We are all important to our Heavenly Father

9.13.11
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Home~

I'm happy to hear from each of you the past few weeks. All the letters and emails have meant a lot to me. Being able to hear about of you has uplifted me and has given me courage to work even harder these next few weeks and to finish this mission strong. I love each of you very much.

Yesterday we had the privilege of hearing from Elder Per G. Malm of the Second Quorum of the Seventy. He was a very calm and confident man. Each of us were able to shake his hand and look him in the eyes and to feel of the power that God had given him to be a special witness of Jesus Christ. He said that he was so pleased with our mission. He said that every one of us looked him squarely in the eyes and didn't try to look away from him. He said that we were worthy missionaries and that he was grateful for our faith. It strengthened my faith so much to hear those words, especially since I know I am imperfect, and in many instances fail to live up to my potential--but when he said that we were worthy missionaries, it made me know that Heavenly Father was pleased with my efforts, as well as all of our efforts.

He spoke much about life prior to birth. He asked each of us how old we were. A simple question, we thought. But he emphasized that our lives did not begin at birth, but we lived for eons of time before our lives began here on earth. "As a missionary, you may find times that you do not feel confident, or capable. But why should you fear? You were taught the gospel before you were born. You probably taught the gospel before you were born. You were chosen to come to earth at this time to preach the gospel here and now. How old you really? 607,345 years old, maybe? Who knows...but the point is, you've been around the block a few times. You ought to be confident. Never underestimate the power that is in you to fulfill what God has commanded you to do." (paraphrasing some of his thoughts and words)

It was profound to me when he said, "Do not underestimate the power that is in you." In my heart I felt it was true. We have much more power than we give ourselves credit. We hide ourselves because of our fears. But as we are obedient, Elder Malm taught, our fears will be dispersed by and replaced with our faith. We won't hide ourselves, but we'll shine and illuminate the world with the light God has given us to shine.

He also talked about the gathering of the house of Israel. He asked us if we ever knew why it was specifically called the "gathering of Israel". "Can you gather something that isn't created?" he probed. And he went further, "why is it important to know that we are gathering, not creating Israel?" "Did we not all exist with God prior to our life on earth? When was Israel first created? Who are the ones on earth with bodies now?" Boiling it down, we learned that each of us were "yes-sayers" to the Plan of Salvation once before. Every single human on earth said YES once before. He then asked, "Of what benefit is it to know that every one of us said YES before?" Think about that! Our spirits are eternal, and our spirits know the truth. If we said YES once, should we not therefore be able to say YES again? He spoke about expectations. In life we live up to expectations. We do the things that are expected of us because that is what is required to be happy and succeed. To come to earth, he taught, we were required to live up to certain expectations. to be here, living and breathing on earth, we once lived up to God's expectations of us so we could be here now! Next question, "If we know that everyone lived up to God's expectations in the pre-existence, what answer should we expect from them when we ask them to live the gospel now?" "How do we help them to recognize the knowledge they once had before?" Big questions to ponder, I would say.

Perhaps as you think about some of those things, you'll be able to be taught by the Spirit some of the things we learned yesterday and have the same experience we were able to enjoy. At least that is my hope. :)

Coming to understand our identity is such an important and powerful thing. It really changes your outlook on life and gives you great confidence to fight through every obstacle that interferes with with your life. It gives you confidence to live the gospel and to share the gospel. Since we're chosen before we were born to do what are now doing, what must we have been like before we came to earth? What must all of us have been like? :) We are all important to our Heavenly Father. If there is anything I learned yesterday, it is that.

On a different subject, our past week went well. We are continuing to work with members and non-members in our area. We helped another individual set a goal for baptism on the 24th of this month. Hopefully we can work with them to be prepared for the big day!

Please tell everyone thank you for the birthday cards and letters. It has been wonderful to hear from everyone. I'll be home soon enough to give each of you a big hug! I love you and thank you very much. :)

Have a great week everyone! I'll talk to you soon!

Love~
Austin