Day 2 in the MTC

Elder Eyring spoke this morning.  His was a special witness of the Savior. "Oh ye that embark in the service of God, see that he serve Him with all your heart, might, mind and strength..." He learned from President Hinckley a quote that he etched into a wood frame and hung in their home when his children were teens. He brought it with him and showed us with some emotion..."My Mission is to Bless." That is a mission for every human soul...to bless the lives of others. He promised us that D&C 100:1 applies to us, our immediate and extended families (all of you) "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you...your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power." The spirit was overpowering as he made this declaration and many tears were shed by grandparents who are leaving their frail and elderly parents and their grandchildren, some with disabilities. It applies to those taking teenagers thousands of miles away, some even to finish their senior years of high school, it applies to those taking grade-schoolers who are leaving the only homes and friends they know. Families will be blessed because what the Lord seemeth good, is good for all. 

Elder Oaks and Elder Anderson of the quorum of the twelve apostles were companions today. They taught the doctrine of repentance, baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Some highlights for me. Repentance is a process. Repentance requires a degree of suffering. Those who haven't repented will not stay in the church or feel really good about themselves.  Us doing our own work to rid ourselves of sin through our behavior is good, but we cannot be or feel forgiven until the Redeemer (R) is involved. The R's to repentance (recognize, repent, make restitution, recommit) are of little import without the Redeemer of the world. 

We spent an hour with Maren tonight. She is already a powerful servant of the Lord. We took pictures with her and her mission President. We also practiced teaching a group of Mandarin speaking missionaries about the importance of the Book of Mormon and Praying to God to know for ourselves what is truth. The Young missionaries are easy to love. We also met with Elder Smart from Texas and Elder Santos from Brazil who will be coming to our mission and speaking Spanish in August. It was great to meet our own missionaries! 

We love you dear family and friends. The closer we draw to the Lord, the closer we feel the eternal Union of our families. Our eternal covenants are real. We have consecrated our lives to Him. We love Him.