"Do Good Things and You Will Be Happy..."

Hello all my amazing family and friends! Have I told you lately that I love y'all so much? Seriously, I can't explain how grateful I am for each and every one of you! This past week has been absolutely great, I have gotten more letters than I know what to do with! (I still expect more from those of you who haven't written me though...) 

As a quick Provo update, we had a couple days of record breaking highs of about 35 and 40 degrees this week! I know it sounds horrible to most of you, but it was nearly shorts and a t shirt weather... And now we're back to the dang snow and freezing temperatures. 

A little news from the week: Elder Ginez had to get glasses, so we were able to abandon the MTC campus for about four total hours on Monday and Thursday. I was so excited! Seeing real people, and real cars, and real magazines and newspapers that were from last November. It got me so much more excited to leave the bubble I live in here and get out to Brazil! Anyways, I know I'm here still for a reason beyond what I can know at this point, so I will just keep taking life as it comes and doing everything I know I'm supposed to be doing! Other than that little adventure outside of the MTC, we have basically been doing the same exact thing as we have always done here. I think that's really helping the time fly by because it feels like I have a P Day every other day! 

So my Spiritual thought for the week is something we heard from Elder Enrique Falabella at the Devotional Tuesday night. He spoke to us about charity and making changes in our lives and one thing he said which I'm sure most of you have heard before but could always be reminded of is, "If we keep doing things the same, we will get the same results. If we do things differently, we will get different results." This can be applied in several ways. First and foremost, if you aren't happy for whatever reason, make changes! Whether it's the people you're hanging around, the things you do in your free time, or whatever you notice that isn't helping you out. I can promise you this: Wickedness NEVER was happiness and never will be. Do good things and you will be happy! I promise! That's one of the benefits of serving a mission. I am continually doing good and therefore I am always happy! Study the scriptures, serve people, PRAY. These are a few of a million things you could be doing to be happy! Please seek true happiness and not the vain, temporary happiness the worldly things has to offer. 

Another quick note he shared with us was that repentance leads to charity which leads to a desire to share the gospel. Repentance is a gift, even though we tend to give it a negative connotation. How cool is it that Christ paid for our sins so that we can be cleansed of them? But it's not automatic... It takes recognition on our part and a true, sincere desire to make the CHANGE I was talking about earlier. Charity is a necessary characteristic for salvation, so please work on that and then you will WANT to share the gospel with others because you WILL be happy! 

I testify of the cleansing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the peace and happiness it brings you afterwards. I love you all so much! Be happy and share your love with those in need! 

Love,

Elder LeSueur

Mormon.org 

"We Have the Potential to Become Like Him..."

It has been an absolutely crazy week! I just want to start off by saying I love you all and miss you so much! This past week we experienced a flu outbreak which kind of caught me for a day so I was stuck in bed all day Wednesday wishing I could be doing something productive, but it was also kind of nice to be able to sleep 20 of the 24 hours! It was tough because I was having really weird dreams and kept waking up feeling like something was wrong and then I was just so vulnerable to thinking about everyone back home I got really upset and really homesick.

I want everyone to know that those feelings (any bad feeling we get at all) are from Satan himself and he is working so hard to discourage us and make us feel like we can't live up to the potential we have as God's children. Think about it... We learn from our parents and eventually become like them because of the observations and everything we have of them. Now apply that to Heavenly Father. As His children, we have the potential to become like Him! How cool is that?! I challenge all of you to find out for yourselves what you can do to become more like Him and have all that He has. 4

We have also been dealing with the coldest consistent weather I have ever felt. It was 0 degrees this morning on our trip to the temple and that made the ten minute walk feel like an eternity! As soon as we stepped outside it felt like I couldn't breathe because it was so cold and so dry! Miserable... But that just makes the entrance into warm buildings all that much better! I have been feeling so great the last couple weeks and I know its because all of you are praying so fervently for me to have all that I need, so THANK YOU! Please keep the prayers coming ;)

I was reading in Alma 26 the other day and came across the scripture about why he was boasting in God. Verses 10-12 and 27 summed up to me says that we are nothing in our own strengths, but with the help of the Lord we can have success by bearing our afflictions with patience. I know this is true because I have been dealt some pretty rough things already! And whenever I've complained or felt like I was being wronged, it was so much harder to be happy or gain blessings from it. But when I was willing to accept it as the Lord's divine plan for me, I understood the lessons I needed to learn and how it would help me in the future.

For instance, yesterday we were teaching one of our progressing investigators, Fabiano, and the lesson ended up being the last lesson we would teach him because he had stopped progressing. What I learned was that when Elder Ginez and myself were not teaching in unity (the most important key of teaching), we didn't allow him to be taught by the Spirit and everything fell through. There's a lot more that I learned, but I'm running short on time.

I just want all of you to know that the things you deal with in this life are preparing you for the future and giving you knowledge you must know for the next life as you become like God!

To finish off, I have some awesome news... Drum-roll...

People are starting to get their visas from Brazil! The district that is just one week ahead of us started getting them today and Elder Christensen of my district got his too! AHH its so exciting and so much more motivating to know we are finally so much closer to being where we are going to be proselyting! I'm so excited to get to Brazil! Even though I won't be able to get letters and packages as easily, its still way exciting.

