49 Days

Well my friends I enter the M.T.C in 49 Days. How do i feel about this you might ask. and my answer would be OK. i feel like i need to go, and i am supposed to go. and i am excited to go. But I am going to miss people that i love. and i am going to pray for them everyday that they will be alright. and that they can feel Gods love for them. Recently I entered the Temple for the first time ever. It was a very interesting experience to say the least. I think what is the most interesting thing is that i have grown up in the church my entire life, but i still knew absolutely nothing about what was going to happen. I went in expecting, I don't really know what but something, and it turned out to be nothing like i expected. But I am with out a doubt happy that i went. and Happy that i can go again and again for the rest of my life so that i can try to understand more of what happens inside. One thing i can tell you is that the temple is a beautiful place, and that the feeling at the very end is something i at least have felt no where else on the planet. I have also been studying Spanish, as i will be teaching in that language for the next two years, and i think the most challenging thing is to stop thinking in French! I find that i can memorize the words easily enough with time. But it is infinitely harder to make myself think the Spanish word when the French word comes to my brain so quickly. But i know without a doubt that if i keep on trying and studying that God will help me. I know that if i am diligent and obedient then my heavenly father will help me to speak Spanish. I know that while my mission is going to be a challenge it will undoubtedly make me stronger. I know that even if every minute of the next two years of my life is hard i will not regret it in the end. I know that through our struggles God prepares us for the future. If we place our trust and faith in him all things will be alright. I know that the key to happiness in life is to trust god, to be obedient to his commandments, and to know that if you are on the path, trying to be more like him, trying to perfect yourself according to his standards then you have made it. You will be happy for the rest of eternity.

Missions

I have been called to preach the gospel to the people of houston texas, I will be preaching in the spanish language. When I first opened my call and read where I would be serving, I felt the spirit of God like I have never felt before, when i think about it now i still get that effect. I know beyond any doubt that I was called to serve there by my heavenly father himself. And although an apostle of the church helped communicate that call to me it was indeed heavenly father that made the decision. As time rounds down closer, i find that satan tries more and more to stop me from preparing, but I am working hard to fight the natural man in me, and do all that I can to prepare. I have been thinking a lot lately about my mission and I think that the only thing I will miss is spending times with my loved ones. My dad made a comment to me the other day that I don't often express my thoughts, so it is cool when i do for him to know what I think. I have been thinking about why that is, and i have reached a conclusion. I think that I am not at a point in my life where i understand myself, i'm not even sure if anyone is in a place where they understand themselves. But i am sure of one thing, and that is that god understands me perfectly, he understands every thought and feeling that goes through my head, and knows just what to do to calm my troubled soul. I realize that my mission is going to help me become a loving husband and father. And i hope that it helps me understand what i need to do to become a soul worthy of the living with my heavenly father, and my family for the rest of eternity.