4-22-13

Hello everyone! :) I hope you are all doing well and don't feel too bogged down.

Things are going well over here. The plants are starting to throw out green leaves again, and weeds and flowers alike are popping up everywhere. The weather is a little cooler, staying about jacket weather for now, but keeps getting warmer.

The work is going well. We are finally getting appointments with a couple different less-active families who we have been wanting to work with, are seeing wonderful little changes in one of our investigators named Urgen where he wants to make changes and renovate his appartment and stop smoking, and also may have just found a cool new investigator. We'll see how that goes this evening if he's home.

Random German thing(s):

Trains. Trains everywhere. I guess that might be a little more common in some other states, but in Utah I saw hardly any. Every now and again we would see a cargo train go rumbling by, but tracks were few and far between, and the trains were rare. Here, trains is one of the main forms of travel. There is an intense train system run by a company called 'Deutsche Bahn' (German Train(s)). This system can get you to most of the cities in Germany. (The only villages it can't get you to are the little ones built off to the side, that they don't want to spend the money to connect with.) The system really is asounding though. Ridiculous to think of how much logistics must come into managing it. Along side these trains, there are many busses and trams/street cars run by larger cities. The bigger, busier cities even often have subways. (These are simply street cars on underground tracks, and some of these overlap, going below ground for the thick, busy part of the city, only to resurface a ways later when things thin out.) These trams also share the road with cars in some cities and areas, the tracks being flush with the road so that cars drive without being bothered at all.

There are also a lot of bikes used here, a lot of bike paths, traffic lights next to the pedestrian 'walk'/'don't walk' lights that tell bikes when to go, and when not to go. Lots of bike shops and repair shops. Etc.

Spiritual Thought:

I actually had a couple things to share today.

Maybe this is just me, but it seems like I often come to little things I can do that really help me. Little mental tricks or perspectives or helps or ideas that really help me to be closer to God in one way or another. It seems like I am always forgetting to continue applying these little tricks and ideas, and end up stumbling upon them later, and they begin to help me a lot again. Now, my advice to you on this subject, is to recognize these little things that build you up and take more note of them. Keep good hold on them. If you stumble across one that you seem to have forgotten, take special note of it. Satan loves to help you forget, and God loves to help us remember and grow. :)

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Here is a little spiritual thought I shared with a member family just the other day:

First let's look at some words from Nephi, as he describes the journey they took through the wilderness:

1 Ne. 17:1-2:

1 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness.
2 And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.

'great were the blessings of the Lord', the children were taken care of, the raw meet was made sweet, they all became strong, sounds like a challenging, but good experience. Now let's look at the same journey, as described by Nephi's brothers later in the chapter.

verse 20

20 And thou art like unto our father, led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart; yea, he hath led us out of the land of Jerusalem, and we have wandered in the wilderness for these many years; and our women have toiled, being big with child; and they have borne children in the wilderness and suffered all things, save it were death; and it would have been better that they had died before they came out of Jerusalem than to have suffered these afflictions.

Wow. One massive complaint.

They were talking about the same journey. They even touched on the same subject matter in the journey, and yet as Nephi described the blessings and good that came of it, all that Laman and Lemuel had to say about it was how horrible it was.

What made the difference?

Perspective.

They were talking about the same stuff, but because the one was in a good state of mind, trying to follow God, and looking for God's hand in his life, he was happy, and saw goodness and blessings coming, even in the middle of and -from- hard trials. The brothers on the other hand, poor blokes, were struggling and could only see the hard things. They were looking for faults and negativity. They were unhappy, unsatisfied, regretful, etc. This was not just a difference between people. This example does not mean that Laman and Lemuel are incapable of being happy/positive, or that Nephi was imune to discouragement/negativity. Quite the opposite. We all have the capacity to look at our surroundings and life in whatever light we choose. Do we notice the Hand and Blessings of God? He is there. 'His arms are stretched out still'. You can be happy. He wants you to be happy. Life itself is not, in and of itself, happy or sad. -We- are the ones that are either happy or sad. Which would you rather be? :)

I testify that God has love for us that runs deeper than the sea, and higher than the stars. I testify that He wants nothing less than for us to really be happy and grow and progress. He wants true joy for us. I testify that you can find joy in your life. This is not a case to case concept. This is truth. God is there. Happiness -can- be found. God can reach you no matter where you are. And I testify of these things in the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Have a great, and spiritual week. And maybe let yourself smile about something extra this week. :)

- Elder Michael Miles