Hey Dad,
It's good to hear that you guys had a break! It seems like it's been a while for the family. Mom said that that movie "hidden figures" was really good. Haha but it's good to hear that the first two movies I see will be Star Wars! After going to the temple. Not like I don´t have PLENTY of time before I should be thinking about that, but oh do I miss it!
Also, you probably already knew but IKEA is a big thing here in Europe, so basically all of the furniture and appliances in missionary apartments are from IKEA, but they say it like "ee - kay- ah."
That's an awesome quote, too! Haha I'm sure that all returned missionaries set a ton of goals for after the mission and then get home and they just can't realistically do them all, and I probably won't be the exception, but one of the things I really want to do more is family history work! Here in Portugal, doing family history work is SO different, because they don't have as many records scanned and indexed and stuff, so they have to do a lot of the actual searching for records, whereas I have (for the most part) almost everything I need at my fingertips, so there's really no excuse for not doing it! And I believe that those blessings will come. So yup that's my goal.
Thanks for looking into the school stuff for me. I'll talk to Elder Yoder about going down to Logan and looking at the housing options.
What do you talk about when you go to those leadership training meetings? I imagine it's kind of the principle of giving more to him who has much, but that doesn't mean you just talk about "deep doctrine" kind of stuff haha, so what do you do? That's awesome that you'll be able to see Elder Cook again.
Time - it continues to scare me. Haha it's really funny to think that I've been here in the office for more than a fourth of my mission. Like at the end of next transfer, I'll have been here for almost half of my time in Portugal. That's weird! Being here makes the time go even faster - I feel like the weeks are just Friday-saturday-sunday-monday and then friday again.
Thank you for that scripture! The mission is awesome because it hits the extremes of your emotions - I've had extremely happy days, extremely frustrating days, extremely tiring days, etc. and it's almost like God stretches you in all directions to make you more pliable, which makes it easier for Him to shape you into what He wants! And this scripture made me realize that I can get in my own way of being molded - almost like if you're not careful, you could shape yourself into a "sad missionary" because of that "pliability;" but the Atonement puts me in a position to seek God's will for me, and even though it's probably not going to be what I always (or even mostly) what I want, it will be what God let it be. And that is a huge blessing!
Thanks dad! I love you! Have a fantastic week! Tell me how the meetings go!
Love, Elder Valentine!
Elder Valentine,
Greetings! Well, this is a bit different. The past couple of weeks were so crazy busy. But this past few days have been just the opposite. I took Friday off of work, and today (Monday) is Presidents Day, so I’ve enjoyed a four day weekend. I had a good mix of getting some things done around the house, working on a book project (yes, I’m still trying to get back to writing!), going on a date with Mom (best part of the weekend), and doing some fun shopping at IKEA. It’s been a nice break!
Yesterday I spoke in sacrament meeting. I had Anna sing with me a primary song on Jesus and reverence; it’s one you don’t hear anymore called, “To Think About Jesus.” The song went well, and I think the talk was also well received. As part of my talk I focused on the blessings and protections of both missionary work and temple and family history work. By the way, again and again at RootsTech the brethren (Elder Cook, Elder Renlund, Elder Ballard, President Nelson) emphasized that temple/family history work and missionary work are THE SAME WORK! I think I’ve shared this with you before but just in case, here’s my all time favorite quote about the protecting power of family history work. This is from Elder Renlund from last year’s RootsTech:
“You’ll find not only protection from the temptation and ills of this world, but you’ll also find personal power: power to change, power to repent, power to learn, power to be sanctified, and power to turn the hearts of your family together and heal that which needs healing.”
I love that promise!
I finally have all of the USU passwords and usernames and so on worked out. I am now just waiting to receive an email from them about your online orientation. As soon as I complete that for you (fun for me!) then we can register you for classes in April. You’ll see I also emailed Elder Yoder about housing. Maybe he could drive to USU and check out the housing options so you two and make a final decision. I’ll need to make a deposit for you on the apartment, so the sooner you decide the better.
Guess what? I get to go to a leadership meeting with all the bishops and stake presidents in the area this coming Saturday. It’s from 8:30-1 and it is being held in our stake center. Elder Cook is presiding and speaking. I am leading the singing!! The good news about that is that I get to sit up on the stand, thus I am really close to the action! Elder Cook should remember me since I traveled with him in England and Israel!! I can’t wait. I’ll tell you what I can from it.
Yesterday Mom made a Lord of the Rings cake for a new family in our ward. The family is a friend of mine from work, Laura Cleveland. Her husband has cancer and may not have long to live. Yesterday we did a fast for him, and many in the ward and at church joined in the fasting and prayers for them. It was his birthday (his name is Nathan), and so Mom spent most of the day on Saturday making this amazing cake! She has some cool pictures and I’ll have her send them to you.
Saturday night me and Mom saw a movie that you’ll have to watch when you get home. It’s called “Hidden Figures” and is about three African American women who were instrumental in our early NASA space flight program. It’s an amazing and inspirational movie. I’ll add it to your movie list!! But first things first. You have to watch Star Wars Force Awakens and Rogue One before any other movies!!!!
I hope that all is well with you. I can’t believe how fast time is flying. We continue to feel tons of blessings for having you out there serving the Lord. Stay positive and work hard and remember how much we love you! I gain great hope and peace from the following scripture in Moroni. I hope you are also gaining this same hope in Christ. Love you, Spencer!
Moroni 7:41: “And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.”
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