SICK IN THE MTC

July 20, 2015 

Family,

Thanks for all the Dear Elders.  Grandma and Grandpa thanks for the snacks, letter, pic and money.  I appreciate it.  I have the pic on my desk now.

Hope Lake Powell went well.  Sounds like it did, except for Sadie's crash.

If you have time, I could use 6 more of those tide ball things, some dark brown socks (I can't wear the other ones, they are too light. President Teng told me I couldn't wear them, and it does say in the handbook to have socks that are dark in color), a laminated pic of the family, some more cinnamon taffy (for the sisters in my district, they love it), and some more kettle salt and vinegar chips.  If you don't have time, don't worry about it. Thanks.

Elder Slater will be in our Zone.  We got pics of all the new elders this Sunday.  That sounds horrible what happened to Grace. Liza left Tuesday for England. 

This week was a good week.  We had a good Devotional from Brother Banks who is a emeritus member of the Seventy.  He shared a lot of cool things.  I'll tell you a few of them.  He shared with us something President Hinckley said to the missionaries.  "Don't let the Lord down...We should not love a life of mediocrisy...I see you as companions in this work." He also shared a cool quote from President McKay, "A man radiates what he is." That is a great reminder to always be developing our character. As we are continually to live by the Spirit, we will become more like our Savior.  As we become more like our Savior, we will help, lift and strengthen others.  People will see this and we can strengthen them, even though we might not do anything that directly benefits them.  I can think of a lot of examples of this.  A lot of awesome people I know just because of who they are, makes me want to be better than I am. He reminded us to be 100% obedient.  I am definitely still learning the importance of this.  At the Sunday Devotional yesterday, the wife of the speaker always speaks first for a few minutes and she talked about obedience.  She said she would always ask the missionaries, while she was the Mission President's wife, just as they were getting ready to go home, what made them successful missionaries.  She said almost everybody said, especially those who were great missionaries, that they learned to be exactly obedient.  I think as the Lord knows he can trust us to obey all He asks us to do, then He will put people in our path to help.

I have been trying to implement the counsel in 3 Nephi 17:3 and can testify that it works.  We can learn a lot from doing the things in this verse in our study of the gospel.  As I was reading Character of Christ this week I learned a really cool principle I have never understood before.  We read in Moroni 7:47 I believe about charity.  It says "and whoso is found possessed of it..." Elder Bednar helped me understand that just by doing all that we can, we are not give n the gift.  We need to "honor our covenants and live worthily and do all that we can to qualify for the gift; but ultimately the gift of charity possesses us--we do not posses it. The Lord determines if and when we receive all spiritual gifts, but we must do all in our power to desire and yearn and invite and qualify for such gifts." I never understood this.  I thought if we did what we needed to, we earned the gift.  That is not the case.  These attributes really are gifts from God.  We still need to do all in our power, but ultimately the Lord decides.  As I have been doing other reading this week, so many things agree with this principle.  I just never realized.  

I was also reminded this week of something President Holland once said.  He said something like, "It seems that the commandment we have the hardest time keeping and we break the most is the commandment to be of good cheer." D&C 123:17 says, "Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power." We are asked to be cheerful about all we do.  I'm sure I was reminded of this through the Spirit because it is something I need to do a better job at.  It goes along with optimism, which I can improve at.  It wasn't a coincidence last year at BYU I was asked to give a talk on Bruce Porter's talk.  

I loved what I read in Alma 26:22.  To be able to bring souls unto repentance we need to do 4 things. 1.  Repent ourselves. 2.  Exercise faith. 3.  Bring forth good works. and 4.  Pray continually without ceasing.  Simple formula and amazing promise if we keep those guidelines with exact obedience.  

I liked what I read in PMG this week on extending commitments.  I think I do an ok job of making sure I always bear testimony and make promises after extending a commitment, but I learned of some things I have not been doing well and could improve.  When we extend commitments, we always need to explain the Lord's promised blessings.  The investigator is more likely to obey and follow a commitment if they see how it can help them and how it has personal relevance for them.  Also, in order to promise blessings with power and testify with power, we need to make sure that the invitation is important personally to us and has personal meaning to us.  

I love the hymn Come Come Ye Saints.  Such a powerful hymn and an amazing testimony builder.  "Come Come ye Saints not toil nor labor fear; but with joy wend your way.  Though hard to you this journey may appear, Grace shall be as your day...Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard? 'Tis not so; all is right.  Why should we think to earn a great reward if we now shun the fight?" What a powerful message.  These pioneers are going through all these afflictions and troubles with so much joy.  Their faith is amazing. If we had their faith, we would never become discouraged or give full effort. Plus our trials are not anything compared to theirs. They also knew they had grace with them always.  The Savior was with them every step of the way.  This is great knowledge to have.  Why should we think that anything we are going through is hard. If we had their faith, we could say, 'Tis not so; all is right.  If we do not do all we can and give our full effort, how can we expect to earn a great reward.  They then counsel, "Gird up your loins, fresh courage take, our God will never us forsake" God will never leavfe us alone, we just have to invite Him and allow Him to help us.  

This week has been one of my hardest weeks, but I learned a lot.  I think I need to make renewed effort in focusing on others.  On seeking out the one.  I am continually reviewing "Beware of Pride" from Benson.  I keep seeing so much Pride that I need to eliminate from my life.  I need to make sure I am focusing on listening and recognizing the Spirit at all times.  That is the most important thing to do.  Like President Eyring said we should ask God in prayer, "It doesn't matter what else I may be able to do, just let me know what I can do, I know that I can with Thy help." I am going to do better with this.  I am going to try to better recognize the hand of the Lord in my life as well.  I think as we do this, we will better see all that He does for us, and our hearts will fill with thanksgiving to Him.  

I love the counsel given in John 5:44 "How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another and seek not the honour that cometh from God only." I get caught in this trap too often.  It is very important to make sure that the things we are doing and the motives behind them are to please God.  Too often we are too worried of receiving honour of men and that takes presidence over the honour of God.  We should be always doing those things that please God even if it seems weird or out of the way. It is easy to tell ourselves.  It doesn't really matter.  It's not that big of a deal. What difference will it make anyway? Well, it does matter and it is a big deal. The small matters accumulate to shape the direction of our lives.  When we are given promptings from God, it is rarely convient for us to do, but we need to follow them.

Thanks for all your prayers.  I am grateful for each of you and for your inspiring examples.  I hope we can all rely on the Lord more fully, and follow His guidance more closely.  I know that as we do this, we will be blessed.

Love,

Elder Stratford

 ​I've been pretty sick the past few days.  Had a really bad headache and had the chills.  Most of Sunday I wore a coat over my suit coat and this pic was take just before bed, I was really cold.

 This was Wang Jie Mie's last night in the MTC. She is the Sister in blue in the middle.  She was on the fast track and is now in San Fransisco speaking Mandarin.  This pose apparently means love in Taiwan.

​This is Elder Larson. BYU friend who left this morning at 3 for St. Petersburg Russia.  A lot of people are leaving today and tomorrow.  It's crazy.

Spikeball