Dear Everyone,
So, after a lame letter last week, I'm repenting with what I hope will be a better one. =)
I'm
being transferred from Cassequel! Elder Arrington and I are being sent
to open up Benguela--a very exciting, very new opportunity that has us
both freaking out. We have 2 transfers to get it ready for other
missionaries to come in and take over the work.
This past week has been
wild. We saw a riot, heard gunfire, avoided a car accident by just a few feet, and pulled a "Alma-and-Amulek-street-
preaching-moment". We got 5 phone numbers out of it and we're excited to see where they go.
I have glasses now. I've been getting pretty bad headaches,
so I went in for an eye test and they prescribed a fairly
low-prescription pair of glasses. I'm still getting used to them.
So, yeah. My week was pretty great. Want to hear what
actually happened?
April Fool's! None of what I just said is happening. None of
it. I'm staying in Cassequel and Elder Stewart is coming in to be my
companion. I'm excited. Augusto and João Batista are getting baptized
on the 6th and we're very excited for them. We're going to spend some
great time finding this week.
While there were no riots, we had some great lessons. I
really enjoyed this past week. I felt the Spirit a lot. I was also
able to go an exchange with Elder Tolman (who leaves on Wednesday) which
was great. I love and will miss him. It's super surreal to be saying
goodbye to all these missionaries with whom I came in. Time's a-ticking
and I'm a-working. =)
Happy late Easter, by the way. I hope you all felt the
special spirit of Christ's sacrifice as you contemplated His eternal and
infinite love for all of us. I add my testimony to that of many that
He loves us and cares about us. He knows us all and He knows what we
need. He paid for our pains, hurts, anguishes, sins, and heartaches.
He understands. I promise you that. And, knowing all of our parts
(even the deepest, darkest ones)... He still loves us perfectly. He
knows. And He loves. That, to me, is greater than any gift that I
could imagine.
Many of God's children have wandered from His fold. I think
we all know someone (or have been someone) who has walked the paths of
Satan's unsatisfying lies and drawn water from the glittering pools of
pain that he offers us. But, you know what?
Who cares? We
don't have to stay in the fields of flattering words and near the wells
of misery. We don't have to keep on climbing the mountains of despair
that seem so tall, so formidable, and so impossible to scale.
We can come down.
Much more importantly than what we've done, the Atonement of Jesus
Christ allows us to focus on what we're doing, what we will do and, most
importantly,
who we are and what we're becoming. Our Heavenly
Father beckons us to come back to the sheepfold of security, love, and
peace. Christ has left the sheepfold, walked the fields, drawn water
from the wells and pools, scaled every despairing and terrible peak, and
mapped out every corner of the kingdom of the devil to show us the way
back. He calls, He seeks, and He loves. He truly descended below all
things so that the Atonement covers anything that we have done or will
do. If we accept and follow Christ, He will help us repent, turn to
Him, and
come home. I testify of these eternal truths.
Easter is such a beautiful holiday that I know I haven't
thought enough about. I invite all to consider what we truly
commemorated yesterday.
I love you all and I'm adoring my
mission. I'm learning so much about who I am and what the Lord wants
for me. I feel so much closer to my Savior than I ever thought I
could. I feel at home. I feel at peace. I never want to leave these
things. When I come home (I
have finally accepted that this will
all come to an end), I hope to be able to always keep in remembrance
the lessons I have learned here. I hope to continue to grow, to
continue to be teachable and rebukable. I hope to truly become a humble
disciple of Jesus Christ.
Thanks for all of your support, care and prayers. I feel them.
Elder Eckman
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