"We have such a loving Father in Heaven..."

Hello wonderful friends and family! Let me begin by first saying that I am super short on time and apologize for the brevity of this email, but it has been one heck of a week!

We got a ton of work done and have experienced some great things the past few days. One of which was with a guy we met on Monday named Reggie. We walked up to him while he was smoking a cigarette on the bench and got talking and found out he had talked to the missionaries when he was 12 years old, probably about 14 years ago. He seemed very interested in the copy of the Book of Mormon that we gave him and set up a return appointment for Friday.

So Elder Richards and I met with him yesterday and we taught him the Restoration. It was the first time I had really taught a lesson with just one companion in English and it was the most incredible experience I have had so far teaching! The Spirit was so incredibly strong and he was extremely excited about the fact that the Book of Mormon is so relatable to us and was super open to all the principles of the Restoration. He is really going to be an amazing investigator.

The other great miracle we had this week was with Mary, the girl who was looking for her answer for baptism. She got up to bear her testimony at our testimony meeting on Sunday after the Young Single Adults Conference they had during the weekend and she invited everyone to her baptism. We didn't even know she had mad her decision! So THANK YOU ALL for praying for her! I know Heavenly Father heard your prayers and answered them! We have such a loving Father in Heaven and we should thank Him for absolutely every blessing in our lives!

In other news, we are being dumped on by rain all weekend and that meant riding our bikes in the pouring rain yesterday and walking around campus for hours getting soaked to the point that my scriptures were a little soggy and all the papers in my scripture case were drenched. Fortunately they all dried out and it's all good now!

And today we played ultimate frisbee in the rain/mud for a solid hour and a half and it was insanely fun. I dove for one and slid for about 15 feet before coming to a stop on the sidewalk... just minor cuts and bruises, but what would a day like that be without some scars to tell a story?!

Anyway, I love you all and I know that I am doing the Lord's work. Continue to pray and read your scriptures DAILY and I know that Heavenly Father will protect you from the fiery darts of the adversary. Have an amazing week and share your love with the world!

Love,

Elder LeSueur

Mormon.Org

"I couldn't be more proud to be a missionary..."

Hello beautiful people! This week has been amazing and has absolutely flown by! As I have said before, I'm scared that these next two years will be a blur and I'll be home before I know it.

I had a much better week than last week with being able to actually contribute to the lessons we have taught and become more comfortable with talking to the people we contact on campus. We have one girl named Mary who has a baptismal date and is progressing wonderfully, but is still waiting on an answer. I'malmost positive that she has already received it, but doesn't know that it was her answer.

Another investigator named Laverne has been having a rough week and said she is going through some depression, so please keep these two ladies in your prayers! I have a very strong testimony of the power of prayer and know that Heavenly Father will answer our prayers and give everyone help who needs it if we pray!

A really cool experience we had with prayer this week was with a guy named Tim who is a member of "Smoker's Square" (where we do a lot of proselyting, ironically) and he had become homeless. He asked us to pray for him, and we did that night, and the next morning he let us know that he had found a place to stay. It might sound coincidental, but I promise that was an answer to our prayers. Prayer is our two-way communication with Heavenly Father and I promise He hears AND responds! Be patient and He will give you exactly what you need.

Anyway, life is great and I couldn't be more proud to be a missionary. Yesterday wewere on campus (campus is dead on Fridays...) and there were several preachers there talking to students about the Bible and stuff. I wasn't offended by them being there and was actually glad to see them concerned for the welfare of these students because there is a TON of help needed at TCC. But when we walked past them, they started preaching to people that we worship the devil and that they should never talk to us. That's when I just felt offended. Haha except a couple of kids thought they were being ridiculous, so they came up and talked to us anyways and told us they were talking smack about us and asked us questions. We all agreed that with the name "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", we most certainly do NOT worship the devil... Anyway, they helped us out a lot more than they hurt us, so who's on the Lord's side, who? WE ARE!

