May 1, 2017

Here are a couple things that happened this week. 

We met this super crazy guy. Like straight out of his mind. He described himself as an "existentialist of hecidic persuasion tempered by universalism." I don't know if that is a religious affiliation or what. But it literally made our day. (And I had to ask him like 4 times to say it again and again because he spoke really quickly! Every time he said he was an existentialist of hecidic persuasion tempered by universalism. haha props to him)

"The adversary wants us to be busy doing good things so we don't have time to do great things."

Wow. My bishop said that in this week's testimony meeting. I love it so much! How empowering is that? Heavenly Father really does have such a great work for us and we are the only ones that are going to get in the way. We are capable of so much, and we can see it. We can see the moments of greatness and triumph, but they don't have to be moments of greatness. They can be habits. They can be the norm. We should have moments of weakness but expect excellence from ourselves always. When we humble ourselves and bring our lives into greater alignment with Heavenly Father's commandments (AKA repenting) we have the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ accompanying us in every step to lift us higher than ever.

"Am I using the wrong measuring tape?"

Sister Smith is an incredible lady in our ward and she and Brother Smith are just the best! This was a quote from her in testimony meeting and it meant a lot to me. She described using a measuring tape that wasn't accurate. And it is dangerous using numbers to determine your success as a missionary as is measuring success in life by worldly milestones such as wealth, position, or anything else. Those things will pass away and our answers to our Temple Recommend questions are how we should determine our success. That is how the Lord is determining our worthiness so why shouldn't we?

Things are just so excellent aren't they? Man life is so good! :) 

Happy May! 

Love from Elder Howland!