Landon’s Letter
Hey my wonderful Family!
I hope you all enjoyed General Conference like I did! I know that it has helped me realize some very important things in life. First off since it is Thanksgiving, thank you for being such a great family to me. I really appreciate all that you do and all the support you have given to me. I wouldn't trade any of you for the world. I have found that my family is where my greatest joy comes from. I always love to hear from all of you in every aspect of your life.
Who heard Jeffery R. Hollands talk? WOW....... Do You Love Me? That has gotten me thinking how much do we love Jesus Christ? There is love in which we love something and then there is love like we need it. I thought of Cold Stone haha. There is a "like it", "love it", and a "gotta have it". Ya we can "like it" and have just a little bit of it here and there. We read scriptures, pray, go to church, and follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ like great suggestions to be happy because we have seen that it does help our lives. We can "love it" and try a bit more of it in our lives. Search the scriptures, pray for guidance, listen at church, and know that we can be happy because we do apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. These are good and better but this isn't what God has in mind for us. He wants us to be happy now and for ETERNITY. This leaves that last one and the best, we've "gotta have it". We feast upon the scriptures, talk with God and listen to his promptings during prayer, participate actively and ponder in church all aspects of our lives where we can improve because we are always learning, and don't follow the suggestions of the Gospel of Jesus Christ but strive to live it every minute of everyday. Then the most important thing about this is to not keep this to ourselves but to share our joy, happiness, and love because they were given to us as a gift from our Loving Heavenly Father.
I thought that his talk was pretty darn good and there were many others that were just as good! What were some of your thoughts? I would really like to hear as I think Annie would be to and of course the rest of you:)
Rachel keep up all the hard work and keep having fun. I love you and appreciate all that you do!
Natalie I told you that you would like to be over in school and the more you hang out with friends and do fun activities the more you will enjoy it. Sewing Awesome! ;)
Annie keep up the great work I don't think I will hear from you this week but I know that you are working hard and the Lord will bless you for all your efforts.
Megan & Justin thanks for all you do. Seriously thanks I'm not even there to see all you are doing but thanks for Serving the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! Have fun in Florida Justin.
Mom thanks for all the support you are to me and thank you so much for all that you have done to help me in my life! I love you so much and am deeply grateful for all that you do! I will look into the ensign and let you know :)
Dad thanks for always being there for me in all the times that I have needed your help. You are a great example to me by sharing your time with me. Thank you for everything you do I love you!
Love your favorite Elder, Brother, and Son
Landon Webb
Annie’s Letter
Hello dearest family! I have NO time to write today... so here we go:
hope your week has been filled with supreme awesomeness thus far and that it will continue to do so! Our week has just been fantastic! So many miracles are made manifest to us each day as we strive to do our Heavenly Father's will!
First of all, what a miracle we witnessed on Saturday as President Monson announced the new age for missionaries! This is so incredible! The work is just going to BOOM!
It is going to be so awesome to watch how the work progresses in the coming years especially as a missionary. What an amazing opportunity we have to witness the change from this incredible perspective! Life really is all about perspective, President. "The sinking of the Titanic was a miracle to the lobsters in the kitchen!" TRUE! All the talks at conference were just exceptional! I am so glad that we still have a prophet today who speaks to God and tells us what we need to do to improve ourselves so that we can become more like our Savior. And of course, the amazing Apostles as well. I am so thankful for them! My personal favorite talk was by Elder Oaks about protecting the children. It really just touched the mother in me, well the future mother in me. I hope I will be a good mom someday! But for now, I hope I am being and continue to become a good missionary! Which brings me to another wonderful talk... Elder Holland's. Wow. Elder Holland is just amazing! To quote Sister Tiwtchell... "Elder Holland makes me want to repent for things I've never done wrong!" He really just inspires me to be a better person all the time. His talk has elicited serious contemplation from one, Sister Webb. How much do I love Christ? Can he tell by my actions? It was great to be thinking about this because then Landon's email was just perfectly aligned! So I'm just going to copy and paste what he said because he hit the nail right on the head!
Who heard Jeffery R. Hollands talk? WOW....... Do You Love Me? That has gotten me thinking how much do we love Jesus Christ? There is love in which we love something and then there is love like we need it. I thought of Cold Stone haha. There is a "like it", "love it", and a "gotta have it". Ya we can "like it" and have just a little bit of it here and there. We read scriptures, pray, go to church, and follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ like great suggestions to be happy because we have seen that it does help our lives. We can "love it" and try a bit more of it in our lives. Search the scriptures, pray for guidance, listen at church, and know that we can be happy because we do apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. These are good and better but this isn't what God has in mind for us. He wants us to be happy now and for ETERNITY. This leaves that last one and the best, we've "gotta have it". We feast upon the scriptures, talk with God and listen to his promptings during prayer, participate actively and ponder in church all aspects of our lives where we can improve because we are always learning, and don't follow the suggestions of the Gospel of Jesus Christ but strive to live it every minute of everyday. Then the most important thing about this is to not keep this to ourselves but to share our joy, happiness, and love because they were given to us as a gift from our Loving Heavenly Father.
