President Kimball in Honduras!

Well this email is going to be a little shorter than usual because today we went to Copan Ruins as a zone. It was pretty legit. It was cool to see all the old architecture and places that people used to live. I was talking to one of the workers there and he asked where I was from. I told him I was from Utah. He said ¨Oh really! I have a good friend from there, from Salt Lake City, but he died a few years back. His names was Spencer W. Kimball.¨

I looked at him again, in shock.  

He told me that Spencer W. Kimball had come to visit the ruines, and that ten men had come with him. He said they were all very big and fat haha :) He said that  Spencer W. Kimball had given him a Book of Mormon and had signed it and put a note in it. He said he has yet to make it to church, but he was working on it. He looked at me though and started talking about how Christ had come to the Americas, and I looked at him like ¨yeah , I know!¨ 

So awesome. Even the prophet had a Book of Mormon to give away when he went to Honduras to visit the ruins. 

What an example!

This week there has been two themes that I have been thinking a lot about. The first one is gratitude! I have been thinking a lot about the talk from last conference of President Uchtdorf  about being grateful, and how we truly need to learn to be grateful for all things and in all circumstances! I loved this quote from him¨:
¨We can choose to be grateful, no matter what.
This type of gratitude transcends whatever is happening around us. It surpasses disappointment, discouragement, and despair. It blooms just as beautifully in the icy landscape of winter as it does in the pleasant warmth of summer.
When we are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation. In grief, we can still lift up our hearts in praise. In pain, we can glory in Christ’s Atonement. In the cold of bitter sorrow, we canexperience the closeness and warmth of heaven’s embrace.¨
So beautiful! I think Elder Uchtdorf said it all. This week as I have been praying I had a thought come to my mind, that almost all of the great prophets at some point or another went to prison. God is all powerful, he could have broken down the prison walls, but he didn´t. Could they have been doing great good outside of the prison walls? Yes. Absolutely. They were prophets, amazing teachers. But he chose to let them be in the prison. Why? Because Gods ways, and his thoughts, are higher, and greater, than ours. And they always learned great lessons, and were grateful in their circumstances.

I have also been thinking a lot about the sacrifice of the pioneers. It might have something to do with my current readings in the Doctrine and Covenants, but I have been thinking about how they gave up everything. Everything everything. They gave up their homes, many times their families, their jobs, their lives... literally, everything. They walked across the United States with little or no food, many times shoeless, and why? All for the sake of Zion! And what did the Lord do? He commanded them to build a temple, a house for the Lord. They had nothing, and they built a beautiful house for the Lord. I have been thinking about how maybe I can give up a little more, and sacrifice a little more for God.

Sacrifice a little more and give thanks a little more, because we have the greatest gift of all. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ! We have the temple! We have eternal families! We have everything, and what is there not to give thanks for? Let us be as Job, and praise the Lord all the day long. Let us be as Nephi and raise up our voices in every moment! And let us be as Joseph Smith, and glory in tribulation.

I love you all! I hope you all have a beautiful week. 

With so much love,