Because of Him

There was another missionary mom who commented that she needed advice to give her son and he was tired of her always saying he was strong and could do hard things. I had to laugh a little because that is what I always say to Alex :) I've been thinking about that and I want to clarify my answer :) We are not always strong. Sometimes we are very weak and feel very inadequate to handle the tasks ahead of us. Heavenly Father knows that. We can be strong even when weak because of Him, our Savior, our family, the scriptures, good friends, our leaders and countless other ways Heavenly Father has given us to get us through whatever it is we are going through. So even though we don't feel strong we can be strong with help that is in place to be the strength we need when we need it most. Our strength in difficult times comes when we turn over what we cannot control to our Father in Heaven and allow Him to be our strength, then we are strong enough to handle anything. Even at our weakest moments we have strength to accomplish great things with our Heavenly Father's perfect help. 

There was a great quote on our sacrament bulletin today and I thought it was very fitting since that is kind of what I've been thinking about :)

"There is no physical pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first. In a moment of weakness we may cry out, "No one knows what it is like. No one understands." But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He has felt and borne our individual burdens. And because of His infinite and eternal sacrifice, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy. He can reach out, touch, succor, heal and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do relying only upon our own power. Indeed, His yoke is easy and His burden is light." Elder David A. Bednar

Alex has had some minor medical issues with his neck but I am amazed at the way he has dealt with this challenge. He said he has seen the blessings even during this difficult time and has been grateful for this set back so that he could see these blessings. I love what these missions can teach our missionaries and each of us as we partake of their spirit.

www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him

Hola!!

Girls camp sounds like it was a lot of fun and I am glad that
everybody was safe! :) I am very glad that Emily and Cami are okay.
It's a good thing that they are being watched over. :) I am glad that
you didn't fall, Mom. :) I wasn't sure if you were going to take the
scooter or be on crutches, but I'm glad you stayed safe. :) that
sounds like it is a really good song. Those are some awesome lyrics.
:) also, thank you so much for the talk by Elder Holland. That is an
amazing talk!

Well, this week was a little crazy. We found some new people to teach
and it was a fairly normal week, but the weekend sucked with me being
out of commission and everything... Haha I've decided that this area
hates me. I was able to get the number from the mission office so that
went well. Oh, I forgot to tell you guys that the doctor I went to was
President Pritt. He is our Stake President here so he took good care
of me. He said that it is in the C3 area
of my spine, which is what the chiropractor said a couple months ago
as well, but he had fixed it then. Not exactly sure what has happened
yet, but hopefully it gets better. I am going to go back next Monday
so I'll update you then as well. 

Sorry, but this weeks update is a little short. Not much to update on.
Next week should be longer. We have a Zone Conference on Wednesday and
it should be really good, so I am excited for that. I will let you
know how that goes and I'll let you know what Doctor President Pritt
says next week. :)

Alright, so the spiritual thought and the scripture are going together
again this week.  The scripture is D&C 121: 7. I know that you all
know this one, but I had a really cool experience with it this week.
We were riding our bikes and we saw this guy sitting in a chair
messing with his phone. We stopped and talked to him and it turns out
that he is going through a really tough time. His wife left him due to
her friends not liking him and she is trying to take full custody of
their daughter and he is struggling financially as well as emotionally
through all of this. He was very glad that we stopped by and he felt
like we were an answer to his prayers. So before we left we showed him
the video, Because of Him. I love this video. Every time I watch it
the spirit is so strong... So while he is watching it, the spirit just
hit me stronger than it has in a while and this scripture popped into
my head and I knew how much God loved this man and how He was watching
over this man. It was just an amazing feeling and I am so grateful for
the trials that we go through. When we are in the middle of them, they
suck, but we grow from them. I haven't been able to get out of bed for
the past 2 days, but I have already seen so many blessings from this
trial and I have no doubt that God is watching over me. I know that He
is watching over each of you as well. He loves you and wants you to be
happy. Sometimes we go through hard times, but if we didn't have those
hard times, the good times wouldn't be as good. Sometimes we feel
alone, but we aren't. We are never alone. He never leaves us.
Sometimes we just can't see him next to us because he is behind us
pushing us through to the end.

I love you!! Keep on pushing through your trials and recognize the
blessings in your lives! Take time and say a prayer of gratitude. Do
not ask for anything, just go through everything that you are thankful
for. Look for the blessings, even in the darkest abyss of turmoil. Be
happy. Show your love. And have fun! Have a great week!!

Love,
Elder Moyes