April 5, 2010

Wow.... I hate to bring this up first thing, but...my dad is 46 years old ;) I love you dad. I miss you probably more then ever watching the priesthood sessions. It was a great conference. I was a little shocked with Elder Holland. I thought he was going to be a little more intense the way he started... All in all, he gave a great talk, along with the rest of the Authorities. I love Conference. Ever since my second Sunday in the MTC I have adored the Apostles. Ever since my second Sunday in the MTC my mission has meant more than anything to me. I love you so much family. Thanks for everything.

This week was another good week. I’ll start off by telling ya’ll about Ulysis. On Tuesday we finally passed his address to the other missionaries. When I gave the address and described the family, the missionary started to get very excited. He said, "Wow! I know this guy. We met him a couple of days ago. They live next to the Catholic church. We taught a good lesson but when we came back the mom was leaving the Catholic Church and told me how active they are, so we really didn’t pass by again." I said, "PASS BY TODAY!!!"  I explained everything and he got very excited. Two days later in the mission conference I asked him if he had passed by. He said, "Yes, and it was an awesome lesson. I asked him about what you had taught him, we then talked more about baptism. When I told him he could be baptized on the 25th of this month he responded to me 'Oh good, there is still time'.”.... (that is what Elder Nelson said to me) I will find out tomorrow if he came to conference and all that jazz.

Today we did some deep cleaning in the house. I was cleaning the bathroom with some pretty strong Clorox and I don’t know what happened... if it mixed with something that was on the wall or what, but my eyes started burning and my nose and even my throat - ha ha ha - it was quite the experience. I had to get out of there as quick as possible. I’ll tell ya, that bathroom was a mess. With the humidity from the shower, there is mold and crud everywhere.

I love Grandpa so much. I miss him a lot. I was thinking about him and Grandma Beryl the other day because sometimes people ask me how far back I am Mormon. I’m so glad for Grandma Renee and her getting Grandpa, and Grandma B's courage to leave everything for the Lord. I am going to write letters soon for them, but I’ve been so busy.  Like you saw in the AOH letter, Jake Taylor has been waiting for a letter from me for like 3 months!
The Mission Conference was awesome. We have a huge focus in the mission on the Atonement and repentance and baptism.  President Chavez gave some incredible talks about this on Thursday.  Then yesterday morning many of the Authorities invited us to study the Atonement more in our personal lives. I would invite you, family, to do it with me. Lets study the Atonement personally and lets try to comprehend it a little better. Let us understand why it was necessary and let us understand what blessings it brought to us. Let us understand how we can change our lives to live as more dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ.

Love you guys... peace...