17 Aug 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you so much for writing me each week. I really enjoy hearing from you and what is going on back home. That's cool that you had the stake service project this week. It sounds like you had a good time. 

When we have missionary meetings, we normally travel there by makinë. However, the makinë that we have is an Opel Corsa (5 seater) so there isn't enough room for all of us. Because the makinë is the sister's makinë they use it both ways and we elders will get to ride in the makinë with them one way and the other will take a bus, then on the return trip we'll switch. Prizren is a pretty big city. It's pretty popular for its castle. There's only one castle, but it's pretty big so we explore different parts of it when we go there on p-days. However, I'd have to say that Prishtina is more of a tourist city. This last week has been really hot, so the weather has been normal. However, on Sunday there was a pretty big rain storm that came through and it broke the humidity and heat. So now it's a lot more comfortable. 

Yeah, I'm learning a ton on my mission. I knew that I would learn a lot and grow, but never this much! It's crazy! I love it! I'm really grateful that the Lord has given me this wonderful opportunity to serve Him in this capacity! My mission has taught me a TON about the importance of callings. It makes me so happy when I see a member fulfilling their calling. It's wonderful! Remember that callings come from the Lord, but we just hear it from the mouth of the Bishop.

This last week was an awesome week. We were blessed with the opportunity to teach a ton of people this last week. It's amazing how much you see and recognize the Hand of the Lord during your mission. It's awesome to see those small and subtle, but powerful things happening in your life, or the lives of others. The Lord really is in charge of this work. It's His work. He's the one who directs it, we just need to follow His lead. We need to be obedient and listen to His call. I've come to know that the closer we are to the Lord, the closer we can bring others. It's kinda' like we are in math class. I can't teach you linear algebra when I've only made it to geometry. Or I can't teach you Shakespeare when my reading level is Magic Tree House (no insult to Magic Tree House intended, I love those books!) In order for us to help others come closer to Christ, we need to come closer to Him ourselves. How do we come closer to Christ? We come closer to Christ through our obedience and applying the commandments that He has given us. We have to remember that we don't gain a witness until after the trail of our faith (see Ether 12:6). We need to walk first by faith and obedience to our Heavenly Father, and then comes the testimony; then comes the blessings of Heaven; then comes true conversion. In order for us to truly be converted to the Savior Jesus Christ and His Gospel, we need to be obedient and loyal to Him. There was a quote I read in the Liahona a while back that I really liked. It said, "We aren't obedient because we cannot see. We are obedient because we can see." Obedience doesn't mean blind obedience to what others tell us. The Lord tells us repeatedly, "ask and ye shall receive; knock and it shall be opened unto you" (see pretty much any page of the scriptures, you can find it pretty quick). If we have a question about a commandment or why we should do something the solution is simple. Ask the Guy who knows it all. Ask God. He'll answer. He can't lie, so don't worry about getting a fake answer. He won't lead you astray, because He loves you. I've personally done this and I know that God answers our prayers. He gives us those answers because He loves us. When we receive answers to our questions we come closer to Christ, and when we come closer to Christ we can then help others come closer to Him and taste of the blessings that come from the Restored Gospel.

Thank you for all that you do. Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts. I really appreciate them! Ju dua shumë. Kalofshi bukur. Javë të mbarë!

Me dashuri,

Elder Watson