I Love My Family!

Dear Family,

I love you sooo much! I am grateful for family, specifically mine. How wonderful you all are! Family is the most important social unit in this life and in the eternities. We are so blessed to have temples, which allow families to be forever. Families are the best place for growth and learning to take place. This is why Satan works so hard to destroy them. I see the damage that has been done to members of fallen families, which too often is fatal. Loss of life, not physically but spiritually, becomes a great concern and likely a reality in these circumstances. Remember the importance of strengthening the family.

My companion is a very talented individual. He speaks Spanish, English and French fluently and before his mission was a professional painter. It's great to work with someone as intelligent as he is. His language skills have already come in handy in the short time we have been together. We started teaching a lady that speaks French named Claudine. She's from the Ivory Coast and speaks no English. I don't really contribute much, but Elder Rosas has done an amazing job teaching her by himself. After sharing with her the First Vision, she gasped and said "I felt the Holy Ghost! God is with us right now! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet!" This was all in French of course, so I thought my companion offended her or she had a sudden migraine or something. God is good!

This Easter season was great and just what I needed. The Atonement is real. "And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men." (1 Nephi 19:9). Jesus Christ suffered for each and every one of us. I have felt the cleansing power of his atonement many times in my life. This is how I KNOW the Atonement is real. Jesus Christ has felt all of our pains, so he knows how to succor his people. The Atonement enables and empowers us and gives us the opportunity to become like God. Jesus Christ is the Way. I love him, so I will keep his commandments. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.

Love Elder Tilley

Sometimes you Have to Take a Step Back to Keep Moving Forward

Hey Family!

Sorry I wasn't able to write last week. With transfers, we (or rather my companion) spent all of P-Day packing. Elder Brickey (my comp) and Elder Elder, who lived in my apartment, were both transferred last week. My new companion is Elder Rosas. He's from Mexico.... he's actually a spanish missionary, but they switched him to the English program. It's all good though, he actually speaks perfect English. He even lived in Nashville for a while. He's WAY different than my last companion which has taken some adjusting, but he's a great missionary. He is always very obedient and wants to see success. TRUE success comes through obedience. He is willing to do whatever it takes, which is something I appreciate very much. I am excited to work with him and I know we will see many miracles together. Elder Vidmar is the other missionary who move into our apartment. He's pretty cool too.

Right now our area isn't doing too well. Our teaching pool just kind of collapsed all in this past week. Bad things have been happening left and right and I am reminded of how things were when I got here. I won't go into much detail, but basically everyone who was progressing chose to use their agency poorly and now we aren't left with much. Our investigator D is moving which doesn't help either. I'm used to these things happening all the time now, so I just kind of roll with the punches. We were teaching too many drug addicts, so I kind of foresaw this happening. Right now we need to find some people who are truly prepared to receive the Gospel. There are a lot of things that need to be changed and the transition may be a little rough, but sometimes you have to take a step back to keep moving forward. In the long-run things will be great here if the foundation is built correctly. Now that I'm in charge here in Scotch Plains I plan on changing a lot of things for the better.

I am so very grateful to be a missionary. It has opened my eyes and helped me to understand God's plan more than ever. I know my weaknesses, but I know I can be made strong if I am humble and seek divine help. It's so important that we strive to become like our Savior so that we may one day be perfect like Him. Putting off the natural man is not always easy and is a life-long endeavor. I know that the scriptures give us not only the desire, but the power to be righteous. The Holy Ghost has been such a wonderful gift in my life and I am trying my hardest to only do things that invite him. I LOVE missionary work!

Love Elder Tilley

"Forget Yourself and Go to Work"

Dear Family, I still have not gotten the other package yet. I should get it this Tuesday at transfer conference. Subway cards are great! We eat there at least once a week, and so far I haven't had to pay for any of the meals, so keep sending them! I really enjoy the new camera I bought and have been taking lots of pictures. I'll send some soon. Sounds like you met Sis Hernandez. She is a lady in our ward that we visit a lot, mostly because 4 of our investigators live right next to her and we teach them at her home. General Conference was great! I received a lot of personal revelation and had many questions which I had been pondering answered. I learned many great things and can't wait to read the talks in the Ensign. I was deeply touched by Richard G. Scott's talk, greatly enjoyed President Monson's talk in Priesthood, gained a lot of insight from Dallin H. Oaks talk and learned many things from all who spoke. Something really neat that I did this conference, was write down specific questions that I had. All of my questions were more than answered by either one of the speakers, or by the Holy Ghost. It was really neat. The last session I felt the spirit and God's love for me so strongly, that I could hardly even stand it. Conference always motivates me to be so much better. It's so important to find ways to nourish and strengthen ourselves spiritually. We need to seek out the spirit so we can be sanctified, and become like Christ. Then, when we are judged not just for what we have done, but for what we have become; all will be well with us. We have been called to repentance. We live in the last days where many are lost and blinded by the craftiness of men. As disciples of Jesus Christ, more is expected of us. One of the greatest things I have learned on my mission and from the last couple of conferences, is that we have to be better. There are too many people in this world who struggle. We CANNOT afford to be weak. Too many lives depend on our examples and on the work that we perform. Our mission president always says, "Forget yourself and go to work." We can't feel sorry for ourselves or mope around asking why our lives aren't better. We CANNOT afford to live like the rest of the world. We need to put off the natural man and become a saint through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. After all, we refer to ourselves as saints. We have to BE saints. I pray that all who watched conference are motivated to be better. I am so grateful for the brethren and their council. Love, Elder Tilley

Are you a Slacker or a Stud?

