Aug. 28, 2012

Pamilya ko!

It sounds like the open house really was beautiful. As I sat in the celestial room this morning I could not help but think about how amazing it is, and how one day I will be able to be there with all of you. I actually had a great experience with the temple this week. 

It started last night. We, in our last hour of class, at the very end of the day were learning about the power of the Holy Ghost in conversion. It did not start out all that great because..well! It was the last hour of the day. My brain was fried and I was just ready to be done. We watched a very great video on the spirit, and then we were supposed to role play. Usually, one of you acts like an investigator while the other teaches you the topic the teacher had chosen, and then we switch. This time was a little different. We were told we could either act like an investigator, or be ourselves. I asked kasama ko if he could be himself when I taught him. I figured it could be fun, and it would be a very new experience. We were also told that we needed to follow the spirit and teach whatever we were prompted to teach. Ok...this whole thing just got much harder. Kasama ko already knows so much, what in the world was I going to teach him? I decided to start of with a personal prayer and then go for it. We are told that if we have faith, and if we will open our mouth the Lord will give us the very thing which we should say. He definitely did that for me. I felt impressed to talk about the power of the spirit, and the ability to feel that in the celestial room of the temple. I wish I had time to tell you all what I said, but it was far too much, and honestly I can not remember it all. But the spirit was so strong, and halfway through I just started bawling. What I said ended up being for me far more than it was for Elder Hansen.

Mom, Ipinadala tayo ng Diyos sa mundo, upang matuto at umunlad. God sent us to earth to learn and grow. I definitely believe that and I have grown to love that over the past month and a half. I am loving being here at the MTC, and learning tungkol sa ang ebanghelyo. Learning about the gospel...It is incredible how the spirit works, and how it can take someone like me, who hated school with a passion, and turn me into something better. I wake up every single morning excited to learn something new. I am praying for each of you guys daily, and I love hearing that all is going well, and that everyone is happy.

Dad, it sounds like your lesson is going to be incredible. You are an incredible leader, and know so much. I always wish that I had you here to ask questions. I have so many questions about doctrine that I wish I could ask you. Maybe I will start writing them down and sending them to you in my weekly letter.

Everyone keeps being told that the grammer in their letters is getting worse as they learn more Tagalog. I just want to apologize in advance for having bad grammer. If you want to fix it you are more than welcome to :)

I love you all, I pray for you daily and hope to hear from you soon!

Elder Leonard