You must read these talks, both are available on www.lds.org.
We Are Doing a Great Work and Cannot Come Down.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
His Grace Is Sufficient
Brad Wilcox
My testimony has grown so much as I have listened to these talks and applied them and focused on the Savior and becoming more and more Christ like.
One of the lines in "His Grace is Sufficient" that struck me was,
Elder Bruce C. Hafen “The great Mediator asks for our repentance not because we must ‘repay’ him in exchange for his paying our debt to justice, but because repentance initiates a developmental process that, with the Savior’s help, leads us along the path to a saintly character” (The Broken Heart [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989], 149; emphasis in original).
Another that struck me
"We are not earning heaven. We are learning heaven. We are preparing for it (see D&C 78:7). We are practicing for it.”
And yet another,
“Have you been changed by grace?”
(pretty much his whole deal on that part of being changed, and when he talks about getting in to heaven, that part is dang good!) ''Heaven will not be heaven for those who have not chosen to be heavenly.''
If Jesus Christ did not require endurance to the end, then there would be no internalization of those changes over time. They would forever be surface and cosmetic rather than sinking inside us and becoming part of us—part of who we are. Put simply, if Jesus didn't require practice, then we would never become pianists.
I encourage each of you to read these talks, even if your not a Mormon! Either which way if you want to read them or if ya don't, still do it! You can listen to them and watch them. I promise they will help you find relief, peace, hope and direction in life.
''Changing our behavior and our nature due to the things we read and hear is the ultimate test of our character and our love for God '' -Joshua Braman
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I also have another request, I have two months left. Yikes !!!!!! Anywho, don't talk about it, its a long time even though I know its short. I am going to finish better than I started, even though coming home scares the crap out of me!
Elder Lyden and I are doing well, probably my favorite companion. He's a good kid, HUMBLE and a hard worker. I appreciate those things in a companion. One of our favorite thing to do is to make a game of how many times we can get rejected. Not like we are trying to but the more people we talk to the more we get rejected. Kinda sad actually.
So far I believe I am slightly ahead of Elder Lyden. This week we dubbed as THE WEEK OF REJECTION! In all ways we have been rejected. By our bishop, our landlord, everybody! It's been great...
Things are great, I'm loving the mission and loving the work. I am some how growing to actually like the Young Single Adult Branch ( for those who don't know what that is, it's church for single adults ... reallllly awkward and really quite). I have seen a tender mercy from my Heavenly Father in all of it. It is really (shhhh!!!) really peaceful and quite during church and wow, I like to be able to focus on the spirit during the sacrament!
Keep being awesome!
I love you all!!!
Keep on keepin'on.
You cant say I didn't do anything for ya, I just gave ya some homework!! Or I just gave you your next three to four family night activities.
You're Welcome!!
With love,
Elder Joshua Braman
Elder Braman riding a very slow train...
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