My brother is awesome! "gotta have it!" We have gotta show our Savior and Redeemer how much we love Him! I hope every day I can work a little harder to show Him a little better just how much I do love Him. As we do that, He works miracles for us! For example:
Sunday after conference we went finding. We knocked door after door after door. It was dark, it was cold, doors were getting shut. Over and over again. We were discouraged. We stopped and prayed for guidance and continued on. We finished the long street we were on and still nothing had happened. I had a scripture in my head and in my heart during all of this. Alma 26:27. "Now when our harts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." I knew Heavenly Father would bless us if we pressed forward. We had planned to stop by one of our investigator's houses on the way home at about 8:45. I actually wanted to keep finding but Sister Twitchell had felt all day like we should go to her house and see her. All day, that is, until we were almost there. Then she didn't so much anymore. At that precise moment we got a text message from the assistants. We were at 43 new investigators. Our mission goal of 50 new investigators during conference weekend was completely in reach! (by Saturday night, we had found 12 as a mission. Satan was laughing his head off! and we were not okay with that! BTW on Saturday we found Jesse who is just awesome! And hopefully I'll have more to say about him next week! Suffice it to say... he is awesome! And just wants to do what is right by his kids and by God.) And we were not going to be a companionship that did not contribute on Sunday! We had passed a street the other day, Todd Ct. and I had, at that point, thought to myself "self, we need to tract this soon. Not today, but soon." Todd ct immediately came to mind and I navigated our trusty Fusion to the street without effort (or GPS). We went finding. We knocked and knocked and knocked. it was dark, it was cold, doors were getting shut. But I had faith! And so did Sister Twitchell! Just as the sons of Mosiah were helping me, the story of the 4th watch was helping Sister Twitchell. We were in the 4th watch and we continued on! 8:58. We knocked on one more door. And we met Bob. Who has so much faith and is willing to learn whatever he can about our Heavenly Father's plan for us, about His restored Gospel. We found our new investigator, President. We found another child of God who we can help come closer to Him. That is what this work is all about. Pressing forward just a little longer. Knocking another door. Showing Christ just how much we love Him. He spent his whole life going the extra mile. He never gave up. Neither will we give up! NEVER! Miracles happen. Everyday. As long as we have the faith to unbind God's hands. For it is us who binds His hands when we lack faith. He wants so much to bless us, we just have to let Him.
You can be sure that Sister Webb and Sister Twitchell have been changed this weekend. We are even more determined to do this work. To work as hard as we possibly can! When my mission is over, I have the confidence of Enos, Heavenly Father will look at me and say, just as he did to the two wise servants to whom he gave talents, "well done thou good and faithful servant." I won't have it any other way. I choose to have Him say those words to me. I will choose every day by my thoughts, words and deeds. This day, Sister Webb has become a new servant. Rededicated to serving the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. This work is worth every effort. Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep. I stand ready and willing to answer the call! I am thankful that I have such wonderful co-servants of the Lord all around me.
Now about the age change... here is what I think about that! :-)
I am so excited about the age change! I think this is very inspired and will definitely help the work to just explode! It is going to be wonderful to see the changes that are going to happen in missionary work and in the world over the next few years. I am so grateful that I am a missionary right now so that I have the incredible opportunity to see the changes from a unique perspective. I look forward to serving the younger sisters that are soon to join the ranks! What a wonderful time we live in! We are so blessed to see the work of the Lord expand in miraculous ways! As for me, I know I wasn't ready to serve a mission at 19. If that would have been the norm then, I honestly don't know if I would have served because I wasn't ready then and I may have thought I was "too old" by the time I was 21, which is a skewed perspective I know but I'm being honest. I am grateful that I was called to serve when I was and in the circumstance that I was! I know of several girls who I'm pretty sure probably already have their papers mostly completed so that they can serve now! I think the numbers of sisters will increase! So many girls want to serve missions but get married by the time they're 21, which is so great! But this will give them the opportunity to fulfill another very rewarding desire of their hearts. What a wonderful day we live in! I just can't say it enough! We were saved for this day because Heavenly Father has that much trust in us. And he has trust in these young sisters who will soon join us in the service of our Lord and Master. I have no doubt that the younger elders and sisters are going to change the whole vibe of missionary work throughout the world!
Sorry I don't have time to tell each of you individually how much I love you and how grateful I am for all of you and commentate on your exciting lives. But I love you all so much and you are just the greatest family ever! I echo Landon... my family is my greatest joy. I love you all and I am very excited to see you all...in less than a year! Except Landon. I'll see you in 20 months. Thanks for all you do for me! Transfers are this week, so I'll let you know about that next week. you guys are just amazing! I can't say it enough! Have a great week!
All my love,
Annie
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