This week was kinda weird. Things just didn't happen on Tuesday or Wednesday. Mario... Has a lot of problems. He didn't just go back to square one, he went all the way back to square negative ten. He's doubting his faith in God, life after death, and he told us he feels it would have been better for him to not have been born. We didn't really know what to say to that. We ended up testifying of the purpose of life strongly, and leaving him with a scripture to read. The ball is in his court, and he needs to decide if he wants to keep going forward with the discussions, or whether he just wants to give in to his doubts. It's sad, because I can see that Satan has been working on him pretty hard.
The saga of Hno Rivera ended last night. We were giving the sacrament to Hna Funez's mom, and we got a call from the sister's that Hno Rivera's mom needed a blessing. We were surprised, because we were under the impression that they were going to disconnect his machines last Sunday. Turns out they were waiting for his brother. I gave the blessing, and although I was a little more scatterbrained than normal, it was one of the most spiritual blessings I've given. The Spirit promised her some great things if she leans on Christ and studies the scriptures. We left for dinner, and then we came back to have a little devotional and prayer before they disconnected the machine. It was a very solemn night. It occurred to me that one of the most powerful and important forces and feelings of our existence is love. God does what He does because He loves us. Christ loved us so much He performed the atonement. Mothers and Fathers do what they do because of us. We all hope we love our jobs. The greatest and best feelings we can experience in life are either indistinguishable from or inextricable connected to love. Love is so important that the two most important commandments we have are to love. I would venture say that without true love, our existence is unfulfilling, empty, and miserable. There are many different types of love. There is love between spouses, love from a parent to a child, love between leaders and followers, and I could name many more. Lately, I have come to a firmer testimony of the powerful veracity of the plan of happiness. I know that there is life after death, that there is a resurrection, and I know that we will be with the ones we love, and that we will be happy... If we love God. Death is but a temporary parting. Does it hurt? Few things hurt more. But it doesn't have to cripple us. When the Lord calls one of our loved ones to a work beyond this mortal realm, it is not a death blow. We must continue forward, marching into the future with a smile, because there is always someone else who needs our love. Perhaps it will not be the same type of love, but they need it, and we need it. Hna Rivera must stay for her girls. There is still so much love to give, so much to teach them. God still has a work for her on the earth. I know that they will be reunited, though. The closest I have come to understanding what it is like to lose someone that close is embarking upon my mission. I left behind the people closest to me, whom I love the most. In the MTC, I was fine, but when trials came in the first few months in the field, I missed them so much it hurt. Two years seemed like an eternity. I knew that I will be with these loved ones again, it just seemed so far away. I feel like no matter what our burden, we just have to take things one day at a time- just us and the Lord. The days will begin to add up, and before Christ is through with us, we will have our perspective lengthened towards eternity, and it won't seem so long after all. Life will be hard for the Rivera family for a while. And, I suppose, perhaps that's the way it should be. But they will continue. They will press on, because there are still so many here to love, and who love them.
Glad to hear Spencer did well on his ACT, and is enjoying EFY. That Apricot tree sounds like a real pain. Maybe you can get someone to come pick them for you ;)
I was talking to Elder Pothier about life, and I realized that I actually have an interest in learning how to program. Like, Ruby, Python, Git, and HTML. I like it because it's high concept (you're telling a computer how to think), it can be very creative, it'd be a good career to support a family, and I could possibly even get a job programming on the web while I'm still in college. That being said, I haven't actually done a whole lot of coding before, so I'm not sure if I even like it yet, but I'd really like to give it a shot and see how I like it.
Speaking of Elder Pothier, he is leaving Freeport tomorrow, and I get a new companion tomorrow. They are closing down the other pool here in Freeport, so I guess I'm kinda the 'lone survivor,' and now will be running the entire area of Freeport.
As far as me personally... I'm doing decent. I've had a sore throat for the past week, and it's really annoying. I've been taking vitamin C supplements to boost my immune system, but I'm still feeling a little under the weather. Usually it gets better towards the end of the day. I think my sinuses are draining again from a recent wave of pollen . I guess I'm not super happy, just because the week wasn't great, but at the same time I'm definitely not sad or depressed or frustrated. I'll be happier tomorrow, I think, with the change.
