Hand written letter received August 4, 2010
Hi family and friends!
It is p-day again. (Jou preparasyon) I am sitting in the waitroom of the barber shop. Elder Caldwell just wanted to get his hair cut. I am glad that my hair is short again! My hair gets so bushy and curly when it grows longer. Elder Caldwell laughed when I said that it was out of control, but it was longer than it should have been. Getting haircuts at the MTC is nearly impossible. They put the sign-up sheet-up at 8 am. The sign-up sheet for any for any given day goes up four days in advance. There are three sheets, one for each employee. By 8:00, the line is at least 20 people. The sheet fills up in 15 minutes or less. So we were lucky that we could get appointments, especially appointments on our preparation day that were right next to each other.
I just talked to an Elder named Elder Eagers who is going to England, Mandarin Chinese speaking. He has been in the MTC for 7 weeks. He is here only for 10 weeks instead of 11, because the transfer schedule is different. Some people in his district are going to Scotland which is the largest amount of Mandarin speakers in the United Kingdom. I enjoyed talking to Elder Eagers a lot.
There was a really good fireside on Sunday. He talked about changing the culture of our hearts. There are several things that can define the culture of your heart, such as gratitude, murmuring, kindness, etc. You need to see the imperfection in the culture of your heart. You need to change not just because of other people’s opinions, but also because you want to be a healthier, happier person. The speaker was Stephen B Allen, who is the managing director of the missionary department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He told us about a campaign that the church has done to help people change the culture of people’s hearts. They do commercials called “Home Front”. They are family oriented. One of the commercials shows a boy in band who is having a hard time reading his music because he doesn’t have his glasses on. His teacher makes him put them on and everyone gives weird looks. At the end of the commercial, a voice says, “It’s not who you aren’t, it’s who you are, and being who you are is great.” For this one, Brother Allen told us not to be ashamed of who we are and to be ourselves. God called me as a missionary. I was called to this particular mission. I am here because Heavenly Father needs my unique personality to influence different people. No one else can do it quite like I can. Don’t be ashamed of your weaknesses and short comings. Just try your best. That is all that Jesus Christ expects of you and me. Your best is not the same as other persons. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. That is Satan’s tactic. Comparison is an element of pride and insecurity. Pride, competition, and jealousy are like three inseparable brothers, or like three sides of a triangle. If one of them goes, the other two will go as well. C.S. Lewis has a quote on this. Someone from the Quorum of the 12 Apostles gave a talk about this in General Conference. He said that the main component of pride is competition and that if competition is gone, pride is gone. It was along those lines. I don’t know the exact quote.
I have a problem comparing myself to other people, especially with the language. Whenever I understand concepts better than the other missionaries, I feel prideful. If I don’t do as well at something, I feel bad and I make excuses to myself for why I didn’t do as well. My Goal for this week’s Christ-like attribute is humility. Every week, we write the branch presidency and we each have to choose a Christ-like attribute out of Preach My gospel (the missionary handbook that has the doctrine that we teach). I am going to pray for humility, and for the help to not compare myself to other people.
We all have gifts from God, so we have no reason to be jealous of other people’s talents and abilities. We each have a mission that Heavenly Father wants us to complete. In Jeremiah 1:5 Jesus tells the prophet Jeremiah that he knew him before he was even born, and that he was called and ordained to be a prophet before his lifetime. Both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ knew you personally before we were even born. You talked with them. They knew you personally: They know your desires, dreams, fears, weaknesses, strengths, likes, and dislikes. They took you aside individually and gave you callings and an assignment to complete. There are people who you are supposed to help, gifts you are supposed to share, and people that you are meant to become. I know that Jesus knows us personally, not just because he knew us before, but also because he felt our pains, temptations, sorrow, sicknesses, and afflictions. He knows you perfectly. I have felt the comfort of this knowledge in my life. And I have received the perfect help for my problems, since Jesus Christ knows my problems so well, so he knew who could help comfort me.
I have been called by Jesus Christ to teach people about the Gospel. I have undertaken a great work. It isn’t easy, but it is worth it. I know that this is the Savior’s work. Even though I am not perfect, and get distracted during study sessions, and get tired, and discouraged, if I obey the rules of the mission and study as hard as I know how, I will be blessed. Most importantly, he suffered and died because he loved you and me. If you go to him with all your heart, and leave all other distractions behind, he will bless you.
The days just blend together here. I can’t think of anything interesting that you haven’t heard already, plus I am tired, so I will write to you all soon.
Thanks Grandma, Sara, and Aunt Laurie for sending those packages. I loved them and thank you Mom for sending me the paper and the card. I am really grateful for the support. I will write more soon!
Love,
Elder Seamons
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