Elder Joshua Thayne in Indiana: Christ's Love For Us

Sharisa - I've combined a "hard copy" letter we got in the mail this past week and the weekly email he sent today into this one post.

I’m sorry I don’t write all that much in my emails. 1)I don’t have a ton to write about because not much goes on at the MTC, 2) I don’t have a lot of time on the computer.

I am learning so much here at the MTC it’s crazy! We spend so much time studying the gospel and the language and I've really grown to love all the learning. When I got here, I restarted reading the Book of Mormon. I’m already in 3 Nephi and still reading so much every day. Also, I started reading “Jesus the Christ” on Sunday and I’m already more than halfway through. I love how much time I have to study and just immerse myself in this perfect Gospel. By the time you get this letter, I will probably be done with both the BoM and “Jesus the Christ”. J I have also read “Our Search for Happiness” by M Russell Ballard, and I loved it!

So as of now, we have only 2 “investigators” (because they’re pretend). One of them is named Carolina and the other is Fernando. I like teaching Fernando much more because he actually asks questions and it’s more like a discussion than a lesson. Elder Seegmiller hasn’t had any experience in Spanish prior to the mission, so I generally lead the discussions. All of my Spanish classes are definitely helping! So much is coming back to me and it´s been great to have that solid foundation to start off.

We have been loving teaching and it´s really coming along. One of our ´´investigators´´´was telling us that he can´t meet with us anymore because his mom is very catholic and does not like him meeting with us. He asked why God would make this happen if this is something so good that he needs in his life. I shared Ether 12:6 with him and told him we must show our faith in God, then we will receive a witness that will strengthen us and our testimony. I felt inspired to share Jeannie Park´s conversion story and how her mom didn´t want her to be baptized and doesn´t want her to serve a mission. It really helped!

Time here goes SO SLOW! I’m sure it will get better. And I just can’t wait to get to Indiana already! I can’t wait to eat American Food again!!! Awh I miss little Jax so much!

I LOVED conference! It was so great to watch it! I really loved the talk by Elder Jorg Klebingat. It really helped me to know what I need to work on in order to improve myself spiritually. I loved how much they talked about how the Prophets and apostles are called of God and it made me think about how greatly blessed we are to have modern day revelation. I also loved the talk about knowing which way we face. I know I need to improve and focus on ways I can please God instead of man. I can´t wait for the next conference!

Today we went to the temple. Sadly, the temple is closed so we only went to the visitors center, but I loved it. It was great to be there and to feel the peace and the spirit that resides there. I love the temple and it was exactly what I needed.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about God as our literal Father and how much love He has for each of His children. We watched a devotional by Elder Bednar the other day and he talked a lot about the character of Christ. He talked about how Christ turned out [thinking of others) [as opposed] to the natural man who would turn inward (concerned only about himself). He talked about how Christ often showed His love through service and acts of kindness. One of the examples he gave was when Christ was fasting for 40 days and then he was tempted by Satan. After he went through all of that it says in Matthew 4:11, “Then the devil leaveth him and behold angels came and ministered unto him.”

Now, I don’t know if you already know where I’m going with this or not, but I want you to go and read JST in the footnotes for that verse (Matt 4:11)

It’s incredible that Christ, after going through that physically and spiritually exhausting experience, would selflessly send his angels to minister to John instead of himself! He truly is the most loving being to ever live on this earth.

Another example Elder Bednar shared is when Christ suffered in Gethsemane. Christ brought with him his chief apostles and asks them to only stay awake for one hour. After suffering unimaginable pain in Gethsemane, he comes and finds his apostles asleep 3 different times. Elder Bednar states that Christ would not have been mad at his apostles, but we imagine he’d be somewhat disappointed. After which, he is betrayed by Judas. After all of this happens, Christ still reaches out to help one of God’s children. After suffering unimaginable pain, being let down by his chief apostles, and then betrayed by Judas, He witnessed Peter slice of the ear of one of his captors and proceeded to heal him. Not only did he serve others in his hardest times, he served one of Caiaphas’ servants. That amazes me.

All of this has taught me so much about the love that god and his son Jesus Christ has for us. It amazes me so much. It give me hope and it give me strength to know that God loves me enough to help me as long as I try my best.

I am grateful for all of the things I have learned here. 4 weeks ago I wouldn’t have known all that stuff I just wrote about. My testimony has been strengthened so much more than any time in my life. I’d like to bear my testimony in Spanish.

(Sharisa –I’ve written this from Josh’s own handwriting…so hopefully it is correct since I don’t’ know Spanish at all. I typed it all into a translator and it comes out pretty much right I think. A few of the words don't translate, but I don't know if it's my deciphering or Josh's use of words...)

Yo sé que Jesucristo es mi Salvador. Yo sé que Cristo morió para los pecados de todas las personas en el mundo. Yo sé que por medio de la expiacion, yo puedo ser limpio otra vez. Yo sé que sin la expiación no podria regresar con Dios. Yo sé que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial. Yo sé que Dios tiere on plan para yo y para usted. Yo sé que Dios y JesuCristo nos aman mãs ue podemos comprender. Yo sé que esta Iglesia es la Iglesia restaurado en el mundo. Sé que Dios y Jesucristo aperecieron a José Smith. Sé que yo soy un Hijo de Dios. Estoy entusiasmado para enseñar Las personas en Indiana. Yo sé que esta Iglesia es verdadera sin duda. Digo estas cosas en el nombre de mi Salvador y mi redentor, Jesucristo, Ameñ.

I love you so much! I hope you guys have a great week and I can´t wait to hear from you!

Love,

Elder Thayne