Good afternoon everyone!
Or whatever time it is for you all wherever you are across
the world. I hope everyone is doing good and is happy this week! We had a great
time this week. We got to go farm, go to the temple, and travel all across our
area this week! not a ton of actual teaching, but we hope that this coming week
we will get to meet some of the people and talk to them a lot more!
So some culture for this week, there is a weed, that I have
no idea what it is called in English, and here they pick it and eat it. Someone
we were eating with this past Wednesday told us about the weed and I was super
apprehensive because I didn't want to eat some weed out of the ground or
anything like that, but it turned out being super tasty. He then gave us a ton
of it because if you ever say you like something, you basically are going to
get a ton more of it as a gift haha.
I have a lot of people ask me if I am happy as a missionary:
friends, family, and people I meet on the street. I've talked about happiness a
lot recently but I feel like it is one of the most important topics to talk
about because so many of us just can't seem to find it. It’s like hot water in
a hotel room; it’s on sometimes and other times it just is not working no
matter how hot you turn the water. Fortunately, our happiness does not have to depend
on how happy people are around us or other circumstances. About 2000 years ago
an angel from God declared the path to happiness:
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring
you good tidings of
great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a
Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And again to another prophet.
3 And he said unto me: Awake, and hear the words which I shall
tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings
of great joy.
4 For the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of
thy righteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayest
rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be
filled with joy.
5 For behold, the time
cometh, and is not far distant, that with power,
the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from
all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the
children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall
go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick,
raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive
their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.
I have read a lot of
books and talked to a lot of people about what the secret to happiness is. All
of what they have said have been either temporal fixes, facades, or something
that we will lose when we leave this earth. I leave my personal witness that
Jesus Christ and his teachings can bring us joy and is the good news. Because
of him, we never need to have permanent sadness, and regardless of
the external situations, we can find an inward fountain of joy, or I suppose if
we continue the metaphor, an inward shower of warmth and joy. Read his words
and seek his spirit. I know that you will find joy regardless of your
circumstance.
With love,
Elder Coleman
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