Life Lessons

Hi Elder Lester,

I have been thinking about what you are going through with these companions that are lazy, doing things their way, etc… And I am very quick to just tell you to tell them that you are there to work, etc… I say that because I know that’s what will bring the most happiness and success to you all. But what I’ve realized is that you will be dealing with this throughout your mission. You will always be with someone that won’t be the same as you. And it’s learning how to work as a team.  What you are dealing with are LIFE LESSONS.

These experiences will help you throughout your life when you are at a job and you are working with someone else and they aren’t doing their part of the job. Or you are the boss and you have an employee who isn’t doing something the way you think they should.  This will help with your future wife and children too.  What I wish I would have taken the time to tell you in the email is that the key is to figure out how to motivate that person, companions, etc., and learning what you can do to help.  By talking and having a discussion on what is it that you guys can do to accomplish this or that. Talking it out and figuring out a way to make it work and what you can do to help.  I know as a Missionary you have to plan out your days and have goals, so this goes right along with this. Also I know that following the rules will keep you safe, so coming home on time at night is crucial.

So after thinking about it, I didn’t want it to sound like I just wanted you to tell your companion that this is the way it’s going to be, and you weren’t going to allow what happened with his last companion, and not getting any work done to happen again, etc.  But I know you have the skills, and are learning more skills everyday, to learn how to work as a team, and how to be a happy and successful Missionary, and these Life Lessons will bless you throughout your life.  I know you have shared in your letters ways you have made things better with Elder Lumbreras, and answers you have received from your studying, and the inspiration you have received. This will continue to happen to you as you seek ways to learn how to be successful with each companion you have, and your new companion Elder Rojas. You will be blessed, and you will bless your companions life, and the lives of the people you are serving.

You are gaining so much experience in such a condensed amount of time. I remember when I went on my mission and I was at the MTC, I heard that the mission experience is like 40 years of college education. You are blessed for this opportunity to learn how to work with these companions and they certainly are blessed to learn from you, know you, and have you touch their life forever.  You know how much you learned in the MTC with Elder Walker, and even at the Hill Cumorah. These experiences are invaluable. You are doing such an outstanding job. I am so proud of you and have loved learning from you.  Thank you for that.

I love you,

MOM

Alma 26:27

This is a letter that I sent Brady because he and his companion are having such a tough time in their area with investigators and getting the members to help out.

Elder Lester,

I have been thinking about area and the struggles you and your companion are having with the work and the members, etc...  read this and take heart:

In Alma 26 it talks about Ammon and the Four Sons of Mosiah and how their trials led them to success. I LOVE verse 27: "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst they brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto your success." 

Please remember that.  I'm sure you will have to remember that and have Faith in that throughout your mission...but the Lord will provide if we are doing our part...always.  And I know you are!



I love you,
MOM

Setting Apart as a Missionary and a Letter from Mom

The setting apart for Brady was really special. President Peterson requested to be the one to set Brady apart. He and his wife came over to our home at 8:00 PM.  We also had the Handy family present. Jacob is one of Brady's best friends, and his family has been dear to our family for many years, and a second family for Brady. If he wasn't working, or at home, he was with Jacob. Brother Handy also set Brady apart in the office of an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood on his birthday, September 6th.  President Ferrell was also present. I am so grateful for these good men in our lives. The teaching that President Peterson gave before the blessing came from D&C 109. The Spirit was present and the blessing was absolutely beautiful, and of course as a mom, I was so touched at President Peterson's blessing as the Lord remembered our family as well and spoke directly about me, the Mom. There was so much more to the blessing, but Brinkley wasn't able to write everything down.

I included what we had in this letter that I gave Brady the night before he entered the MTC.

