Week 44

LETTER FROM JORDAN - WEEK 44 (4/6/15)

Well this was one of the coolest weeks I've had so far.

It started with a surprise announcement on Sunday night that we were to be having interviews with President Marler, Hermana Marler, and the Assistants Tuesday morning. Normally, we get a little more preparation than that, but our studies on those days were super powerful.
In the interviews, President Marler talked to us a lot about faith and miracles, how we literally can have the power to move mountains and to command the seas, and he asked us what's holding us back.
Hermana Marler talked a lot about Christ, how every principle we teach has to do with Christ and we should be talking about Him in every moment. She gave us a new copy of the Book of Mormon and asked us to read it and highlight every time it mentions a name of Christ.
For the Assistants, we had to share a lesson in 5 minutes and afterward talked about the importance of teaching clearly and simply and emphasized using the lesson pamphlets during our teaching.

On Friday, we had a big, 3 stake Easter Fireside in our church building, which had Mormon Messages, a choir of missionaries, special musical numbers by missionaries, and testimonies from the 3 stake presidents and President Marler. It was a really spiritual experience and there were a whole lot of people that were able to feel the same. Most of the people here only recognize Easter as the Crucifixion of Christ, but we helped them understand that we believe in a living God who guides the church today.

Afterward, on Saturday and Sunday, we were privileged to hear the counsels of the latter-day prophets. I would just like to share one of my favorite quotes that Elder Relund shared. He talked to us about repentance and how our church is not a church of perfect people, but a church where every one can go to be spiritually uplifted. He said, "A saint is a sinner who keeps on trying." There are a few people that are offended that we call ourselves "Latter-day Saints" because we are far from being "saints." But we know we are saints because we are constantly in the battle to keep doing what we know is right.

Today we are planning on going to a Huaca (like an ancient ruin that makes a hill shape) so there will be pictures. I will report back soon!

Elder Terry