Monday, July 21, 2014

Joy in the Work

From July 21:

Well, I am being transferred back up to the Mountains!! On Wednesday I will move to Stanley, ID between Salmon and Sun Valley in the middle of nowhere. The population is about 60.... but it is a resort town, so there are hundreds of people in the summer! Hopefully we will get to teach people consistently but I feel like it will be a bunch of planting seeds of faith. Oh well, the Lord sees fit that I serve my time up there and I will do my best.  And it will be good to be back in the mountains!
    My time in Mountain Home has slipped by faster than I ever imagined. I am sad to leave but happy and excited for something new. :) I ended my time here with the baptism of Thomas Wildman this past Tuesday. I can't believe all the progress people have made in coming closer to Jesus Christ here in just six short months. We set a baptism date with Lee Kauffman for August 4th! Sadly I won't be here, but I will get pictures. :) I love being a missionary.  And I don't count baptisms as success, I count the number of lives changed for the better as success. I feel just like the "other Seventy" that Christ appointed to go out two by two in Luke ch. 10, "the seventy‍ returned again with joy."  I feel joy in the work that I have done in Mountain Home.
    I know for a fact that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings peace, comfort and joy into people’s lives. It may not be easy, but I know it is worth it. All the bad things that happen in our life are for our personal growth and experience. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17), " We should all look forward to when we can "one day rest from all [our] afflictions." (Alma 34:41) . We can only attain that rest if we give our heart and soul unto our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who paid the price for all of our sins. This is why I am giving two years of my life out here in Idaho. I want to let people know that there is a way that we can make it through this mortal life and always have hope.
Continue to Keep Moving Forward :)
- Elder Howard (ehoward@myldsmail.net)


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