From Ethan: Monday, June 8, 2015
Hello Family & Friends,
Hagerman,
ID is my new area, a cool little town on the Snake River down in a valley
almost exactly half way between Twin Falls and Mountain Home. Hagerman has a population of about 700 – 800. We also cover the two very small towns of
Tuttle and Bliss. The main attractions
to Hagerman are fish hatcheries, fishing, cattle and last but not least
watermelon farms! The fish, mostly trout
is supplied to restaurants nationwide and the watermelons to grocery stores
nationwide. One perk to being here is
that Mountain Home is in my zone, so I can go there on P-day! We have a trip there already planned and approved
for next week June 15th.
:)
After
an unexpected change, my new companion is Elder Schuck from Rolla, Missouri.
Rolla is south of ST. Louis and east of Springfield where my grandfather
lives. Elder Schuck is similar to my
childhood friend, Charles Florman, in every way – mannerisms, sense of humor,
personality, preferences, and physical build – which is awesome because it
often feels like I’m 9 years old again on a sleepover!
For
being such a small town, I’m surprised at the amount of missionary work and opportunities
here in Hagerman. This is the first area
I’ve been to that has had past sets of Elders who were good and hardworking. So,
we have inherited some great investigators and families to work with.
Boy
oh boy, the past couple of weeks have been a time of learning humility. I can be a very prideful person. A big part of my mission has been learning to
shovel away my pride and humbling myself.
A couple of things I have come to learn is that humility is being
selfless, lifting others up, putting others before yourself and respecting
them. Christ is the perfect example of humility. When we humble ourselves to His and the
Father’s will, we can come closer to them.
We all have weaknesses and make mistakes, but the Lord says in Ether
12:27, “And if men come unto me I will show them their weaknesses. I give unto
men weakness that they may humble themselves before me; for if they humble
themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become
strong unto them.”
In
Christ’s atonement, He gave up everything for us imperfect humans, so why can’t
we give our all? We can! We are not
perfect, but we can sure do our best to keep the commandments and do good
works. We must ask ourselves, “Which way
do I face?” No matter how far we stray,
we can always repent and come unto Christ.
This gospel has changed my life.
I know that Christ lives. I know that the Father is merciful, forgiving
and loving. I testify these things are
true and I bear that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
~Love, Elder
Howard
P.S. Due to some circumstances I will not be using email
anymore, so if you can, please write me a letter!
Elder Ethan Howard
560 State Street North
Hagerman, ID 83332
No comments:
Post a Comment