05.07.2012 "Monday Morning"

Hello Everyone!

This is going to be a short letter this week. Things are good here. We have a Zone Conference tomorrow, and that'll be fun. Who knew that I would look forward to six hours worth of meetings in the first half of a day? But Zone Conferences I always look forward to. The Spirit is strong there and I always learn things that I need to know.

We're going fishing again! Wish us luck...

Lately here we've been working with a lot of recent converts. Most of them seem to be doing pretty well, and that is really, really good to see. To see someone baptized and staying active in the church is even better to me than just seeing them baptized. So we're working with the branch to try to help them to build a firm foundation and work toward going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead, and then, later on, going to receive their endowments and get sealed together as families. Missionary work is fun!

I think that going through trial including things that we don't understand are all part of the refining process where our faith is tested. I'm sure that Joseph Smith had a difficult time sitting in liberty jail, after everything he had gone through in New York and then especially in Kirtland and Missouri. He had proved himself to be faithful up to that point. He didn't deserve the situation that he was in. His friends and family didn't deserve the hardships that they went through. Yet, they remained faithful, and that is how they endured well and became even greater saints and leaders in the Church later on. I'm sure that the armies of the Nephites under the command of Helaman, Gid, and Teomner in Alma 58 felt the same way. They had been faithful but had still been heavily battered and discouraged by the war. Yet, they remained faithful, and relied on the Lord for strength, and they found that He had never deserted them. Even on the cross, Jesus Christ cried out "Why hast thou forsaken me?". Yet he was never really alone.

Have a great week, love you all!

Elder Trevr Casper