Happy March 28! Thank you So much for the birthday shout-outs and for the package! The best thing a missionary can receive is a letter full of love and support. I am so grateful to have a family that loves me. I haven't received the other package you sent, but I will eventually. This week has been a good one. I'm really getting excited for General Conference, and to be given council for TODAY. How incredible. I love our prophets who relay to us God's will. What a blessing to live in this dispensation! I feel like I haven't done a very good job of writing you lately, especially about the people we are teaching, so today I will tell you about some of the awesome people we have been sharing the gospel with. First I have to tell you about B. I can't remember how much I have told you about her, but she is one of if not the most prepared person I have ever taught. She is the girlfriend of a recent convert here named J. After the first time we taught her she told J that she wanted to be baptized. She wasn't able to come to church because she had to work every Sunday. Her boss had been a jerk in the past so she prayed for help and was able to get Sundays off. Yay! She loves the gospel and tells us all the time that she can't help but bring it up every time she talks to someone. She talks about it with her family and her friends all the time! She loves temples as well, and wants to go very badly. She loves the message or rather the truth that families can be forever and looks forward to being sealed in the temple. That's the difference between people who progress after baptism and those who don't. The desire to progress, goal setting, and then taking massive action. SOOO important. That's the difference between the slackers and the studs in the church. Anyway, she is set to be baptized on April 10! I am always amazed at how intricate God's plan for us is. A member in the Plainfield branch introduced the gospel to his girlfriend K who was baptized. She then was an example to her friend J who was baptized. He then introduced his girlfriend B who will be baptized in a couple of weeks. All in less than a year. How incredible is that?! God really does have a perfect plan. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it. Being a missionary is the best! T just finished his letter to the prophet, but still has a few interviews to go through before we can send the letters off. I wish you could meet him. He's one of the funniest little buggers I've ever met. You really learn to love the crazies as a missionary haha! For some reason they're usually the only ones that will listen. We also started teaching a lady named D who wants to be baptized. We set up a plan with her to stop smoking, so hopefully she will do it. She is very sincere in her desire to change and now we will find out how much real intent she has. She could be baptized in a few weeks if everything works out. Like I said, things are really good. I love being a missionary so very much! There are so many lives waiting to be blessed, so much to learn and gain, so much work to be done. I have learned so many valuable eternal lessons, and still have a lot of time to learn more. I have had experiences that will bless my life forever, and have gained eternal friends. I wouldn't trade being a missionary for the riches of the world, because the eternal rewards are too great. I don't know where I would be if I wasn't here. I know with out a doubt that this is where I am supposed to be, because there isn't a day that goes by that the spirit doesn't witness it to me. Full of love and happiness, Elder Tilley

It's almost Elder Tilley's Birthday!

On March 24th Elder Tilley turns 20! I can't believe how the time has flown by! I know how much he loves receiving mail so I thought that maybe anyone reading this blog could send him a little note with a birthday wish. I know that he will love it and that it will lift his spirit! Thank You for all the support you give him, he has mentioned several times that he feels all the prayers on his behalf. He is not real good at writing back, but I know he loves the letters and packages he has recieved.

Being a Missionary is Always Worth It!

Dearest Family,

This week has been another tough one. Since I've been here, I feel like nothing we do is right. Nothing we ever do is enough. sometimes I think it would be better to just not care because it hurts too much. Then I look back on my own words and I sound like a 13 year old school-girl. Haha! I'm not going to go into detail about the things that make me feel terrible, because I don't want to dwell on it too much. Just know that right now things are not too good. There are little rays of sunshine that penetrate the over-cast sky that is Scotch Plains, so can't complain.

We have had the amazing blessing and opportunity to start teaching J.D.'s (recent convert) girlfriend B. She has recognized right off the bat, the happiness that comes as she lives the principles that we teach her. After the first time we taught her, she told J that she wants to be a member. She is set to be baptized on April 3. She always tells us how happy and how much better she feels about herself since she has been meeting with us. For the most part her testimony has come from reading the Book of Mormon. She has felt it's power each and every time she has read it. We have met with her only 3 times and she already wants the rest of her family to be taught. When she told us this, I shared with her part of Lehi's vision, when he desires to share the fruit with his family. She has little religious background, but is so willing to exercise faith. She is truly one of God's Elect. T, who was supposed to be baptized about a month ago, is working on his letter to the Prophet, so he can get permission to be baptized. Being a missionary is such a blessing. Although times can get tough, it's ALWAYS worth it.

This past week we had leadership training on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday I was really sick and I had to give a training. I'm pretty sure I looked dead but hopefully someone got something out of it. It was weird to be there and be one of the ones running it. I feel like I learned a lot and I know it will help me be a better missionary.

It's starting to warm up out here which is really nice. I'm really excited for the spring so we can enjoy being outside a little more. Everyone says there will probably be one more snow storm, but hopefully not.

Love Elder Tilley

More Elders

Dear Family,

Things are much better with more Elders in the ward! We have had some things finally take place this week that we have been waiting for the whole time I've been here. The Lord is definitely opening up opportunities for us now that we actually have time to accomplish the tasks the Lord has for us.

This Sunday I felt the spirit very strongly and it lasted all day. I had the opportunity to give a blessing to a lady in our ward, and it was the most powerful blessing I've ever had the opportunity to give. We also had a great lesson right after. I felt the spirit working through me very powerfully all day. It was super cool! Things are great out here and I'm so glad to be a missionary! It's the best and I cherish every moment of it.

My brain doesn't seem to be working very well and I don't know what else to say... We did figure out the other day that we're teaching like 6 people who would need the Prophets permission to be baptized. Anyway things are awesome and I love the work! Sorry my letter is so lame... LOVE YA!

Love,
Elder Tilley