Elder Kyle Houssian: Week #20

Howdy howdy! Sorry for this email being a day late, our P Day yesterday was adventurous and we didn't get to the church to email until about 3, so I wanted to spend the time talking to my loved ones. But all is well! I hope everyone had a great week and is ready for a break from school!

So last week wasn't very eventful, well it was, just not in an exciting way. We had a lot of meetings this week and then a lot of service as well. We had interviews with President and Sister Snow on Friday. That was a blast. President and I have a very strong connection, and it's always great to see him. He is from Boise as well, so we always get to talking about Idaho at some point in our conversations. He's a remarkable leader.

This week we also helped a member of our ward pull out flooring from her old dance studio so she could put it into her new one. The flooring was a bunch of frame work screwed into cement, and then there was plywood nailed into the frame. So we took the whole day pulling up the plywood and loading it into a trailer. We were surprisingly sore after that day.

My spiritual thought this week comes from Elder Gerrit W. Gong, in a talk called "Becoming Perfect in Christ". Sister Snow gave a training and used some of this talk, and as I was reading along this paragraph stuck out to me. It reads "Missionaries who want to be perfect now may become anxious or discouraged if learning their mission language, seeing people baptized, or receiving mission leadership assignments do not happen fast enough. For capable young people accustomed to accomplishment, a mission may be life’s first great challenge. But missionaries can be exactly obedient without being perfect. They can measure their success primarily by their commitment to help individuals and families 'become faithful members of the Church who enjoy the presence of the Holy Ghost.'" Being a missionary is very hard. It has really opened my eyes and has given me a new perspective on life. Where it says "...be exactly obedient without being perfect" says it all. We don't have to get too hard on ourselves when we mess up. We are not perfect, God knows that. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is here for that specific reason, because He knows we are not perfect and wants to help us become clean and pure so we can stand before Him at the last day. Brothers and Sisters, I promise we can be forgiven of our sins. The Atonement is real. Strive to be Christ-like, but when you mess up, know there is hope and there is a way to be forgiven and become clean again. All it takes is us being able to humble ourselves and ask the Lord for forgiveness and for help, and He will be with you side by side every step of the way. I challenge each of you to use the Atonement, don't take it for granted, and see the blessings and the joy that will come out of it. This church is true, the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is on he earth today. It was brought forth by a Prophet called of God, named Joseph Smith. Jesus Christ suffered and died for our sins. He lives. Families can and will be together forever. I know this to be true and it is such a blessing to know that I will have my family forever. I love my Savior, I love my family, and I love all of you. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Have a wonderful and safe week! Until next time!

Elder Houssian