Happiness

Dear Family,

This week has been amazing! I was able to attend Leadership training, which was pretty much all day Thursday and Friday. I learned SO much there. I am really trying hard to apply what I have learned so that I can be a better missionary. Yesterday was definitely the high-light of the week. We were very blessed to have a member come out with us pretty much all day. While he was with us we found three new investigators and set two people with baptismal dates. It was amazing! This week we set a total of three people with baptismal dates.

On Tuesday I was on an exchange with one of my zone leaders (E. Walch) and we visited Jean and her 11 yr. old son Jeremy. My companion and I had prayed and decided to invite her to be baptized on the 23. I was so excited to invite her to be baptized, however, as soon as we sat down to teach her she quickly exclaimed "I've been thinking, and I really want to be baptized on January 23!" It was so cool! She even felt so bad that she missed church because she accidentally over-slept, that she went to another ward that started later. She's awesome, and definitely a little crazy. She talks and talks and talks. Sometimes she tells us a little too much. We love her though, and are so happy for her. Jean has loved everything about our church from the beginning and has learned so much. We visited them both several times this week, because there is still a lot for them to learn. We've also taught this 17 yr. old girl named Alicia a couple of times, and she also agreed to be baptized, on February 6. She still has a lot to learn as well, and I foresee some concerns that will be uncovered when we teach the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. If she really is serious about it like she says she is, then she will do what's right.

I hope to always have an opportunity to serve the Lord. I LOVE IT! Missionary work is such an incredible thing to be a part of. Who doesn't want to be happy? Who doesn't want to share that happiness with others? Who doesn't like being given blessings so great they can barely receive them? The answer to those questions is no one, at least it should be. If only everyone could understand that anyone can be blessed and live a happy life. If only every missionary could understand that they can be blessed and be a happy missionary. It makes me sad to see missionaries who don't quite get it. I hope and pray every day that eventually they will. Everyone is looking for happiness. Some are deceived and pursue things which only give temporary pleasure. For some it is not so easy to find happiness, even when it is right in front of their face. For some that happiness which they once had is lost. As a missionary I have watched wonderful families who have the incredible blessings of the Gospel in their lives crumble and fall apart right before my eyes, because of selfish decisions made by a parent, made with little thought of the consequences. We are working with one such family right now. Their family has been torn apart and teeters on the edge of destruction, and each and every one of the children is suffering because of the parents. It's such a difficult thing to witness.

Although I have seen terrible things like this happen, I have also seen miracles. I have watched people who have been lost their whole lives, looking for truth and guidance, finally find it. I have witnessed the Atonement take place in the lives of those who find the Gospel and decide to live it. I have seen people overcome all odds and enter into the waters of baptism with little or no support from family. Who could not love being a missionary? I know where true happiness is found, and I am able to share that with others each and every day.

Love Elder Tilley