Life is Wonderful

April 26, 2011

Dearest Family and Friends,

Life is wonderful. I just love it! God has just blessed me with the best people to be around. Best friends, family, and just life ever! I couldn't have asked for a better one. I'm loving Wales! The people here are just so nice. I can't get over the fact that they are much nicer than the English. It's probably because I spent enough time amongst them....The work is getting better and progressing, albeit slowly. We have some good people to work with and are hoping to continue to find good ones that are ready for the gospel in their lives. I am really learning lots here and just loving life. The members here are way nice! For Easter the big craze are these huge chocolate easter eggs along with a pack of a certain sweet. I don't know why they love it so much here, but they do. We ended up getting 14 of these eggs from a couple of them. We gave 8 of them to the other missionaries in our district and that left us with 6 still. I'm so tired of sweets(makes me feel fat), but my real problem is that the only solution that comes to my mind is that the more I eat, the faster they leave so I don't have to fret with them anymore. It doesn't always work when you constantly get sweets from the members. I'm really working on fixing that problem. We'll see how I do.

It's crazy to think that I've been here in Blackwood for 4 weeks. Only 2 more left in the transfer. Time is definitely not your friend when you have loads you need to get done. It is just too hard to fit everything you need to in a day. It really comes all down to your ability to manage time wisely and not waste any. Considering the work we are doing is the Lord's, time should be something used to it's fullest. So that's something I'm trying to work on and help my companion with since he seems to get sidetracked pretty easily.

So this week being the week after Easter, I figured it'd be fitting to talk about Christ and His Atonement(aka. the reason we have Easter). Something that has been on my conscience in connection with the Atonement is forgiveness. The Atonement consists of two different parts- the suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and then the Crusifixion/Resurrection. The overall process is probably one of the most important events to have occurred on the Earth in the age of mankind. The whole thing makes it possible for us to overcome 2 things- physical death(explains itself, right?) and then spiritual death(or sin/separation from God). The second is the one I want to focus on. The act of receiving forgiveness of what we've done wrong(sins) come only through the Atonement by Jesus. This is quite a big thing too- being forgiven of sins- but Jesus provided us with a way to do so. He provided all of us this option, no matter who we are, where we're from, or when we were born. It was for everyone. But there is a part that we have to play in the whole forgiveness process- Repentance. As we fulfill that process, we are then able to receive forgiveness. Now if Jesus and God are able to forgive us for anything we do, so long as we repent properly, why can we not forgive others just as easily.

Since being on my mission I've come along too many stories that deal with people getting offended over silly things that people may have said or done to them in past. And for some reason, they have never been able to forgive and forget. Many a time the, so called, "offenders" didn't even know they have done anything. This act of not forgiving just brings hatred and unhappiness into a person’s life. They then stop doing stuff that would associate them in any way with the offender, thinking that they are doing something to punish them or something like that (I don't quite understand all of their reasoning), but the real thing they are doing is hurting themselves. Keeping this hatred inside take over their life and keeping them from the good things of the world and many times even God. Forgiveness is something that is a wonderful gift God and Jesus give us all the time. God went so far as to give His son(John 3:16) to do a huge task so that we could receive this forgiveness and Christ fulfilled His role with complete obedience and love for us. Are we as humans, even brothers and sisters, higher than them that we can't even forgive one another. Yes, people can do and say hurtful things that may put us off, but we have a responsibility to remember our relation and to forgive them with all our heart. Maybe this topic is easy for me to talk about since I don't get offended too easily, but it is also a topic that I have been able to see the effects of and it ruins lives as people detract from the example of Christ and even apply His Atonement in our lives. We need to do our best to become like Christ(3 Nephi 27:27 I think) and be able to do what he did when he was on the cross and said to God in reference to the Roman soldiers: forgive them, for they know not what they do(or something like that. I'm no scriptorian). I'm grateful for Christ and the pain and suffering he went through so that I could receive a forgiveness of all that I do wrong and to continue to grow closer to him and my Heavenly Father. I love Easter and what it represents. I just wish people would better remember it and truly apply it in their life.

I love you all so much. I miss you tons. Keep being awesome and updating me on life. Also keep searching and finding happiness and things to make others happy each day. That's when we will enjoy life the most, I promise. That's all for now though. Until next week.

Elder Hulet