But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been great for Elder Markman and I here in our area. Its been pretty hot! The weather has cooled down much but we have been enjoying the summer and we are very thankful for the progress we have been making. I cannot express how much joy I feel in sharing the gospel with others and in helping others feel of the importance in eternal families and in being guided and directed by our Heavenly Father and our Savior. Very recently, I have thought much about the importance of the sacrament and in always remembering our Savior and His infinite and eternal sacrifice. It is such an amazing opportunity to go every Sunday to partake of the sacrament and to renew the covenants that we have made. One of the greatest blessings that we can have in this life is being able to always have His spirit to be with us. It is through Him that we are cleansed from sin and by His spirit, we are able to be guided and directed back to the presence of our Heavenly Father and receive eternal life. How important it is to remain true to our covenants so we can receive this amazing blessing in our lives.

On Tuesday, we had the amazing opportunity to meet our new President and his wife, President and Sister Polley. It was such an amazing experience being able to meet them and in seeing their excitement to serve here in the Texas San Antonio mission. It was neat seeing the humility that they have and there great desires to serve the Lord and to help us fulfill our duties and callings as missionaries. Each of us had the opportunity to meet them personally and to talk a little about ourselves. They invited us to discuss how Preach My Gospel has helped us become better missionaries and for how it has shaped us in being disciples of Jesus Christ. Preach My Gospel has truly helped me in developing Christ-like attributes and in strengthening the necessary skills of missionary work. I think it is amazing as well how much we depend on the written word and trust in the promises of the Lord and the promises that he has given in His work. Afterwards, Sister Polley gave a great training about what makes a successful missionary. I truly believe that this applies to all missionaries, both in the field and member-missionaries in our own wards. Our success as missionaries comes from our desires to find those who are prepared to receive the restored gospel. Success does not come from a ton of baptisms, it comes from our own hearts and our own desires to serve God and to give our 100% what ever it may be. She also talked about the importance in not comparing ourselves to others and base our success in working our hardest and giving our hearts to the Lord and to His work.

President Polley gave some wonderful insights as well. He shared a few scriptures from Moroni 7:47-48 that he invited us to read a few weeks previously. They are:  "But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen." 

President Polley went on to talk about how we are all followers of Jesus Christ and as we accept and live His gospel, we become His Sons and his Daughters. As we continue to live the gospel and develop and strengthen the attribute of charity in our own lives, we will become better prepared to live with our Heavenly Father after this life. He went on to say that we all should recognize that we are his followers and that we should continue on the gospel path and in helping others come unto the Savior. He concluded with a great thought on the Atonement. As we repent and turn to our Savior, we show our thankfulness for what He has done for us. The enabling power of the Atonement helps to reach above our mortal capacities here on earth. Not only can we be free from sin but we can enjoy peace of conscience and His enabling power to overcome the daily trials and challenges that we have. I can't wait to be able to see how the mission will grow and for how much I will grow because of their influence and direction. It truly has been a blessing already to have them as our leaders.

It has been such a great time being able to work with the ward members here in this area and for seeing the fire that they have to do missionary work. On Sunday, our ward mission leader, Bro. Garner was able to bring a great family that he met a few days previously who wanted to come to church and to see what it was like. We gave them a church tour and Marcus, the father really loved priesthood meeting. It was neat seeing the interest that they had and for the desire they have to learn more. We hope to visit them soon with Bro. Garner to share more about the message of the Restoration and to help them grow in the gospel.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to visit with the Nassari family this week but we hope to meet with them tonight to share more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and extend a baptismal invitation to them both. I hope that we may teach with the spirit and they may feel of the importance in baptism and in being united together in the gospel. It will be exciting to see how they will progress and grow and to see them develop their faith in Christ.

 It has been such a tender mercy for me in being able to partake of the sacrament and in feeling of the peace and joy that comes through the Atonement of Christ. Sacrament meeting this week was very powerful and it is such a blessing to be able to come together weekly to worship our Heavenly Father and to be filled and fed spiritually and become rejuvenated for the coming week. I have gained a great love for the Sabbath and for going to church. It continues to provide me aided support, relief and rest from the cares of the week previously. I know as we develop a love for the Sabbath day, we will grow closer to our families and our love for our Savior and our Heavenly Father will deepen as well.

Thank you all for the support and the prayers. I cannot express how much you all mean to me. Hope you have an awesome summer!

Love,

Elder Munro