Dear Elder Lester,                                                                                                                           

                Well, here’s my first letter to you as a missionary. I can’t believe the time is here. We’ve waited so long and now the time has finally arrived.  I am so proud of you.  I want you to know that you mean more to me than words can express. You are my first born. We’ve been together for a very long time. I anticipated meeting you for the very first time when I went to the hospital to deliver you. I loved you before I ever met you and I have never stopped loving you. When I was pregnant with Brinkley I couldn’t imagine loving another child, but that love just expands and grows, and keeps growing as you get older, to almost overflowing that it’s hard to control the emotions sometimes. I am so proud and grateful to know and be a mother to the most amazing children. You and your siblings are such great people and examples to me in my life. You teach me everyday, and I look forward to learning more from you as you continue your preparations to serve the Lord and the people of Mexico. I can’t wait to go on this journey with you and experience all that you will be involved in. This will be a great time for our family and I’m so excited for you to share this with your brothers and sister. Share everything. Give us challenges. Stay close to your siblings and help instill in them the desire to serve as you are. You are loved and will be greatly missed. Our home is not the same without you. But as you can see, your picture is everywhere and there will be more pictures to come as you send them to us. Our home will be a missionary home and full of the love of the Gospel as it always has been. We have your brothers that will be prepared to follow in your footsteps and will be looking to you always as an example. Thank you for being such a great brother and example to them and to me. 

                I want you to have some of the words from your setting apart from President Peterson. Before he began, he talked about how you are now set apart from the world. You will go forth from this house armed with Thy power. Read D&C 109 and learn about this. In your blessing you were given:  

• The privileges and rights that go with this sacred calling
•  Capacity that God endows to his full time servants 
• Go forward with confidence that you are worthy 
• Special feelings of Reverence and Sacredness with this calling 
• Have Faith
•  Remember your Temple Endowments
•  Carry the Light of the Savior in your countenance 
• People’s hearts are being prepared right now to meet you 
• Be like Paul, how he always went about testifying
•  Have a special love with your companions, they will become your best friends for the rest of your life 
• Be perceptive with your companions and feel as one with your companion 
• Quickly love the people you serve 
• Want to help and lift them up and to help make families more united 
• Be diligent and obedient to the rules and laws 
• Be strict, aware of your adherence 
• Be diligent in your preparations 
• You will be called to leadership positions 
• The Lord will open your mind and your heart 
• Be at peace with your family 
• Strengthen your Mother 
• Remember her always in your letters 
• Make her a part of your mission experience 
• She has relied upon you for strength in the home 
• Know the Lord will be mindful of your family 
• Focus your mind and heart and give all you have 
• Angels will be near you 
• You will be guided 
• Have Gratitude 
• So many people have helped you get to this point and look to you 
• We send you forth on the Lord’s errand

     It was a beautiful blessing and I am so grateful to have been present.  You are now set apart from the world and have that special mantle as a representative of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know you have a strong testimony and I’m so proud and grateful that you know this for yourself, before you leave. I am so thankful to have found the Gospel and have been able to be worthy to be Baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, receive my Temple Endowment, Serve a Mission and raise a family in the True Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it’s true. When I learned of the Gospel as a teenager, it was like all things came to my remembrance from when I was in the pre-existence. Your patriarchal blessing and my patriarchal blessing are similar in that way of how it discusses us being in the pre-existence and knowing, and coming to earth and remembering what we have been taught there. I have a great love and admiration for the Prophet Joseph and know that he saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. They spoke to him. They knew him. They know us. I have seen the handiwork of God in my life so much. First because I am a mother and you are my child, and Brinkley, Kasey, Kolby and Braxley are also evidence of his love for me. He blesses me daily and has blessed our family tremendously. I am so grateful for the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and value it as my constant companion and know the importance of being worthy. Being worthy is everything. It keeps me with my children. It keeps me in the Temple. I love the scriptures and the church magazines and hearing from our Prophet and church leaders.  I know that Christ lives. I know this is His Gospel.

Go forth my son and serve. Remember you have been Called to Serve Him. Be obedient…always with exactness and you will be the most happy. Remember what President Hinckley said that his father told him during a rough patch on his mission, “forget yourself and go to work.” When we forget ourselves and focus on serving others we can see things more clearly. Rely on the Spirit. Pray. You will pray more than you ever have before and your relationship with your Heavenly Father and your Savior will grow. Be safe at all times. Take care of yourself so you will be healthy and strong, free of illness and injury. This is so important so you may do the work of the Lord. This is the most important work you will ever do in your life. Make it count…everyday. Believe in the power of D&C 4 and the Standard of Truth.

I look forward to your letters. Write, write, write and send those pictures! I am here for you always. Your family is here for you. We will be praying for you, your companions and the people you are teaching, every day and night.  Let us know what you need and we will pray, fast and go to the Temple.  Be the Leader and the Missionary that the Lord created you to be! I can’t wait to see your growth. Thank you for being my son. Thank you for being who you are. You are the love of my life.  I love you Brady.