August 11, 2009

Hello Family & Friends

Joe and I have a much slower pace this week. We are learning our duties as Office Specialists. Joe will be overseeing the finances and automobiles for the mission area and I will be the personal secretary to the Mission President which includes managing all the other affairs of the office.

We've been learning the latest upgrades on Microsoft Word and Excel and will be learning IMOS (Internet Missionary Operating System) the rest of the week.

Very interesting information on the inside workings of helping the missionaries in the field as well as teaching the importance of respect for others and being honest in all dealings with our fellow man.

We're not sure if we will be getting our visas this Friday as planned. The travel department just received the information from church headquarters about our leaving for Russia two months early and told us to get a hold of them tomorrow. They've submitted the information to Russia for our visas. If they don't come in, Joe and I plan on staying here at the MTC to continue training on other worldwide services the church provides, such as, welfare and humanitarian services. We will also work in the call center by answering phone calls from people around the U.S. requesting church materials.

We have been enjoying the MTC and the Holy Spirit we feel here. It truly feels like a slice of Heaven.

I'm going to end with a story that was told to us this past Sunday evening.

The speaker told of his story when he was a young man needing to make one more flight using only the instrument panels in his plane, fly through a Idaho canyon and land the plane, in order to receive his pilots license. His instructor, Dave Smith, was at his side. The young man put on the blinders and piloted the plane for about 15 minutes. All was going well. Suddenly, Mr. Smith grabbed the yoke and spun it causing the plane to go into a downward spiral. The young man threw off his blinders and grabbed the yoke and managed to put the plane back where it belonged.
The young man was confused as to why Mr. Smith would do such a thing. Mr. Smith asked, "Did you know that you were off course by two degrees?" The young man replied, "Yes." Mr. Smith asked, "And that's ok with you?" The young man replied, "Yes, it's alright with me, I don't see it being a problem."
Mr. Smith then told the young man that if he felt it was ok to be a few degrees off course that he would never entrust his family in any plane he flew because they would never reach their destination - they would be miles off course.

The speaker concluded that this true story relates to all of our lives here on earth. If we give into living our lives forgoing just a few of the gospel principles to show us the way home to live with our Heavenly Father again, we will never reach the destination. It is important to strive with all diligence in learning what Jesus Christ teaches all of us in His Holy Scriptures on how we can live like Him and return to that Celestial Glory of living with Him again.

We loved that story. We love all of you and testify that we know that Jesus Christ knows each one of us personally. He suffered all of our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane and knows what pains, suffering, and fear we have and ever will experience. He will always be there to comfort us and help us. We need to remember to always pray to Him and let go of trying to control our lives on our own.