Dear Family,
This has been quite a week. Thank you for your love and prayers. We had a Zone Conference on Thursday and it was super good. President Ashton is awesome. We had about 15 minutes free time while waiting on lunch so he opened it up for question and answer and then taught us the doctrine of the kingdom. His knowledge of the scriptures is incredible.
I was in charge of the zone study (don't know why the zone leaders didn't do it) and had quite a good time. We talked about the difference between becoming a missionary and just doing missionary things. As I prepared for the study, I was prompted to study a little bit about Nephi compared to Laman and Lemuel. What I learned was that they essentially did the same things. All of them left Jerusalem with their father and journeyed into the wilderness. The differences then begin to pop up. It describes Laman and Lemuel: And then it describes Nephi:
11 Now this he spake because of the astiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did bmurmur in many things against their cfather, because he was a dvisionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart.
12 And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their afather. And they did bmurmur because they cknew not the dealings of that God who had dcreated them.
And then it describes Nephi:
16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the amysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did bvisit me, and did csoften my heart that I did dbelieve all the words which had been spoken by my efather; wherefore, I did not frebel against him like unto my brothers.
This is what dad taught his seminary class a few years ago. The wicked murmur while the righteous pray. As I kept studying, it was just incredible to me how many things we do in life just to do them (Law of Moses) rather than doing them to become more like the Savior (Law of Christ).
We met with Tommy again. He really has wanted to feel the Holy Ghost and we kept telling him that he needs to read in the Book of Mormon to do so. We were in the middle of the lesson reading from the Book of Mormon with him and he stopped and said, "You know, the other day I was reading the Book of Mormon and I felt something like a shock. Is that the Holy Ghost?", he then said, "Also, I was thinking about what I had read in the Book of Mormon the next day and I felt an understanding. It was almost like someone opened my eyes and everything made more sense. Was that the Holy Ghost?" We sure loved to hear that! We bore testimony that it was the Holy Ghost and had a wonderful lesson with him.
Other than Tommy, we have been spending all of our time doing service projects. I should have taken pictures. Last week we painted, tore down and put up drywall, and all other sorts of things. We have been working with less-active families to get them active and prepared to be sealed. That is fun work. The Spirit is there. I have seen hearts changed and softened. Some powerful moments have come as I have born testimony of being in the temple with all of you and reading the Book of Mormon every night. The parents just listen and then say, "Ok. We will do it if that is the feeling or if that is the result or the blessing."
Yesterday, I came to know for myself just how well the Lord can succor us. This Gospel is true. I know this with all of my heart.
Love,
Elder Case
P.S. The church changed its email policy for missionaries so I can now email anyone. I also have more time to email. So if anyone wants to get a hold of me you can pass my email along.
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