Good Morning Elder Williams,

 

It was so nice to see you and talk with you yesterday. I'm so happy that you had a baptism . How wonderful!

I hope you can tell me more about conversion, discipleship, and the path of life that you talked about yesterday. I would like to know your insights and the inspiration you have received regarding these ideas. I'm glad the gospel is more of a tangible truth instead of an abstract concept to you. How did you come to this thought? Is it by living the words instead of just thinking about them? I'm sure your hours of study in the scriptures helps to bring the gospel to life for you.

Let me know the different sizes and things we talked about yesterday, and I will get you what you need.

God be with you 'til we meet again.

I love you.

Mom

 

 

 

Dear Mom,

It was great talking to you yesterday. It was good to hear how everyone is doing. I've got some great siblings and great parents.

I started seeing more and more connections between discipleship, conversion, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ pretty recently. They have flowed together, and there are common elements in all of them. Really, they are the same thing in my mind, just different facets.

One of the most important realizations I had is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what allows us to cultivate His attributes in our lives. Moroni 8:25-26 is the scripture that best illustrates this connection to me.

25 And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins;
26 And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.

That's the big connection for me. It is in the fertile soil of meekness that all the other Christlike attributes are cultivated, as Elder Maxwell says.

So, I understand more fully how the Gospel of Jesus Christ is designed perfectly to help us become perfect, with all the attributes of Godliness.

It is the Atonement of our Lord and Master that allows us to put of the natural man. This is discipleship. It is using the gospel over and over in our lives. It is repeating the process of following the first principles, faith and repentance, and the first ordinances, baptism or the sacrament and confirmation.

We are disciples as we rely on the gospel over and over in our lives. This is also conversion. Conversion is truly a process. We aren't done with the Savior and the Atonement when we are baptized. It is only the gate.

So, conversion is also enduring to the end.

Here is 2 Nephi 31:20 with some of my comments

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness (faith) in Christ , having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love (charity) of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

That's what I've learned in a summary.

Love,

Elder Williams

Buenos dias Elder Williams,

 

Que tal? We celebrated Cinco de Mayo yesterday, so happy day to you too.

 

I went to Womens Conference at BYU last week and it was really nice. I enjoyed most of the speakers and the thoughts they shared were inspirational. My favorite session was about marriage. They shared a thought the really struck me which was, "What is your vision for your marriage". I think it is important to to have an eternal vision, but also a mortal vision for this essential relationship. Anyways, it gave me a lot to think about.

 

Brad Wilcox was another of my favorite speakers. He talked about protection, prayer, promises, and priesthood. He shared a thought that the garment is a symbol of putting on Christ---it lives on your very skin, and is a shield of love. What a beautiful idea. The priesthood is a living key, but also a witness of the resurrection. I had never considered that before, but it does make sense. We are gifted with so many blessings in this gospel and I feel very humble and grateful that I'm a member of the true and living church of Christ.

 

How are your people doing? We pray for them every day and night. We pray for you and think of you all the time. I'm looking forward to talking with you on Mother's Day. Is there anyway we can meet earlier? Raina has her singing recital that we need to go to which is at 4:30 MST. She has practiced all year and this is her time to share her talent. Is there a possibility that we can talk to you around 2 or 3 MST? Just let me know what time for sure, and we will be there, but I'm hoping we can make both things work out.

 

I love you and send you my blessings,

Mom

 

 

Hola Mom,
 

I'm glad to hear that you were about to go the Women's Conference. I love that idea of vision for here in mortality for our relationships.

As to the idea of the Priesthood as a living key and a witness of the resurrection, I'm gonna think about that one. That's something that really intrigues me.

I'm learning so much about discipleship. I can see more clearly how to follow the path Christ set. I used to think I had to jump through extra hoops, or that there was a special key or trick to discipleship, but now I realize that a disciple of Christ follows the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We follow the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel. Every week in humility we can participate in a priesthood ordinance, the Sacrament, and if we have a broken heart and a contrite spirit we can feel the Holy Spirit of Promise. Every week we have this opportunity. The love the Lord shows through this has been impressed deeply upon my soul.

I'm so grateful that God gives me time to be a better and better disciple. It is such a hard path, but it is worth every step.

We have two baptisms scheduled for this Saturday, so those prayers are indeed appreciated. Kyle and Leathan are 13 and 14 year old boys. The ward has really taken them in and want to help them grow in the Gospel.

Jessica, one of our new investigators, the one who asked how she could join the church, came yesterday and she loved it.

I'll plan on talking to you at 3:15-3:30 MTN time. I'll have 40 minutes, so I hope that gives Raina enough time to get to her recital.

Love,

Elder Williams

 

 

Hi Talon,

Raina has a voice recital at 4:30 Mtn time. Can we Skye earlier or after 6:30. If not, she won't perform so we can talk with you.. Just let us know what will work for you. We are all looking forward to seeing and speaking to you soon so we will work around your schedule.
 

We started shingling on Saturday. Unfortunately there was no place in town that sells shingles that are close in color to what the rest of the house is so we are stripping the old ones off the front and doing the entire front of the house in new shingles. What a pain. it takes a lot of time just to do the prep work like installing the drip edge, ice and water barrier and tar paper. It was really windy yesterday so some of the tar paper tore off and blew away. I also nailed down a couple of tarps to protect the part of the house where we took off old shingles. Mom and Brandt worked hard that day.
 

We are all doing well. Brandt started a new track program for kids at the high school. Bishop Abbot is helping coach along with Megan Robinson the cross country coach. They have Brandt as a sprinter but I think he would do better at the 400 or 800 but I guess it really doesn't matter what he does as long as he has fun. Aubree has her AP environmental science test this morning. She's studied a lot so I'm sure she will do great.
 

I am proud of you for doing so well. Sometimes the work can be so hard and discouraging when investigators come and go but that's the nature of things. Some people are more receptive than others and some people overcome their fears sooner. All we can do is be there with the spirit and pray they respond.

Take care for now,

Love Dad

 

 

Hey Dad,

I'm allowed about 40 minutes to Skype, so I was thinking before the recital. Lets shoot for 3:30 MTN time. I don't know if Raina needs to be there much earlier before the recital, but that'll give you all about 20 minutes to get where you need to go. I hope that works out.
 

This garage thing is a big project. Too bad you couldn't get matching colors. I'm glad that Brandt is old enough to help more. I was about his age when we built the house. Crazy.
 

I hope Brandt has a good time. I remember how it was with good old Coach Abbot.
 

Aubree asked me to pray for her for her test, so I've been doing that. I'm sure she will do great. She's off to a great start for college.
 

Thanks for the encouragement. The work is hard sometimes, but I try to keep in mind the happiness I feel when people finally do listen and progress. I've learned so much about focusing on the things I can control and trusting God with the things that I can't.

Love,

Elder Williams