I'm sorry if this is coming off as kind of an angry email, I promise I love everyone even if they talk smack about me :)

So, we played sand volleyball last night (which was freezing cold because we have had a cold front come through) and I've been dubbed as the best diver in our District. I'm proud of this honor and I will admit I had some pretty sweet diving plays!

Other than that, we had "ramwiches" which is ramen boiled just enough so you can unfold it, then you mix the seasoning with an egg and fry it into the ramen, then add meat and cheese, then throw some bread on both sides and its a great meal! SO GOOD! I highly recommend all you college students to try it because it’s cheap and very filling.

Anyway, I love you all so much and I hope life is going absolutely amazing! Remember that obedience is the first law of heaven and we will be blessed when we are obedient. I know that Jesus Christ died for our sins so that we can repent and be forgiven of them and receive His mercy. I love my Savior for this wonderful gift! I know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Christ and you willcome closer to Him through reading it. It truly brings happiness and I praythat you all read it daily! I love this Church with all my heart! I love you all and miss you! Be loving and charitable!

Love,

Elder LeSueur


Mormon.Org

"We Can Become Perfected Through His Atonement..."

Hello my amazing, beautiful family and friends! How is everything going? Was Christmas as awesome for y'all as it was for me? I know my family had fun with a new baby and all (Congratulations to my beautiful sister Cami for having her second child, Abigail Rose Jensen!) and I just wanted to say, Christmas at the MTC was by far the BEST one of my life! I don't mean to say the other ones with my family haven't been awesome too, but it was a true Christmas here and the joy and happiness I felt all day long was just so amazing and I hope I can carry that with me for the rest of my life!

We really were so fortunate to have an Apostle of the Lord speak to us, Elder Russel M. Nelson, and his wife Wendy. They spoke to us about the importance of recognizing the spiritual gifts we have and utilizing them as often as possible! We are all so blessed in our lives, we just have to sit down and ponder the things we have received and thank Heavenly Father for them daily!

I testify that He hears our prayers and will continue to bless us more and more as we strive to be obedient to His commandments and live a righteous life. I have witnessed this constantly in my life even since being here at the MTC! We are constantly going at 100 mph and there's no time to just sit down and take a break, but that's what I'm here for and I know the Lord is blessing me for my diligence and hard work.

Anyways, the whole day we got to spend time thinking about and focusing on the Savior, which is what Christmas is truly about, and it was so much easier here because we weren't distracted by the things of the world that so easily creep into our minds and make us lose sight of the most important things. The Adversary is very real and he will do anything possible to distract us from doing the things that will help the work of the Lord to progress. I have had experiences with this with my companion. We are both hardheaded and like to argue, so as you can imagine, we get into some pretty lame disagreements. But the fact that I can recognize that and put it behind me helps me put off the temptations to be angry or unmotivated.

Whenever you're feeling like you cant take it anymore, pray to Heavenly Father that He will give you strength to overcome the obstacle you're facing and close in the name of Jesus Christ. He is waiting for you to call upon Him so He can help you, but with our agency, He can't help us without us asking for it first. "I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." not sure the exact scripture quote, so look it up! The Atonement of Jesus Christ allows us to feel peace and joy and hope even when we are in the pits of depression. Again, you must call upon the Lord to help you. Let go of your pride and ask for help! I know its hard, but I PROMISE you will feel the pure love of the Savior wrap you up and get you through your trials! I'm not perfect, you're not perfect, nobody is perfect. But because Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself and because He IS perfect, we can become perfected through His Atonement. I leave my witness with you of the peace and love that comes with being obedient and searching for His assistance when we cant do it on our own.

I love you all and I wish you all the best and a Happy New Year! Make some changes to be better and serve others. Serving others will make you happier! I testify that Heavenly Father is hastening His work and the fact that He has called me to do His work is the highest honor I could ever receive in this life. "We are as the Army of Helaman, we have been taught in our youth. And we are NOW the Lord's Missionaries to bring the world His truth." I love every one of you more than you could ever imagine! Be happy and love others!

Com muito amor,

Elder LeSueur

Mormon.org