We have roughly 15-17 baptisms in Cassequel on the 23rd.

    Again I am trying to catch up on posts, I have just posted the last 2 E-mails, today's, and Feb. 25, 2013

Dear Mom, Dad, Jane, Heather, Anna, Trent, and anyone else who gets/reads this thing,  March 4, 2013

I have had a crash course in seeking, understanding, and following the Lord's will lately.  I'm glad that He's patient.  =)

I heard about the exciting open houses with President Walton and President Merrill.  Wow!  I'm jealous--I miss the Walton's and would love to meet the Merrill's.  But don't worry about little old me--I'm just doing the best thing I've ever done with my life.  No big deal.

We have roughly 15-17 baptisms in Cassequel on the 23rd.  We'll see how many the other branches have.  =)

Everyone seems to be leaving on missions, coming back from missions, getting married, or having kids.  Life is just exploding!  I just heard that there are roughly 80,000 missionaries in the field right now.  How crazy is that?  The work is blowing up and the Lord is surely preparing the church and the world for something big.

We had 10 investigators in church on Sunday.  =)  Everything is really running.  In the upcoming week we're going to focus on finding--we've doing pretty poorly in that area lately and if you aren't finding, you're losing.  The people we have sure are great, though.

I had a really cool experience in church.  As some of our newer/recently reactivated members received callings and priesthood advancements, I just couldn't stop smiling.  I was just happy all day.  It was cool to see our branch have success and those whom I love have joy in the gospel.  It was really singular for me to feel so involved in the church.  It's a feeling I won't forget.  Through me the Lord's been able to help these people grow in the truth and do what's right.  I got to share in their joy.

I just want to share a little thought with you all about the scriptures.  As they have an increased presence in my life, I'm acutely aware of a reliance on them that I never would have guessed 2 years ago.  A day without reading The Book of Mormon is not a good day.  A day without pondering and searching and marking my scriptures as I truly search and apply the words of life to my personal existence is an empty day.  I just...  Love the scriptures so much.  I know that the Lord shows His love for us through His words.  I know that we learn every time we read and apply ourselves to understanding.  I know that the scriptures answer every worthwhile question and bring to light so many beautiful and glorious truths that would otherwise be lost.  I love teaching from the scriptures.  I love teaching about the scriptures.  In fact, this week we had a really cool experience.  Elder Whitaker (my spiritual better and teacher in all senses) brought up a really great point in one of our companionship studies.  We were talking about how to better use the scriptures and he said that he worries that missionaries spend so much time trying to convince people through the scriptures that we rarely truly teach from the scriptures.  So, we applied it to our lessons.  The Spirit was so sweet and strong in those lessons.  The doctrine didn't change.  The information didn't change.  Our attitude changed and the Spirit changed with it.  It was startling.

I love this work and I'm trying so hard to squeeze every drop out of myself before I have to leave it behind.  I hope I can!

Keep praying,

Elder Eckman