It's beautiful here right now. There are a couple really lovely trees in bloom that I just love. My favorite two being a blue and a yellow flowering tree. They take my breath away. There are a lot of flowering bushes as well that are just indescribable. Anyways, things are going wonderfully in Tamworth. Last week we had transfers and I got a new Companion, Elder Peterson. He's a great guy!
I continue to learn so much out here, every day. My first two transfers taught me a lot about patience and problems. I was reflecting on my transfers thus far and recognized or came to realize that.
I was just having a nice conversation with a guy sitting next to me, and it ended up lasting nearly an hour, so I'm a bit short on time... So perhaps I'll talk more about problems later. This week has been wonderful. It's been sunny and cheery,and filled with nice people. Working with Elder P is like a cake walk ( this helps a lot )
Yesterday was by far my favorite day of the week. We attended a video conference being broadcast from Edinburgh to the whole of the British Isles, and the Nordic countries. Elder Holland was attending, and he blew it away. The conference was absolutely amazing,in fact Elder Holland regarded it as the most touching area conference he had ever been to. There were so many great speakers, but my favorite by far was Elder Holland.
The conference seemed to have a theme (unplanned) of the meeting seemed to be unanimous. All the talks touched on the difficulties of being a saint in these last days, and the importance of individual effort/ uniting our efforts. Elder Holland topped this with the solution. His talk summarized, would be the BoM as a means to traverse our way through the trials, and having a rock solid testimony of the BoM to make it possible.
His talk was much similar to his conference talk, 'Safety for the Soul'; however it focused ( in a much more emotional and logical stance) on the obvious truth of the divinity of this book. It absolutely blew me away. It was like a sequel to my favorite talks ( or one of), wherein the sequel was better than the original. I hope that talk is open for public consumption, because I would love a copy. He incited ( with much exactness) the account of the witnesses to the divinity of the book (the original witnesses, and his own) with such simplicity and power, that it would be hard for any person mentally present to ever deny the words he spoke. One of my favorite things he said, was that it would be an infinitely greater miracle if Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon, than if he translated it.
One of the most amazing things to me is that there were people in that room who got nearly nothing from it. Because they were not listening. I think this is a wonderful type. If we don't open our spiritual ears, we will denounce the wonderful gifts and love that lay at our feet. I would urge all my friends who come to read this, to ask how you can further open your spiritual ears. For it is never to late, and you are surely not complete..
I wish I could even come close to conveying the spirit that confirmed the words which were spoken at that meeting. But alas, I fear that I cannot. But I will say this; it is clear to me that the Book of Mormon is the literal word of God. That knowledge I can give, Not that it came easy or quick.
Anyways, Stepping away from Elder Holland and the conference (as I assure you that you'll hear more about him next week)... I have really come to appreciate the words spoken in Helaman 5:12. Up and downs, come as they may... With Christ as your sturdy foundation, you shall not fall. The more I center my understanding on Christ, the less I recognize my potential and ability. I have seen that in Christ, all things are possible.
I really love this Gospel, it is astounding how much change it offers.
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week, and that you may choose to more richly fulfill your life, by the words and deeds you already know are good.
And thus I make an end, Amen ;)
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