March 25, 2013

Yep I can hear it (music on the drive)! Listened to it all this morning! :)

Thanks so much

Sorry I forgot to tell you last week! Yep Inacio got baptized on Saturday as well as Adilson!! Inacio is the shorter one! I love those guys so much!!!

On the far left is someone else that was getting baptized I think then Elder Chatwin then me then Inacio then the guy on the far right is a member from cassquel but I can not remember his name.

Adilson and his fiance and I after Adilsons baptism.

Mmmmm....Mmmmmm.... Mmmmm. I love my green drink!!!!!! :) I definitely did not like it before! I am actually starting to like it :)

Hey Pres!! How are things going?!!! I hope that things are going well!

So Mom told me about your camporree experience and I do not think I had an experience like that on a campout, but I remember one time Me Braden and Mason Anderson were driving in the car once in Oak City and I had to go …really bad!!! So we pulled over and i went by a tree, but there was nothing around to wipe with!! So i grabbed a stick to try and wipe with!! :) That did not feel good :) then what made it worse was that Braden and Mason saw me using the stick and then started to kind of make fun of me!! Not so funny then, but pretty hilarious now!! I bet if you tell Braden that story he will still remember!!!!!!!! Anyways keep up the hard work and have a good attitude!  And just listen to what Mom and Dad say! :) I know that sometimes it might not make sense or you may not really want to, but the only reason they may want you to do something that you do not want to do is because they love you!! If you really think about it Mom and Dad do not want to make you unhappy and just make you do things because!! They really want what is best for you and a lot of times they can see things that you nor I can see!!  So just remember to always do your best to obey Mom and Dad even when it does not make sense! I remember one time I got into an argument with Dad and during the argument I was pretty certain that I was right and Dad was wrong! Looking back now I realized that I was actually dead wrong and Dad was dead right! Dad could see things that I could not see because he has already been through it and because he is a Father and has responsibility and right to help direct his Kids!!

Just want to tell you that I love you so much!!! Remember to be Humble and do your very best and think about others more then yourself! that is something that I am learning right now and makes life so much better when we are thinking about others rather then ourselves!!!

Love you Pres!

Elder Tilley

… I just wanted to share an experience I had with you!

So I think you probably noticed from some of the letters home that I was struggling a lot, but the reason why I was struggling was because I felt like my testimony was (shaky)! I remember that I was in a lesson and I was testifying to a man that I knew that President Monson was a Prophet of God and the guy said to me " You can not have a certainty like that about this man!" When he said that it really shook me and it made me think, "Do I really know these things are true or am I just making it up!" "Do I really believe these things or am I just on my mission because that is what I was told I was suppose to do all my life and so that is what I did" Those thoughts and feelings kept building and building until it was a constant feeling and pressure that was on my heart and soul. It was a literal physical feeling that just weighed me down that I could not get rid of! I prayed and prayed and prayed and read the scriptures and sometimes I would feel better for a while, but then they would just go back to the way they were. I felt like a thick darkness came over me and I could not see or feel my testimony! It was so hard to teach people and testify because I felt like I did not know. I felt so lost. I found myself doing things that I would not normally do! I remember one day that was really hard for me, we were coming home from somewhere and the taxi that we were in wanted us to pay just a dollar more a person because of how far we went, which he was correct on the amount of money, but I just chewed that guy out pretty bad!!! …Afterwards I felt really bad not only because I chewed that guy out, but also because the next time somebody sees the two white missionaries instead of thinking Wow there are two humble nice looking guys I wonder why they are here, they will think " I remember those guys one of tem chewed out a taxi guy that one time and made a fool of himself for no reason, I definitely do not want to talk with them! " I found myself in this position and aftertime and a lot of prayers and scripture study and prayer I started to get over  it…I know that repentance is real and we can all become clean of our sins because of Jesus Christ! But repentance is not just not doing what we did wrong we have to have a change of heart and do what is right and continue to read the scriptures and pray if we do not we will fall. We have to have to have to do those things!!! Scripture study Prayers Church attendance and Temple attendance.

In the Book of Mormon in Lehi’s Vision he talks about a mist of Darkness and when I hear the word mist I think of a fog and the fog is really humid and went. Now picture an iron rod going through it. The iron rod is bound to get wet and it is going to be really hard to hang onto that is why we have to grasp to the iron rod (the word of God, scriptures) or else we will fall.

Also another thing I leaned during this time was with the Brother of Jared!! They made boats and crossed the ocean and when they crossed the ocean God caused a great wind and tempest to come upon the waters! Now they were in the boat for about a year and I am sure there was someone that complained in that boat and said why is God making these tempests why are the waters not calm!! If someone really did say that then the thing they did not understand was that it was by those very tempests that were pushing them to the Promised Land. Now that man had two options. Jump out of the boat and end the trial or continue on with HIS FAMILY and get pushed to the Promised Land or the Celestial Kingdom!!! Now what do you want to do!!

 (If anyone out there feels they are) lacking a testimony then I would say... get one!!!! It may not come all at once in fact it probably wont!!! But it will come line upon line precept upon precept here a little and there a little! But the way you are going to get a testimony is by really wanting to know and then living the things that the church, the prophets, (your) mom and Dad and Jesus Christ say to do... the basics scripture study, prayers, church attendance, temple attendance, Tithing, fasting and all those types of things!! Also the other thing is do not let Satan tell you that you do not have a testimony!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is what he did to me and he made me think like it was me that was doubting, but in reality it was him that was giving me these doubts, but … I did not recognize it!! …Remember the feelings that are the Holy Ghost!!! You may think well I just felt like that because that is what I have been told all my life and so that is why I felt like that!!!  That is a complete lie!!!  You have a testimony!!!! You just have to remember!!! Remember how you felt at Church, Remember how You felt at Seminay remember how you felt at the Temple!!!!!  Remember Remember Remember~!!! Strengthen your testimony and build it, but Do not let Satan tell you you do not have a testimony!!!!!

I just want to bear My testimony and say that I know that these things are true!!! I know they are!!! It is the only way we can be truly HAPPY!!!!!!!!!! real happiness!!!! I know the Book of Mormon is true because I have studied in it and prayed! It took a lot of study and a lot of prayer. It was not just a one time thing it was a consistent study and consistent prayer! And here a little and there a little I received a testimony! But testimony is not enough after a testimony we have to become converted!! Living according to the things that we know! Living according to our testimony!!!!

I love you all so much !!!!!!!!!!!

I will be praying for you every day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you!

Elder Tilley

PS-The medicine we take for Malaria makes our skin sensitive to the sun! No (the sunburn) it was not too bad at all

I will think (of a good name for the new Filly)