Well, that's pretty much it on my end. Any questions?
Love,
Elder R Brandt Hull
The saga of Hno Rivera ended last night. We were giving the sacrament to Hna Funez's mom, and we got a call from the sister's that Hno Rivera's mom needed a blessing. We were surprised, because we were under the impression that they were going to disconnect his machines last Sunday. Turns out they were waiting for his brother. I gave the blessing, and although I was a little more scatterbrained than normal, it was one of the most spiritual blessings I've given. The Spirit promised her some great things if she leans on Christ and studies the scriptures. We left for dinner, and then we came back to have a little devotional and prayer before they disconnected the machine. It was a very solemn night. It occurred to me that one of the most powerful and important forces and feelings of our existence is love. God does what He does because He loves us. Christ loved us so much He performed the atonement. Mothers and Fathers do what they do because of us. We all hope we love our jobs. The greatest and best feelings we can experience in life are either indistinguishable from or inextricable connected to love. Love is so important that the two most important commandments we have are to love. I would venture say that without true love, our existence is unfulfilling, empty, and miserable. There are many different types of love. There is love between spouses, love from a parent to a child, love between leaders and followers, and I could name many more. Lately, I have come to a firmer testimony of the powerful veracity of the plan of happiness. I know that there is life after death, that there is a resurrection, and I know that we will be with the ones we love, and that we will be happy... If we love God. Death is but a temporary parting. Does it hurt? Few things hurt more. But it doesn't have to cripple us. When the Lord calls one of our loved ones to a work beyond this mortal realm, it is not a death blow. We must continue forward, marching into the future with a smile, because there is always someone else who needs our love. Perhaps it will not be the same type of love, but they need it, and we need it. Hna Rivera must stay for her girls. There is still so much love to give, so much to teach them. God still has a work for her on the earth. I know that they will be reunited, though. The closest I have come to understanding what it is like to lose someone that close is embarking upon my mission. I left behind the people closest to me, whom I love the most. In the MTC, I was fine, but when trials came in the first few months in the field, I missed them so much it hurt. Two years seemed like an eternity. I knew that I will be with these loved ones again, it just seemed so far away. I feel like no matter what our burden, we just have to take things one day at a time- just us and the Lord. The days will begin to add up, and before Christ is through with us, we will have our perspective lengthened towards eternity, and it won't seem so long after all. Life will be hard for the Rivera family for a while. And, I suppose, perhaps that's the way it should be. But they will continue. They will press on, because there are still so many here to love, and who love them.
Glad to hear Spencer did well on his ACT, and is enjoying EFY. That Apricot tree sounds like a real pain. Maybe you can get someone to come pick them for you ;)
I was talking to Elder Pothier about life, and I realized that I actually have an interest in learning how to program. Like, Ruby, Python, Git, and HTML. I like it because it's high concept (you're telling a computer how to think), it can be very creative, it'd be a good career to support a family, and I could possibly even get a job programming on the web while I'm still in college. That being said, I haven't actually done a whole lot of coding before, so I'm not sure if I even like it yet, but I'd really like to give it a shot and see how I like it.
Speaking of Elder Pothier, he is leaving Freeport tomorrow, and I get a new companion tomorrow. They are closing down the other pool here in Freeport, so I guess I'm kinda the 'lone survivor,' and now will be running the entire area of Freeport.
As far as me personally... I'm doing decent. I've had a sore throat for the past week, and it's really annoying. I've been taking vitamin C supplements to boost my immune system, but I'm still feeling a little under the weather. Usually it gets better towards the end of the day. I think my sinuses are draining again from a recent wave of pollen . I guess I'm not super happy, just because the week wasn't great, but at the same time I'm definitely not sad or depressed or frustrated. I'll be happier tomorrow, I think, with the change.
Well, that's pretty much it on my end. Any questions?
Love,
Elder R Brandt Hull