Hey there everybody, I don’t know what happened last week but for some reason I ended up not having enough time to write a blog email. Anyway, it’s been an eventful last two weeks and I have plenty of material to choose from, but I’ll probably only go into the real important things.
First off, we had a “Specialized Mission Training Meeting” this last Thursday. It took the place of our weekly district meeting and was a pretty big meeting. It was actually two meetings, the northern half of the mission went in the morning and the southern half went in the afternoon. It was a really good meeting, even though I feel it was kinda just an excuse for everyone to say bye to the Killpacks. We took pictures and had a couple trainings/talks from some of the missionaries. It was really cool to see a lot of the missionaries I knew. It was also super trippy knowing that the Killpack’s time is up as mission president and wife, and that means that my own time is running short as well. Where did the time go?
Last night we got our transfer calls. I was told I’d be moving to the Herriman and Herriman Rose Canyon stakes. With that, it’s official that I’m transitioning to the Salt Lake City South Mission. I’ll only be there for four and a half weeks, so my job is to just help the transition go as smoothly as possible. I volunteered and was told I’d be going earlier this transfer, but it is still a big pill to swallow. One of my missionary friends in California is going through kind of a similar change where she’ll be in a new mission in a week or so. Their’s is getting dissolved, whereas ours is just transitioning a few areas and companionships, so I can’t say I know exactly how it feels, but I do know that it really is a little heartbreaking to have to say goodbye. Goodbye to missionaries, previous areas, friends and former people you’ve taught. I am very fortunate with regards to the fact that I’ll be back here for school in a little over two months, so that’s nice and makes it a bit easier, but it’s still hard. However, the only constant in life is change, and I’m excited for what that change has to bring!
Well, I take that back. There are a few constants in life. Change is just the most obvious. Some of the others, although they are harder to see, are so much more impactful and meaningful. One of those is our Father in Heaven's love for us. In my opinion, President Monson puts it best: “God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there.” Another constant in our life is our Savior, Jesus Christ, and his Atoning Sacrifice for us. No matter how often we sin and lose our way, we can repent and return. There’s no limit. There isn’t an upper cap that prevents us from repenting again once we’ve hit a certain number of times. It is constant and there for us whether we decide to use it or not. Like God’s love, it is simply always there. The last constant in our lives is the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Unlike the other two, this one is dependent on our worthiness and willingness to listen to His promptings. However, there is no one else who is more loyal to us in our times of need. If we can qualify for it, his companionship can be as constant as the love of God or the Atonement. I personally don’t know why you’d want to risk going without it.
There’s my input for the week. I hope I didn’t bore anyone to death. That’s usually my assumption since I don’t hear much back, but I’m sure someone will get something out of it. Next time I talk to y’all, I’ll be in a new area, and hopefully I’ll have some pictures to share. Until then, have a great week and enjoy your summers!
Elder Orchard
Timpanogos Temple
Monday, June 18, 2018
Monday, June 4, 2018
Strengthen our Faith in Christ
Would you look at that, its Monday again. I swear, each week goes by faster and faster. I figured I’d try and get this letter off early this week so that I can free up some time in the afternoon. Like every other week, this has been a good one. It went pretty much the same as every other one, except our Thursday meeting was extra long since it was a combined zone conference. I’m running out of things to talk about because I feel like everything I do during the week I’ve talked about at least a dozen times before. We are now over halfway into this transfer, just another testament of how fast time is flying.
The highlight of this week probably happened last night. Elder Aisea and I didn’t have anything planned in the afternoon, so we ended up at a chapel watching President Nelson’s youth fireside. I liked it so much because even though it was directed at the youth, I felt like the message was tailored specifically for me. It probably helps that I still feel like a youth half the time. I was also super excited throughout because I was expecting him to announce the opening of China for missionary work. But one of the main reason I liked it so much was because of how straightforward he was with the youth. One of the challenges he gave the youth was to break their constant reliance on social media, and his invitation to do that was to participate in a seven day social media fast. He described it as “taking a break from the fake”. The reason this struck me so much is because it rang true with a principle that I’ve been pondering a lot, which is the principle of being spiritually minded and giving up the things of the world. So many people I know, myself included, put so much weight into things that have absolutely no eternal value, and really not a whole lot of temporal value either.
One thing I’ve been trying to develop over the course of my mission and hopefully over the course of my life is the ability to have an eternal perspective of things. I think one of the biggest things that keep people from having happiness and embracing the fullness of the restored gospel is their inability to get past things that hold them up and that they think are so important right now. I promise you they aren’t going to matter in the long run. We won’t have time to think about how much we miss our coffee or cigarettes when sitting at the feet of our Savior. It won’t have seemed like such a chore to go to three hours of church on Sunday when He tells us that we have been good and faithful servants. The dirty looks or snide remarks some prideful member made won’t bother when your in the embrace of Jesus Christ. The point I’m trying to make is don’t worry about things so much. I know keeping the commandments can be hard, but when we understand that “the [commandments]...serve to strengthen [our] faith in Christ” (Alma 25:16), they don’t become such a chore.
