Nathan Coleman

Nathan Coleman
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Monday, June 6, 2016

Time and Reflection



June 6, 2016
 


Friends and Family,

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! For those of you who forgot, don't feel bad because I actually forgot too. I only remembered because my companion remembered and people brought me nice things. This week I took a ton of pictures, but for some reason I can't upload them from my camera. I will work on that this coming week I hope, but who knows when it will be fixed. Sorry mom. Anyway some culture that I learned this week is something called 주먹밥. It means basically a fist of rice, and that’s exactly what it is. It’s like seafood and rice just thrown into a ball and its pretty plain, but it is pretty fun too. My companion and I are trying to cook a little more variety of foods, so we are getting creative.

 My thoughts today are simple, but I feel like they are very important. Since it was my birthday this past week, I took some time in the evenings to reflect on what has changed in the past couple of years. I can remember pretty well for like 4 birthdays back, but before that is pretty fuzzy. But anyway, I like to take time maybe twice a year to reflect on where I am going and how I am doing in my family relationships, with God, and just with life in general. I hope that all of you have the same habit to routinely look at your life honestly; to fix the things that need to be fixed, but also to see the improvement. I know that by doing this, we will not get discouraged. We all change, sometimes for good but other times for bad. But I know if we take time to reflect and make little changes in our life, years down the road, we will be where we want to be. I hope all of you can make changes to be better people and I hope that you can all help me to change into someone better as well. Thank you for all of your support and all of your love. It means so much.

Have a good week!
Elder Coleman

Monday, May 23, 2016

What manner of men?



May 22, 2016

My friends and family,

So as usual, not a lot of time to write a super solid letter this week, so I will be brief. Transfers are this Wednesday so I will have a new companion. He is Korean and I am super excited for it. I will learn a ton more about the culture that I am sure will entertain all of you. 

So the message I have today is the most simple, but most difficult message that the Savior ever shared. "Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am."
In our quest to be truly happy and find lasting joy in this life, the path is simple; do the things that Christ did and become like him. We are to do more than just follow his rules, we are to develop His attributes. These include faith, hope, charity, humility, diligence, obedience, honesty, gratitude, virtue, knowledge, and so on. If any of these attributes cause you to cringe a little bit when you hear it, (I know some do for me) it would probably be a great time to work with Heavenly Father through prayer and study to improve our weaknesses. I know that as we develop these attributes, we will be happier in this life and have more self confidence in our relationship with God. 

I love you all,
Elder Coleman