Week #4 One Month

Hey Family!

How are you all doing? I was worried that I wouldn't get to email you this week because I got really sick and had to go to the doctor. But it was just a bad ear infection so I'm on some antibiotics now and everything is working out well. It's not just the drugs though. I recieved a blessing from Elder Heap (ZL) and Elder Tolman (DL) and that really helped a lot. Something that really stuck out to me in the prayer that Elder Tolman gave was when he said that my Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ want me to know that they love me, and that they are pleased with my desires and my service thus far. I know that the spirit brought that message to Elder Tolman to give to me. The power of the Preisthood is amazing!

Thank you so much for all of the support you are giving me. I have gotten all of your letters, yes all of yours Dad, and Mom. Thank you so much. THey are such great helps to me at times when I feel down. I have loved having the conference Ensign to read the words of the Lord's servants today. One thing that is amazing to me every time i read it, is the scripture that says, "whether by my voice or the voice of my servants, it is the same." To me, that is amazing because as a servant of the Lord, I get to speak for Him. It makes me want to be careful in everything that I say, and I want to speak the words which He would want me to. Our Savior is amazing.

We had a discussion last night about the atonement. We talked about how it is good for us to have a close personal relationship to the Savior. However, we must remember that we shouldn't pray to Him, and that we still worship that Father above all. My teacher brought up an interesting point. He talked about how some people act like they are "Buddy buddy" with Christ. He said that it's good to have a personal relationship, but not to be "buddy buddy" because after all, the Savior is greater than we all are. I thought of Mary, who had a close personal relastionship with the Messiah. When she saw the resurrected Lord, she worshipped Him. Or Thomas, who upon seeing Christ, fell to his knees. These friends of The Savior didn't go up and give him a hug, or a high five. They bowed themselves before Him because He is so much greater than any of us are. He is the greatest to ever walk this earth, and He did. I know that He walked the roads of Palestine. But more important than that, I know that He lives today, and that He loves all of us.

Last Tuesday the devotional was by Elder Yoshihko Kikuchi. He did an amazing job! Something from His talk that reall stuck out to me was his message about self mastery. He told us to have a routine every morning. But most important of all, to have a sacred grove we go to every morning. And there, we should ask God for guidance. He Said
1. Arise Early
2. Clean Your body
3. Put on clean linen
4. Subdue your spirit before God
5. WAIT for inspiration from the Holy Ghost.

He said if we do this, we will have better relationships with everyone we contact each day, and more importantly, with our Father in Heaven. It made me think about Elder Pearson's talk on prayer at BYU Hawaii. Elder Pearson talked about how we need to not pray when we are tired, that prayers will be more meaningful if we are awake and alert. I notice a difference when I pray when I am awake, rather than rolling out of bed onto my knees. I challenge you all to do this. I'm glad that you all took my other challenge and read Ether 12. Its amazing the faith that the Brother of Jared had!

It was so weird to see Dillon on sunday, but it made me so happy to see someone from the outside world haha! He said Nate is doing well, and I am glad to hear that. I hope Nick is enjoying Ghana. Mom will you send me the letters they post from their blogs or whatever? Thank you! Oh and I LOVE the Carl Bloch print you sent me. Bloch was inspired in his paintings, I have no doubt. Outside of the cafeteria there is a copy of the Doubting Thomas. Whenever I see this, I feel the spirit so strongly. Its an amazing testimony to me.

We have been studying the Plan of Salvation this week, and I really have learned so much! The more we learn about the doctrine, the easier it is to teach it. Our TRC didn't go to well, but we're recovering. We started teaching a progressing investigator. Its a really cool experience to have our teacher pretend to be an investigator that he actually taught!

Our Phii Thais got their travel plans on Thursday and they leave on Monday. They go from SLC to Tokyo! To Bangkok! I can't wait to find out what route I'll take to Thailand. I'm hoping to get there via Hong Kong! That would be amazing!

Well I'm out of time, but I love you all so much. Don't forget the Lord. Tell Nana I love her.

I love you all so much! thanks again for the letters!

Love,
Elder Todd