Things are good here

Hi mama,

Things are good here. …. I saw an announcement on mormon newsroom the other day that ALFIE BOE is doing the MoTab Christmas concert this year!!!!!! You have NO idea how jealous I am! (Alfie Boe is the one who sang the part of Jean Valjean in the 25th anniversary Les Mis concert). That is so so so so exciting. Maybe it's a good thing that i won't be around for it...else I would be sorely tempted to go and start camping out right now for tickets! If you get a chance, please go for me! I have no doubt that it will be a SPECTACULAR concert. Hopefully it will be posted to lds.org so that I can catch a bit of it eventually. And if a cd ever comes out, you know that I want the first one :) Also, I'm slightly-super-really jealous of all my friends playing in OTS this season. Best perk ever? I think definitely (that's you, Joshie! You lucky duck!)

Whaaaat. Yaaaaaaay Luke is finally engaged!!! Oh I am just so excited for him. I'd better get an announcement!! Tell him and all the Rowleys congrats for me :)

Oh man. I'm so bummed that fiona didn't come to church :( thank you for going to meet her and talk with her though! I'm sure you see just how wonderful she is and also how much her trials have affected her. It is so hard for her...but we will keep trying. Thank you for talking with her and for sharing those ideas. We will definitely keep visiting her.

Thanks for giving that letter to Andrew. I have his other address somewhere, but i didn't have it on me at the time and figured that sending it home would work too :) Thanks also for the recipes! Our p-days are always so busy but hopefully i will get to try some of them soon.

We are still doing a lot of finding in Chardon--no new investigators yet. it is a little frustrating that no one wants to listen to us, but as Brother Dopp told us in the MTC, "More people will tell you no than yes. If that's not the case, you aren't asking enough people." Ha. so we'll just keeping asking a lot of people and hopefully someone will be interested eventually :)

Our days at the VC are always fun but so busy. we give tours whenever someone comes in--which could be in the middle of lunch or study time or anything else. always on our toes, we are. :) If we're not on tour, we make calls or go on chat at assigned times. I can't wait for you guys to come and take a tour here. It is the best. I learn something new every time. :)

Also, I met Scott Dahneke's uncle yesterday (Scott and I went to phs together, he and Amy dated for a bit, and he is Sister Bell's relative--grandson? I think.) Small world.

Random request: on my old blog at some point I posted a poem that talks about "if thou couldst empty thyself of self". Could you look for it and send it to me? I'd like to use it. Thanks!

Favorite quotes/ideas from the week:

*From Malena's letter a bit ago: "Lucifer is our brother. who knows us better than our siblings? he knows how to get under our skin and push our buttons. he doesn't have the veil to make him forget us. when he uses the one thing that can make you falter, get on your knees and tattle on him! Just like growing up, tattle tale to daddy. He will protect you from the adversary." Isn't that great? and related to that, Elder Prince pointed out to me this week that the bible dictionary definition for "Abba" is "a familial and intimate name for our Father in Heaven"--like calling Him daddy. I love that so much. And I'll use it again in a minute.

*"These days, many young eyes are prematurely old from countless comprimises with conscience." --Paul Harvey, quoted in "The Light in Their Eyes" by James E. Faust GC 1995. Don't let this happen! make sure that there is always light shining from your eyes. Light is one of my favorite topics to study. I know that as we keep the commandments and honor our covenants, we will be able to radiate light because we will be filled with godly love and light. That which is of God is light. Anything that invites us to do good or become more like God is of Him. So do it. Related is Elder Bednar's talk on testimony and conversion. Testimony is great. Belief is great. But what are you going to do about it? it is only as we act on our beliefs that conversion comes. it is also only as we act on the light we are given that more light comes.

*"The difference between a christian and a worldly man is not that the worldly man has only likings and the Christian has only charity. the worldly man treats certain people kindly because he likes them. the christian, trying to treat everyone kindly, finds himself liking more and more people as he includes people he could not have imagined himself liking at the beginning." Amen. :)

*President Dahneke spoke at our fireside last night, and he shared the parable of the bicycle--a story written by Steven Robinson (leah's dad :) ). If you haven't heard it, it goes like this. A young girl comes to her dad and begs for a bicycle. She has a plan to do extra chores and save all her money and pay for it herself. Her father agrees to let her try that plan, and a few weeks later she comes to him, beaming, with a small jar of change. The father knows that it is not enough for a bicycle, but takes her to the bike shop to look for a bike anyway. Once there, she finds the perfect bicycle, and is so overjoyed with it until she looks at the price tag. "Oh Daddy," she sobs, "I'll never have enough for this bicycle. Never.'' She collapses into his arms and weeps at the though. Her father comforts her and then presents a new plan. "You give me your 61 cents, and a hug and a kiss, and the bicycle is yours," he says. "I'll make up the rest."

This story is adorable. What a good dad. I love it. But I also love the lesson behind the parable. As it was with the girl and her father, so it is with us and our Heavenly Father. We set our eyes on a prize--the kingdom of Heaven and eternal life. But as we work towards it, we encounter pitfalls and storms along the way. At times of great despair, we cry out, "Oh Abba. I'll never have enough patience (or charity, or faith, etc). I'll never be able to obtain the Kingdom." We fall down weeping at His feet. But then, in His infinite love and compassion, our elder brother steps in, scoops us up in His arms, and says "Alright. You give me everything you have, and seal it with a covenant of love, and I'll make up the rest."

We can't obtain eternal life on our own. We just can't. But that's okay. Our Savior will always make up the difference if we will give Him everything we have. Brad Wilcox's talk entitled "His Grace is Sufficient" --that I talked about last week--expands on this perfectly [here is the link http://byutv.org/watch/49475abb-10d4-4f45-a757-7000b9945468]. If you haven't read it, read it! It is so wonderful. Also read Elder Holland's talk "For Times of Trouble" from BYU devotional 1980. So good.

I'm just about out of time. sorry if i missed anything--I will hopefully be at a faster computer next week and be able to type faster and without so many errors. :) I love you all so much. thank you for all of your love, prayers, and support. This work is hard. but so was the Atonement. Salvation does not come at a cheap price. And the Lord will strengthen me and provide a way, I know. Don't worry about me :)

Love love love,

Sister Lyndsay Wygant