Jul 13th  Week 40 Change, Cheer, and Cornets Layton Utah Week 30 (T1)

皆さん！

Hope you all are doing well! Keep safe, keep drinking water, and keep being kind to one another - and yourself!

This week has been a lot of fun!

Now that we have the huddles up and going, everyone’s doing their part to pitch in. We’re seeing the work progress in ways we’ve never expected, and we’re starting to see pathways open - though they’re not quite open yet, we’re getting there!

This week has been a lot of getting in contact with new move-ins and members of the Church that need a little bit of a boost. As a result of COVID, there are quite a few people feeling down and out, so we’re working with our ward mission leaders to get in contact with them, set up lessons, and help cheer them up. We’re reaching out to everyone, but mostly it’s members that are responding (often times people think that we’re just trying to convert them, when we really just want to help cheer them up…)

We’ve had some good experiences with a myriad of people, including moving a dresser up a tight flight of stairs, teaching lessons and sharing scriptures with all who will listen, and finding strength in Christ’s Atonement as we strive to help others as best as we can!

In other news, I FOUND SOMEONE WITH A TRUMPET AHHH apparently he's performed a ton so he's much, much better than I am - but it's good to be able to just sit down and play again. It's so much fun - I missed being able to play. I mean, don't get me wrong - piano is so much fun, but it's not quite a trumpet, right? They both have their charms - but there's just something about the trumpet (maybe the love and work I've put into improving) that's just so much fun. Playing a ton of different little pieces and classical music, improvising, a little bit of jazz... it was all so much fun. They're an amazing couple - and I'm grateful he allowed me to play with him!

also I realize the subject of this email isn't 100% alliterative because it's not the same syllable but hey, does the same first letter count? eheheh

We’ve kept pretty busy with lessons and meetings. With a new mission president, things aren’t being completely shaken up, but it’s definitely been interesting! President and Sister Johnson are pretty powerful and amazing as they work together - and we’re excited to see what revelation they’ll be able to get on behalf of the mission!

Life goes on - and with life comes changes. Transfers are tomorrow, and the board’s already out;

I’m going to be staying here in the Farmington North stake! Meanwhile, Elder Gibson is going to be transferred up to Roy, where he’s going to be joining Elder Thompson’s district. I’ll be getting a new companion - I don’t know much about him, but he arrives tomorrow. Judging based on the fact I never got a calling to train again, I’m assuming he’s one of the missionaries that was in another country, then got called back because of COVID, and waited a year to see if the country would reopen. We’ll see what happens from here!

I’m hoping to keep the fire up from here on out. We’ve got some good things cooking - gotta keep going full throttle!

I wish I had more to report, but it’s mostly been some interesting lessons and those kinds of things. I’ve drawn so close to the Lord in the past few weeks of trial - I’m so rateful to see the Lord answer my prayers in the best ways possible. Looking back, this transfer board is the accumulation of a lot of prayers answered, stretching back to my first few weeks of being a missionary!

It feels like my time here is slowly coming to an end, though. I don’t think I’ll have another transfer here. I have to give it everything I’ve got - people are depending on us! The Lord has given me this solemn charge and trust - I have to keep going and keep becoming the best missionary in His service that I can be.

I wanted to take a moment and share a scripture from Matthew 13 - a parable given by Jesus Christ.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”

This is an insight from Elder Talmage, one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church from a little bit ago:

“The merchant in the story devoted his whole enrgy to the quest for goodly pearls, to find and secure which was his business. When at last he beheld the peal that excelled all others, though it was, as of right it out to have been, held at high cost, he gladly sold all his other gems; indeed he sacrificed “all that he had” -- gems and other possessions -- and purchased the pearl of great price. Seekers after truth may acquire much that is good and desirable, and to find the greatest truth of all[-] the truth that shall save them. Yet, if they seek persistently and with right intent, if they are really in quest of pearls and not of imitations, they shall find…

Observe that in this parable… the price of possession is one’s all… If he willingly sacrifices all that he has, he shall find that he has enough.”

What’s so interesting about Elder Talmage’s explanation of this is that by virtue of having the pearl, he has enough. He has spent his entire life searching for this one pearl - and now that he’s found it, he’s given all to have it. More than any of those other pearls that he’s found or collected… he’s found the one that bring him the most joy.

What a wonderful promise that we have! We can have something that can give us peace - true peace that will stand the test of time. We might have to sacrifice a little - time, effort, energy, unrighteous habits - but we can all receive that fulness of joy. And the  best part of it - when we sacrifice our all give our all to the Lord, He will make up the difference - and He’ll return the best parts of us. The good parts of our personalities - the best parts of our cultures and backgrounds. He’ll return all of that. As President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Bring what you have, and we’ll add to it.”

The Lord wants us to sacrifice - but he doesn’t want us to lose all forever. He wants us to be ourselves - the best parts of ourselves, the parts of ourselves that will be able to be the most happy. The parts of ourselves that will be able to have the most joy - the parts of us that are truly our own.

Love you all - you all are amazing! Take care and have a fantastic week!

Cheers,

Elder Decker

デッカー長老