Week 33 Letter

Monday, October 17, 2011

Hey Ryan, it is Shane!  Dude, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday and let you know that I am thinking about you. What an awesome week!  You are having a birthday and you are an uncle!  You are getting so big.  I miss you a ton my little man.  I think about all of the fun things that we did together.  I want you to know that I am so proud of you and everything that you are doing.  I am so happy that I will always be your brother, forever and ever.  We will always be buddies.  Have a great birthday and let me know how it was in an email to me.  I love you Ryan, and you are the man.  From your missionary brother Elder Lee

Hello my family of new uncles and aunts, and even grandparents!
How are all of you?!  To let you know a little about how I am, I am great.  I am loving the new area.  Cuiaba is super hot, and it doesn´t cool down at night.  Also, it thunders, lightning, and rains almost every day for about an hour or two and afterwards, it is even hotter because of the hot water in the air.  It can get super stuffy.  Anyways, the people here are great.  I still do not know everybody.  Part of the problem is that first Sunday I had to stay home from church because Elder Brandão was sick and this last Sunday we had stake conference so everybody in Cuiaba was there and so I did not know who was in our ward and who was in other wards.  But, we are working hard and working smart.  I am super excited about this.  Yesterday we baptized a 9 year old girl and this transfer we reactivated her family, mom and sister who have already been baptized but have not been to church for a really long time.  They are great people.  

We want to baptize the dad too, but they are not legally married and the mom has to get a divorce first, so the process is a little complicated.  But it was super fun to work with them and then see them get excited about the gospel again, return to church, and baptize the little girl.  They are a great family.  Also, we have a baptism marked for this Saturday.  The father of a member is really old and getting ready to pass on to the other side.  He was never baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ because he is Catholic and felt attached.  But, one night he dreamed of him and his wife in the temple, a very specific and vivid dream that involves much of what happens in the temple.  His son, who is a member and has served a mission, helped explain what his dream was.  His father now wants to be baptized, feeling that this is the only way to make his dream a reality.  He has been prepared.  How incredible.  He will be baptized this Saturday and confirmed the following Sunday.  Also, we are excited about another family that went to stake conference yesterday.  The family consists of a mom, dad, and 2 daughters 18 and 17 (the dad did not go to conference because of work).  They are really religious in the Baptist church and really like their church, but they also have a lot of questions about our faith.  We invited them to conference and they came and tonight we will teach the restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ to them.  I am really excited.  SO, things are going really well here.  We are teaching and working a lot, and we are working smart.  Super awesome.  So, that is what is going on here.  Work and results, which is always a blessing.  I will try to send some pics of the baptism.  So, that about sums everything up for the week.  So, I think to end this letter, I will let you know about something that I have been thinking about a lot lately.  I have been reading in the Doctrine and Covenants and I have learned a lesson over the sections therein.  The lesson is this, God gives line upon line and precept upon precept in his time and in his way.  A lesson simple, but so often not completely understood.  What does it mean in his time and in his way.  Time is simple enough.  God will give us line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little on his time table, when he feels that we are prepared, ready, or when the time is best suited to help us.  Often, it is not when we want or when we expect, but the promise is the same.  He will give if we are searching.  Ask, and ye will receive, knock, and it will be opened unto you (D&C 4:7).  But now, what about in his way?  Often line upon line and precept upon precept is given by the power of the Holy Ghost, who will tell you in your mind and in your heart (D&C 8:2). But, something that I found is that his way means more than the way that he sends the message to you. It also means the form.  What is line upon line, precept upon precept?  I think that God can send line upon line and precept upon precept in the form of simple revelation, a yes or no answer to a question.  For example, is the Book of Mormon true, do I need to be baptized, was Joseph Smith really a true prophet called of God?  All of these questions bring out a yes or no answer.  Also, I believe that there are other forms.  For example, the question of young Joseph Smith, what is to be done?  How did God answer this question?  The answer came from text of holy scripture that entered the heart of the young boy by the power of the Holy Ghost.  Often, line upon line and precept upon precept comes from the scriptures that are made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Another form that I have found in my personal study is in the form of confirmation.  As the experience of Oliver Cowdrey in asking for a more sure knowledge, God asked him to cast his mind to his earlier conversion, the night that he was comforted with a spiritual experience and witness.  I think that it is also important to note that this answer from God came to Oliver by the voice of Joseph Smith who likely did not know of Oliver’s personal experience.  Remember in James 1:5,  that God will give liberally and not upbraid.  There are many forms that God gives line upon line and precept upon precept.  It is always in his way.  Another form that I have seen many times in my study of the Doctrine and Covenants is in the form of commandments.  Often, people do not see commandments as the blessing that they really are.  Just as the early church was constantly looking for instruction and direction, I as a missionary am always searching for instruction for the Lord, and, as sons and daughters of God, we should always be looking for his council and instruction.  What a blessing; that God will give us the instruction that we need.  How often should we ask, what is to be done?  I am so thankful for commandments, and we should always be seeking more commandments from our Heavenly Father.  With every commandment comes a blessing that is predicated upon that commandment or law (D&C 130:20-21).  God will give line upon line and precept upon precept to those that are seeking his will and seeking to be in his service, but he will give line upon line and precept upon precept in his time and in his way.  My testimony is that if we are seeking and knocking, we will receive and the mysteries of the kingdom will be opened to us, but we need to seek and knock with a heart and mind willing and ready to receive the instruction, council, and answers in the time and way of our loving and all- knowing Heavenly Father.  I share this testimony with you, humbly baring witness that I know for myself, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

-Elder Lee

p.s., the time here changed.  We lost an hour yesterday, so right now it is 11 30 am.  So, I gotta go, but I love you all, and have a great week.  Until then, tchãu!