January 26

This is the quote from President Monson's First Presidency Message in the January Ensign that Matt refers to:  

"I would not hold the position in the Church I hold today had I not followed the counsel of a prophet, had I not prayed about that decision, had I not come to an appreciation of an important truth:  the wisdom of God ofttimes appears as foolishness to men.  But the greatest single lesson we can learn in mortality is that when God speaks and His children obey, they will always be right. It has been said that history turns on small hinges, and so do our lives.  Decisions determine destiny.  But we are not left unaided in our decisions.  If you want to see the light of heaven, if you want to feel the inspiration of Almighty God, if you want to have that feeling within your bosom that your Heavenly Father is guiding you, then follow the prophets of God.  When you follow the prophets, you will be in safe territory."

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Mom,

Sounds like an exciting weekend up there for you all! That's awesome that Jackie, the boys, and Dad made it all to Utah safely. That's exciting that there is a newer couple there in the ward. I'm glad that Aimee is taking advantage of that opportunity to do temple work. I can't wait until I'm back home so I can go to the temple whenever I want to! That's what I'm planning on doing a lot of the first couple of weeks and months I'm home, do a good amount of family history work and do temple work to keep me occupied. I'll also hopefully be able to find a decent job for that time period, so keep your ears open for me if you could.

Thank you for that quote from President Monson! It's a wonderful one. He says "Decisions determine destiny" often. I was rereading his talks from Priesthood Session and Sunday Morning again and also his closing remarks from the past conference and payed close attention to the things that he has asked us to do. In his closing remarks he invited us to do a few things:

"May we return to our homes with a resolve in our hearts to be a little better than we have been in the past. May we be alittle kinder and more thoughtful. May we reach out in helpfulness, not only to our fellow members but also to those whoare not of our faith. As we associate with them, may we show our respect for them.

"There are those who struggle every day with challenges. Let us extend to them our concern, as well as a helping hand.As we care for each other, we will be blessed.

"May we remember the elderly and those who are homebound. As we take time to visit them, they will know that they areloved and valued. May we follow the mandate to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen thefeeble knees.”

"May we be people of honesty and integrity, trying to do the right thing at all times and in all circumstances. May we befaithful followers of Christ, examples of righteousness, thus becoming 'lights in the world.^'"

This week in the mission field we were able to set a baptismal date with a young man named Danny for February 21st, so that is exciting! Chuck, whose date was set for this upcoming Saturday is moving to California and he and his wife are looking to get a divorce which is pretty sad, we'll miss him. He's a really great guy and has a good heart. Tonight we are going to drive to Farmington for MLC tomorrow, so that should be good as always.

If you could send me some more Alavert that'd be awesome. I'll probably be sending a box of stuff home in the next few weeks, there is a family in 3rd Ward who is from Layton so they are going up there sometime soon so they'll be bringing some stuff by the house for me.

I love you all and hope that this week goes great for you!

Love,
Elder Schaelling