The Spirit is Strong! (And it can Strengthen You!)

Hello my amazing family and friends, I love you guys! I had a great week, it started out kind of rough but got better after a couple days! 

The beginning of the week was rough for me, I'm not sure if I was sick or just had a rough few days. On Sunday and Monday I felt like I was down so I evaluated myself to make sure I was doing everything I needed to and I'm pretty sure that I was but I made sure to focus on my missionary purpose and do the things I needed to to make sure I was in tune with the spirit. Sure enough on Tuesday after I evaluated myself I was back to my normal happy self! I'm so grateful that I was able to recover so quickly and was able to feel the peace and comfort that comes from the gospel and trying to be like Jesus.


Weekly Highlights:

The Power of Music:
 This week I have seen so much power come from music! On Sunday we have about 2 hours to study personally and then we come back together with our district and share what we learned. Like I said before I was struggling on Sunday to feel happy and to feel like I could help people, but during that time I played some hymns that helped encourage me to keep going and helped me feel Heavenly Father's love and support. Me and Elder Phillips sang in the choir again on Tuesday and had a pretty good experience. The choir said that this choir, the Provo MTC Choir, was the largest ecclesiastical choir in the world ... that he knows of! We had about 600 people participating the week before last! In our 2nd class on Thursday, Brother Jones played an arrangement of "A Child's Prayer" with an additional verse that was very powerful. He gave us time to listen to it and ponder! On Friday night towards the end of our 2nd class Brother Horita had us go to one of the rooms that had a piano in our hall and Sister Cosman sight-read a beautiful arrangement. It is a very challenging arrangement and after she played, Sister Cosman said that she knows that the only way she played it so well was because she turned her talents over to the Savior and trusted Him! I bear my testimony that as we give our God-given talents and gifts back to our Heavenly Father, He will strengthen them! Good music is an amazing way we can touch the hearts of the people around us!

General Authority Devotional:
 On Tuesday this week Elder and Sister Jackson came to the MTC to speak to us! (I actually met Sister Jackson on my flight from Houston to Salt Lake and she said that they'd be speaking here in a few weeks!) They said that, while we are assigned to labor in various locations (Japan for me!), our missionary purpose doesn't have anything to do with location. Our purpose is to serve people and help them come closer to Christ! They shared some miracles that happened for the missionaries they were serving over when they were mission leaders. So many family members and friends were blessed from across the world! Elder Jackson said that enlarging the church needs to go hand in hand with strengthening the members. These next two years might not be the best two years of my life, but they will be the most important. The principles and skills I learn here will guide me for the rest of my life and I am going to make my missionary purpose the purpose for my life. I've been blessed with so much from the gospel and I want everyone everywhere to have that! One thing that was made evident to me was that I am not perfect. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are, as I seek to do their work with all my heart, might, mind, and strength, they will strengthen and improve me to accomplish the work they need me to do. 

"The Great Possession" -President Holland
 I listened to this talk on Wednesday morning and it was so insightful! I love President Holland! In the talk, he said that if we give our entire self over to the Lord to do His work, we will return as changed people. The Lord strengthens that which is His. In Scouts one of the rules we followed was to "Leave no Trace," this meant cleaning up campsites and parks after we used them so that others could enjoy the beauty of the Earth. My scout leaders made a point to have us not to just "Leave no Trace," but to make the campsites better than they were when we got there. I try to implement this in every aspect of my life. Later in his talk, President Holland talked about the love of God. This love is a powerful thing, it is the reason I am serving a mission and the reason that I find true joy in life. President Holland said that we need to let this love influence everything we do, all of our thoughts and actions. When we do that, the pleasures of the world fade behind the unexplainable joy and power that we receive. Jared cannot go across the world, learn Japanese, and teach the most important thing that we will ever learn, but Elder Rasmussen can. When I seek to become Elder Rasmussen and love like Jesus did, Jared is strengthened.

The Wise Horita Kyoudai (Brother Horita)
Brother Horita is an amazing man. He got back from his mission not too too long ago, he is 20 and turns 21 in a few months. Brother Horita is one of the greatest teachers I've ever had. The insights he shares are so powerful. On Thursday afternoon he shared about the Holy Ghost. When we are baptized we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost to be our constant companion when we are faithful to our covenants. Brother Horita talked about how amazing the Holy Ghost is, He is a being like us before we came to Earth and received our bodies. He knew us in that premortal life, He was our friend, He cheered us on in going to the Earth. We knew that, no matter what we went up against, if our friend was with us we would be able to make it through. Heavenly Father has a great work for us to do and when we are in tune with the Holy Ghost we can receive the guidance to accomplish that work.

Pondering about Goals
 In one of our classes we had time to think about what kind of missionaries and people we want to be. Elder Phillips asked me what he could do to help me accomplish my goals, I thought about it and didn't think I really did need any help. That's when I realized I needed better goals. Goals need to grow and evolve as we do, they need to be attainable but also a stretch. As I stretch I am slowly able to stretch further, so past milestones need to be re-evaluated so that I can continue to grow.

Temple
 We got to go to the temple today and witness sealings being performed. We watched as couples helped their deceased ancestors be sealed together, not just in this life, but for all eternity.

Thank you for reading this! You matter! God is our loving Heavenly Father!


Elder Rasmussen :)

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