Epistle #7 from Elder Lobo

Olá a todos!

This is going to be a big letter.

So much happened. It was probably my best week in the MTC, and I had several days in a row when I thought, "wow, this is the best day in the MTC so far."

WE JUST GOT FLIGHT PLANS! We fly on the 18th straight to Paris, then to Lisboa. I'll send a photocopy home.

I'll just go right down my list because I don't have time to make the order coherent:

Dad - When you were talking to the missionaries, I remember you saying that you were going to tell them off and prove them wrong. What was the point when you gave up trying to do that and what lead to it?

Drew - In a fireside on Sunday, there was a great analogy about trials. A blacksmith heats the piece of metal until just the right temperature, which he recognizes because of so much experience and care. After he takes it out, he beats it seemingly randomly, but not aimlessly. The sparks that fly out contain a lot of impurities, and the pure metal cleaves to the adjacent pure metal, reincorporating the weaknesses (impurities) to make it stronger. Think about that.

ELDER HOLLAND CAME for out Tuesday Devotional!!! It was amazing. AMAZING. He speaks with such force and makes it so clear. He talked about being obedient and recognizing that this is the Lord's mission, not ours. "For this is MY work and MY glory..." "Notice the first person possessive."

In other news, when you unwrap a breatheright strip in the dark, IT GLOWS! Something about stretching and breaking the adhesive between the two paper sheets emits light. It's really cool.

Also, I plan on giving up speaking English when I step off the plane in Lisboa. So, if you want to help me keep up my English, keep writing! :-)

Now to a more serious tone:

The MTC has been a great experience for me. I was talking to one of my teachers yesterday, Irmao Hibbert, and he said that I would probably never have another chance like this to be so immersed in the Gospel - in purpose, in study, in action. I am loving every second of it, even though it's hard. I feel the love of God so much, not just for me, but for all people. It's incredible. I really feel like it's been a huge paradigm shift. It's like being able to put the world in its place. What I meant by "you are: who you are on a mission" is that you have your agency all the time. Thinking that your inherent nature is just going to manifest is risky, because you don't know which of your dispositions you are going to allow to take over. For this reason, I know it's critical to face every decision of every day with this in mind: that I will account to the Lord how I used His time, His blessings, and all that He has given me to do His will for His children. Like a talk President Davis gave in a Stake Conference way back when, righteousness is supernatural.

I've been listening to General Conference a lot in Portuguese this last week, and I thankfully report that I understand a lot of it. It's such a beautiful language, and I often think while I listen, "How in the world am I understanding this?" I honestly don't know, except it be with the guidance and assistance of the Lord in my life before in my studies and opportunities before and with the gifts of the Spirit now. I love the Saturday Afternoon session. I'm so glad I could be there for it.

And now onto probably the weightiest part of the letter: The Book of Mormon. I started from the beginning when I got into the MTC, and I made it my goal to finish it by the time I left. I'm in Ether right now; about 30 pages from the end.

I have to admit, the end of the Book of Mormon always seems in a way to be depressing when I read it straight through -- that so much bad could happen to so many people, that people could reject the Gospel, reject the Savior, and think they know better. In a Fireside on Sunday, the MTC president put it as best as I have ever heard it, and you all know that I like describing things with one word. The Book of Mormon is a saga. It's a saga of a message. Once I got to Mormon, and was reading that Mormon had died and Moroni was taking over, and he had no friends, family, or anything except the little space left, it really started to click. I've always looked to Moroni as an example of simplicity -- that we don't need the inanity of activities or etc. So if the Book of Mormon is a saga of a message, I know the saga: lots of people died and missionaries went preaching like crazy trying to save people from themselves. So what is the message? I'll cut to the chase: it's Jesus Christ. I realized that this message is what we need to apply in our lives -- not the saga. I like Ammon, and the Brother of Jared, but the most we could get out of the Book of Mormon is the Savior. Absolutely.

Real intent.

I also want to put my two cents in and say that there is no way Joseph Smith could have concocted such a powerful, cohesive, inspiring, loving, charitable, hopeful, etc. book. Not even with the help of Satan. It came forth by the power of God, fulfilled the prophecies of God, and comenced the prophesied work of preparing the way for the second coming of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Incredible.

I was sitting on the 5th floor of our classroom building, and I was trying to write in my journal the thoughts I was having. It started turning into shorter and shorter lines, and then I think it became a poem. I'm not a poet and will never claim to like poetry, but I felt like this was necessary. I have 7 minutes; hopefully I can type it all out.

NOPE I can't. I'll mail it.

I love you all! I wish I could write better, but I hope you are doing everything you should be doing to feel the love of the Savior. Keep reading the Book of Mormon.

Oh, and Mom -- I still have tons of food. There is so much food here. I gained 7 pounds, and then worked off 4 of them, so don't worry about that!

I'm going to send a box home of stuff I don't need. I'm going to send my CTR ring home, but if anybody wants to hang onto that, just let me know and I'll send it to you. There is no place for bling in being a missionary.

I love you all!!!!!!!!

Elder Lobo