it would happen. So when it turned out that Elder Thom (District Leader) said no, Elder Sankah went into a state of self pity. I tried have companionship study with him and he was just negative about everything. We got in a little argument and I had just had it by then. I was stressed out and to be honest I had gone a little insane. A lot happened in between that time and the transfer, and i don't really want to re-live it, so I'll just end by saying that I went on a split Friday night until the zone leaders could figure out what to do. President Judd called me Thursday night and really helped me. He told me a lot of neat things about my mission in the future and told me that I should expect and very successful and outstanding mission. He told me that he knew that I could be a District Leader, Zone Leader, or whatever I needed to be. He made me feel really good. But before he told me all that he told me, he said to me that I had had problems/struggles with all of three of my companions now, and that although he wasn't pin pointing me, he suggested to me that statistically, I was the common variable. He said that I needed to learn to understand and work with anyone, no matter if they were from Liberia, or anywhere else. That took me down to the depths of humility and by that point I felt like I didn't know anything. But it was all good. He helped build me back up and gave me advice and small story that helped me realize that it's not only about making things work, but it's also about loving people and building them up. I had been probably been less considerate of Elder Sankah, and I needed to focus on him, "even more than maybe some of [my] investigators" he said. He said that's counsel he would only tell a few missionaries on the mission, but I understood him. Since then I've really thought about how dad is really good at this. There had been those times where I felt like I HAD to do something or else I was a failure. But dad, you know how to keep a calm mind, and you know that it's no use pushing forward when you're breaking down. In scriptural terms, "It is not requisite that a man should run faster than he hath strength" Moroni 7: ? . I'm getting better at my references, ha ha. Do you see what I mean now?!!?! This church is where happiness lies! that teaching can change a persons life by helping them realize that there is more to life than working themselves until they break down. There's hope, and there's hope because Christ was the ransom for us. I always teach the "Gospel of Jesus Christ" to people by telling them that God has a law. That law has to be carried out no matter what. There's no exceptions. If you mess up, you're punished. This is the way it has to work in order for us to progress. No other "easy" way is going to make us progress. But God loves us. He sent his "only begotten" son to pay the price that is required for us to pay when we sin. We sometimes take it for granted, but think what it would be like if Jesus Christ didn't come to the earth. We'd all be in hell, and we would be damned because we couldn't take on all the consequence of what our sins really entail. IT'S SO AWESOME! Anyways, just know that I know it's all true, and for me to stray from the path or leave the church would be the stupidest and honestly the most pathetic thing I could do. You can use this one me if I ever think about it in the future, ha ha. I've talked to investigators who have said when they read the bible they have this heavy feeling in their heart. Then we asked them to read the Book of Mormon, and they exclaim to us that they have that exact same feeling when they read the Book of Mormon. I've been thinking about Cody and what dad was saying, and I just wish he'd come back. So a lot of what I just said was kind of with him in mind. I bore my testimony yesterday and told everyone in sacrament meeting that if they have ever felt that good feeling in this church from the Holy Ghost, to never deny that feeling, and to follow after it. I said I knew everything in this church was true whether it be the Liahona, Institute, or the Book of Mormon. So anyways, I could go on and on, but just know that there's no way on earth that I can deny the truthfulness of this church now, I've received too much.
So this Sunday I got a lot of letters from home. I got one from Connor, McCall, The Activity Days Girls, Goo's mom, and 2 letters from Goo. So my mission is awesome now, I love my companion, and he told me to ask grandpa and grandma some of the people they knew in their mission. He's from Aba, Nigeria, where the temple is. He was converted when he was 18 in 2005, so he's 25 now. He was trained by probably the best missionary in this mission I think (Elder Edwards). He wanted to ask if Grandma and Grandpa knew the senior couple the "Scrantons" or the "Palmers", and if they knew the two Port Harcourt mission presidents President Cake or President Stone. I think they knew president Cake. I have something like 15 or 16 baptisms, I'm not really sure, and I haven't really had the care to sit down and count. BUT, we do have 5 baptisms this saturday, and they are all awesome people, I'm excited. What's it like in our apartment? The apartment is fine, nothing special. We've got a fridge, stovetop, and fans to keep us cool. All is well in the apartment. This is the end of my letter, I promise I'm done. I'll send a picture of me and my new companion. Man I love him. He's so cool and a huge example to me. He's only been on mission for 3 months, but he's already off to a great start. I love you all, thanks for your letters, I'll check over them again real quick just to see if I missed any questions.
Love, Elder Littlefield
P.S. Just a spiritual thought that I don't think my Missionary friends would understand like my family would: If a persons bowels are filled with mercy, does that mean that every time we have a bowel movement, it's like an act of kindness? If so, I do good deeds every day....
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