Loved Ones,
Hello and good morning! It's May! I love May. I hope that everyone has had a wonderful May thus far. Happy birthday Mia! I can't believe you're already 6! How are you growing up so fast? Have you been eating a lot of spinach? I want you to know that I love you and I miss you. I hope you have a fantasmical birthday! And another exciting event is approaching! I believe that I will be able to see some of your beautiful faces in a few short days. I'm working on finding a friendly member who will let me use their iPad to Skype. I will do all I can! I'm so excited to vocally express all my love and appreciation and hear the voices that I so adore.
This week has been great! Honestly, it has. I have learned so much, and I am very grateful for that. My study journal that I write down insights and experiences in has become my most cherished possession. One of the greatest blessings of missionary service is the constant growth and learning. I wonder if God is more generous with revelation with his missionaries, or if I'm just better understanding what I need to do in order to receive my Heavenly Father's direction. Maybe it's a combo of both. At any rate, I am very grateful for the opportunity to pass through this experience and collect the pearls of wisdom and experience that I encounter along the path. They are of great price, and I mean that in at least two ways. Elder Legere and I are getting along really well, and we are able to teach each other a lot. The weather has been beautiful, and I got sunburned for the first time in too long. Who would have thought that I would ever crave a sunburn?
I had the wonderful opportunity last week to return to the Rockaways and don my yellow vest once more for a day of clean-up efforts. The sun was shining, and I felt sunshine-y both on the outside because of the bright yellow I wore, and on the inside because of the warmth that comes from service. It was good to return to that part of New York that will always hold a special place in my heart. There is no better way to develop love than to serve. And there is no better way to be happy than to love. So, service leads to happiness. It's a fool proof pattern. In the past, I haven't appreciated service as I should. There were so many great opportunities for service in scouting and in the Church that I didn't recognize as opportunities to develop greater love and be happier. Now, I want to provide service whenever I can, because my heart has been changed. That is one of the blessings I received from my service during the clean-up of Hurricane Sandy. God provides a huge opportunity for us when he trusts us enough to give us the chance to serve His children. God perfectly understands the principle of delegation. He knows that the service of our fellow beings is a blessing. He knows that we get more than we give when we serve. And, not only that, but many needs are met by the loving service of others. So, two birds are killed with one stone. God is very good at killing multiple birds with one stone, figuratively speaking, of course. I'm confident God would not kill any real birds with a stone. But it is very interesting to look at a commandment He gives or a principle He teaches and see how that commandment or principle infinitely benefits those who follow it and accomplishes multiple purposes simultaneously.
I've been taught a great deal about true happiness recently, and I'd like to share a bit on the subject, if I could. I feel that service makes us happy because we forget ourselves, if only for a moment. Jesus taught us that if we will lose our lives, we will find them. I testify that that is a true principle. In missionary work, and I think life in general, the only way to truly be happy is to forget yourself. The only way to be happy in missionary work is to work! I've been taught that principle by experience. When we pursue pleasure, which is always selfish, we will ultimately be left feeling empty if we don't do what it takes to find true happiness. The world does not understand happiness. This society has become a factory for pleasure that is given the label of happiness. That is the definition of false advertising. The world has a lot of options for happiness, but they all lead to one result: emptiness. A teaching from the Prophet Joseph Smith helps me to understand true happiness and its source. He taught that we must "cheerfully do all things that lie in our power." (D&C 123: 17). I think this is a wonderful admonition, but it is not so much the teaching as the context in which it was given that impacts me. Joseph Smith penned those words in a place called Liberty Jail. Elder Holland has already pointed out the tragic irony in that name. This jail was a place of horrors. Perhaps the most painful suffering of the Prophet Joseph Smith's life was endured during his time in Liberty Jail. But, in the gall of bitterness, Joseph Smith was able to confidently talk about being cheerful. How in the world did he maintain such optimism in such terrible circumstances? I believe that the answer is, at least partially, that Joseph Smith understood what true happiness is. He understood that pleasure is not requisite for happiness. There was certainly little pleasure to be found in Liberty Jail, but happiness was still within reach. In an email that I wrote months ago (though it seems like weeks), I quoted James E. Talmage in a discussion on happiness. I want to quote Brother Talmage once again, and I will put his words in quotations in order to give credit where credit is due. But, I want to state very clearly that the following words have become my own: "True happiness is lived over and over again in memory, always with a renewal of the original good; a moment of unholy pleasure may leave a barbed sting, which, like a thorn in the flesh, is an ever-present source of anguish. Happiness is not akin with levity, nor is it one with light-minded mirth. It springs from deeper fountains of the soul, and is not infrequently accompanied by tears. Have you never been so happy that you have had to weep? I have." I testify that to find true happiness, we must be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and keep our covenants. "In this there is safety, in this there is peace." I love you all, and it is love that makes me happy. I want for you to be happy as well.
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