The question we should be asking ourselves is “What am I willing to do, or not do, to know my Savior?” If you ask yourself that honestly and with the intent to act, I promise you, you will seek Him, you will know Him, and you will love Him, all because He loves us so dearly Himself.
Have a great week y’all!
Elder Orchard
The highlight of this week probably happened last night. Elder Aisea and I didn’t have anything planned in the afternoon, so we ended up at a chapel watching President Nelson’s youth fireside. I liked it so much because even though it was directed at the youth, I felt like the message was tailored specifically for me. It probably helps that I still feel like a youth half the time. I was also super excited throughout because I was expecting him to announce the opening of China for missionary work. But one of the main reason I liked it so much was because of how straightforward he was with the youth. One of the challenges he gave the youth was to break their constant reliance on social media, and his invitation to do that was to participate in a seven day social media fast. He described it as “taking a break from the fake”. The reason this struck me so much is because it rang true with a principle that I’ve been pondering a lot, which is the principle of being spiritually minded and giving up the things of the world. So many people I know, myself included, put so much weight into things that have absolutely no eternal value, and really not a whole lot of temporal value either.
One thing I’ve been trying to develop over the course of my mission and hopefully over the course of my life is the ability to have an eternal perspective of things. I think one of the biggest things that keep people from having happiness and embracing the fullness of the restored gospel is their inability to get past things that hold them up and that they think are so important right now. I promise you they aren’t going to matter in the long run. We won’t have time to think about how much we miss our coffee or cigarettes when sitting at the feet of our Savior. It won’t have seemed like such a chore to go to three hours of church on Sunday when He tells us that we have been good and faithful servants. The dirty looks or snide remarks some prideful member made won’t bother when your in the embrace of Jesus Christ. The point I’m trying to make is don’t worry about things so much. I know keeping the commandments can be hard, but when we understand that “the [commandments]...serve to strengthen [our] faith in Christ” (Alma 25:16), they don’t become such a chore.
The question we should be asking ourselves is “What am I willing to do, or not do, to know my Savior?” If you ask yourself that honestly and with the intent to act, I promise you, you will seek Him, you will know Him, and you will love Him, all because He loves us so dearly Himself.
Have a great week y’all!
Elder Orchard
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Happy Memorial Day
Hey y’all! I know you were probably scared when you didn’t get an email yesterday, but its okay, there’s no need to panic. Our p-day was changed to Tuesday this week due to an opportunity to attend the temple this morning. Such a blessing! I wish I could go back more often, but unfortunately thats not my calling right now. I’m really looking forward to going whenever I want to when I come back after my mission though!
This week was pretty decent. We’ve been doing a lot of service and trying to meet with leadership as much as we can. It was really nice yesterday with it being Memorial Day since a lot of people were home. We’re still working on finding people to teach, but they’ll come along. I’ve got a good feeling about this week, I think we’re going to find a lot of success and hopefully I’ll have too much to write about next week! Something really surreal did happen this week. We had mission president interviews with President Killpack. With my departure date coming up and his departure date coming up even sooner, most of the time was spent talking about what’s going to happen this next transfer, what’s going to happen after the mission, and just stuff like that. I’ll admit, it made me a bit homesick. August will be here before I know it. But there’s work to do! Minds and hearts to prepare and ears to hear the word of the Lord!
I have to apologize, I’ve been awful at taking pictures lately. I’ve been throwing myself into the scriptures. I picked up somewhere in the middle of 1st Nephi and am trying to finish the Book of Mormon two more times before I finish my mission. On top of that, I want to try and read the last half of the Doctrine and Covenants so that I can say I’ve read the entire standard works. A part of that is due to my prideful side (which I wish I didn’t have, but I’m only human), however I just want to be able to have experience reading all of God’s word to his children. One of the foundational lessons I’ve learned is just how much I took for granted before the mission, especially the scriptures. The Book of Mormon isn’t something that I can afford to take for granted, and even though it about bores me to death reading some parts of the Bible and I have a general idea of most of the stuff in the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, they are all just as essential. Gosh I wish I had a whole lot more time to study. But guess who does...yes you don’t try to justify it. Well, those of you who aren’t missionaries, which is like half of you. All you Elders and Sisters, just do your best with the time you have. As for the rest of you that actually have time, spend some of it reading your scriptures, whether you’re LDS or not. I can’t really followup with you, so just do your best and give it a shot. Well, I’ll talk to y’all next week!
Elder Orchard
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