The VERY special Guest and the Golden Ticket

[I will bring to the top what Eric said at the bottom:

“P.S. Get people to send me letters. That is the best thing you can ever get as a missionary.”

If you get time, even after Christmas, you can write him at the mission home at:

Elder Eric Seamons

Florida, Ft Lauderdale Mission

7951 SW 6th St Ste 110

Ft Lauderdale, FL 33324-3211

This week was so amazing! We had so many things happen. We had so many fun mission gatherings that we did. We got to see all the missionaries in the mission again and we learned a lot. It meant we had less time to go out and teach, but we were still very excited.

As a mission we had a Christmas luncheon on Saturday and we had some really good food that they made. Stake presidents and their wives were there, as well as Elder Gay from the seventy. President Hale had something called the Golden Ticket. This is his third year doing it. He has this small golden plaque that he would give out to one person. He had a drawing where they drew 10 names out of a hat from all the 150 or so missionaries. Then he would draw 6 people from the 10 to go on to the next round and so forth. He took pictures after every round. The Golden Ticket is a really awesome prize which President would give out, but it wasn't redeemable until 2020. He said that the person would have to follow certain conditions in order to still be eligible for the prize when the time comes around, such as calling president Hale every six months the day of General Conference until 2020. He did that so he could stay in contact. He said it could be a whole number of things for the prize, including a paid for cruise with the family or something else. He was very well off before the mission, so I could definitely see him doing that. I got to the final two people, the last round out of everyone in the mission. Sister Crane and I were the two finalists, and Sister Crane won. I was glad she won, but I really wanted the Golden Ticket. Sister Crane is in my zone. She is in the Coral Springs Ward with Sister Lealagata. This is Sister Crane's last transfer before she goes home. The Golden Ticket thing was fun though.

[The missionaries were told they were going to have a special guest fly in on a jet. I have inserted a great description from Elder Terry about his experience. He is from the town next to us and went to Lone Peak High School also. He was in Eric’s MTC district and they were companions for a short time at the end of the MTC when Eric’s companion went to Canada. I get Elder Terry’s e-mails and I love his dramatic way of telling things.]

The tension was palpable and we knew someone cool was coming.

And then

through the door,

his little wife by his side,


walked,


PRESIDENT DIETER F. UCHTDORF!


We all jumped to our feet as they waved and smiled and then, one by one, we were able to shake their hands and look into their eyes . . . his eyes . . . and it was incredible.


This is another one of those experiences which words cannot adequately describe.


It was incredible.


And a very Disney-ish devotional, because President Uchtdorf talked about how "dreams really do come true" (his words), and that we must "move forward every day." He taught about nightly prayers--thanking the Lord for all he has done for us, asking him to accept your sacrifices, asking for forgiveness, resolving to move forward, and then putting your trust in God and retiring to bed. He promised resolutely that God will forgive you of your shortcomings and allow you to wake up anew the next morning.


It was powerful.


He also spoke of a blessing--as real as if his hands had been on each of our heads individually--that all our concerns and challenges--at home or here now--will be resolved with a satisfactory conclusion because of our faithful service.


It was a sacred experience.

[Back to Elder Seamons’ letter]

We had the mission-wide Christmas Devotional. It was such a spiritual experience. They had several musical numbers as well as the Mission Choir singing. The speakers were President and Sister Uchdorf. It was awesome. The Hale family was next door neighbors with them in Utah, and they were super good friends. It was such a powerful experience. They both have such love for the missionaries and the members of the church. Everyone in the room got to shake hands with President Uchdorf and all of the Sisters got hugs from Sister Uchdorf. I wrote all my notes for the Devotional in my Journal. We all got Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission Journals. They said they e-mailed all of the parents to buy one. Thank you so much Mom and Dad! You are awesome!

President Uchdorf gave very good advice and counsel:

He said that we are always in the middle of our mission. It doesn't matter whether we just started and have less experience, or are almost finished. He said that many people feel inadequate as missionaries and think that they don't have enough experience to be a powerful teacher and do the work effectively. He said that we are better with the convincing power of God and the spirit than any amount of experience, practice, and training. We will continue to learn and grow, but we don't have to wait until we are perfect before we begin to change lives. It is not our talents and power that makes us so great but God's. We should never think we have too little experience to do something, or think we are above everyone else and have it down. We just need to try our best and everything else will work out because God is there and loves us and will help us.(this next part is my own commentary) That is what President Uchdorf meant by always being in the middle of the mission. You rely on God and work hard as you would at the prime of your mission. You don't slump and give up at the end because you are almost done. You are always in the middle of the mission until the very end.

He said that "God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called." and "God promises you a safe landing, but he didn't promise you a calm journey."

When he talked about teaching the Gospel with power, he used Brigham young's experience that is in Preach My Gospel. Brigham Young said that the missionaries who taught him were not super intellectual. He could have easily have out-talked them. But they taught with convincing power of God. (a good chapter in the scriptures that this makes me think of this is in 1 Corinthians ch. 2)

He also said,"Don't be a character; have character" I think that means that we aren't supposed to be someone we are not or try to act like someone. Just be who you are and be good and righteous. He said, "You do not need to impress the Lord."

He talked about the holiness and the power of the calling which we hold--That we are "the extended arm of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles." That means that we are an extension of Jesus Christ and we represent him to all of those who we meet.

The last thing that I will tell you about his talk was that he said that all of us have a special purpose in this specific mission and that as we follow the spirit, we can know what our individual purpose is, and why we are in this mission and in no other and how the Lord will bless us to accomplish this purpose. And he testified of the call of Prophet that President Monson has, just as Moses did, the truthfulness of this church, and the reality of the Living Christ. He said that it is "a fact that Jesus Christ lives."

I know that is true. Deiter F. Uchdorf is an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. God lives and he loves us. Everything will work out. There is no one who can be against you when you are with God. We have a hard path to walk, but we have strong shoes for it, and that makes all of the difference. I have come to realize how weak I am and how little I can do by myself. But I just need to obey the rules God has given me, do the simple things, trust in him, and everything else will work out. I know it.

I love you all and I need to write president now, but I will talk to you later! Bye!

Love,

Elder Seamons

P.S. Get people to send me letters. That is the best thing you can ever get as a missionary.

See pictures of President Uchdorf as well as pictures of Eric

almost winning the golden ticket

and him at the Christmas missionary dinner.

President and Sister Uchdorf and President and Sister Hale

 

 

The mission blog had pictures of the mission dinner and Elder Seamons was in 6 of them, but there were two particular photos that showed us the Eric we know when he is very happy.

 

Th is one is of Eric in the food line. He has that "I love this food" look on his face!

This is Eric when he has learned he is one of the last two

who are in line to win the Golden Ticket. This is a look we are

very familiar with.