Speaking of letters and packages, SEND ME MORE! I'm really wanting to hear from all of you about your lives! I know its time consuming and I cant be a hypocrite because I never really wrote missionaries, but I would love it :) I gotta go, but I love you all!

I know this gospel is true and I know that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us individually and knows us personally too!

I look forward to your letters :) Be happy and go share something with someone in need! 

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 

"You Will Find Great Joy and Peace..."

Wow what a week it has been here in Provo, Utah! I've never been so tired but so dedicated and willing to work in my life as I am here and it's amazing but so exhausting at the same time. I have continued to learn so much and it's really becoming a habit that I will love and hopefully continue to keep past the next two years and for the rest of my life! I miss every one of you so dearly and I pray for you each time I speak with Heavenly Father, so I know He is taking care of you :)

I feel like I have kind of hit a wall with learning the language, but to me that means I just have to work harder! I know the Lord will bless me according to my needs and my obedience to His will. I have never been more willing to deal with things that come up in my life that are tough than I am now and it truly makes me so much happier. We can only deal with the experiences we are given, so complaining and wishing for it to change won't do us any good. Go out and make the most of it and give thanks to our Heavenly Father DAILY for the life He has provided you with here on Earth!

Even when we teach these "investigators" (our teachers act as people they taught on their missions for us to gain teaching experience) I am sad because they don't understand God's plan of happiness for us and I just can't even imagine how hopeless I would feel without that in my life. I testify that He loves each and every one of us beyond what we can comprehend and He's awaiting our return to His presence!

I encourage each of you to develop your Christlike attributes and show everyone you come into contact with the love that our Savior would show for them. We take so much for granted and not everyone has the same love in their life as you do so PLEASE go out and be charitable! 1 Corinthians 13 will tell you exactly how to do that. Go read that chapter, write down the characteristics of charity, which is the pure love of Christ, and strive daily to improve on those characteristics in your own life. I promise if you do this, you will not only be happier, but it will bring you closer to our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, and in turn you will feel great joy and peace like you have never felt before.

I love all of you so much! I have a lot of time to think to myself when my companion, Elder Ginez, wakes us up a half hour early every morning (because he's gotta look pretty for all those Sister missionaries here ;) ) so during that half hour before I get up to shower, I just ponder about the plentiful amount of blessings I have in my life. My family and friends are the things I know I wouldn't be able to survive without so thank you all!

I hope you all have an incredible holiday season and please, don't focus on what you may or may not get for Christmas. Instead, focus on the Savior and His Atoning Sacrifice for each one of us. There is no greater gift we have received or ever will receive than what He did for us, so I beg you to at least kneel down and pour out your heart to Heavenly Father [in gratitude] for the wonderful plan He put in place to save our souls. If you want to know more about this plan, it's called The Plan ofSalvation. Google it or look it up on LDS.org and just marvel at the beauty of it!

I testify that Jesus is the Christ and He is the way by which we can return to live with our Father in Heaven again in His glory. I know that He loves us more than we will ever know in this life, and I pray that each of you can take time out of your own lives to discover that love! Go out and do some good in the world today and tomorrow and every day hereafter!

I love you all so much! Merry Christmas!

Elder LeSueur

PS- I heard this several times this week, and it really struck me hard. "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes a quest, THAT is when the true blessings are poured out to you."
BE OBEDIENT!

Mormon.Org

"It's amazing the things we are capable of..."

Hello my beautiful friends and family! Sorry it has taken me more than a week to finally write this email... our P-Day is on Friday and since we got in on Wednesday they didn’t let us have one last week! So finally I’m here to tell you about how well everything is going! Gosh this experience is so amazing. It has been a whole bunch of ups and downs but the ups WAYYYY outweigh the downs! 

I have been doing more learning this past week than I did the entire time in Hawaii... I have learned more Portuguese in the last week and a half than I learned Spanish in my whole freshman year in high school! Holy cow its amazing the things we are capable of if we have the Lord on our side and are doing what we know He wants us to do. Conversely, life is much harder whenever we aren’t doing what we are supposed to be doing so the choice is yours, but BE SMART. 

My companion is Elder Ginez and he is from San Luis, Arizona. He speaks Spanish natively so Portuguese is much easier for him, but I think I’m catching up ;) he is such a great companion though. I have learned so much from him its amazing! 

I love the Spirit here and the people and the teachers. Everyone is so friendly it makes me want to hug every single one of them! I miss all of you though. I know that I'm here doing something much greater than what I could be accomplishing at home so i cant complain.

I just want all of you to know that I know that God loves every single one of us and the evidence is in the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. He sent His Son to die and pay the price for ALL of our sins and through sincere repentance we WILL be forgiven of them. I know life is tough and there are a lot of things that happen that you wish didn’t, but its not always up to us. But Heavenly Father will always love us no matter what! And I testify of that in the name of Jesus Christ. 

Anyway, I hope all is well back home! I know you are all missing me soooo much but don’t lose sleep over it... It’ll be a couple years ;) but if you want to write me, do it through dear elder. I only have 30 minutes to email so I don’t want to spend it all reading yours! Thanks guys I love you all so much! Make good choices! 

Elder Trevor LeSueur

Mormon.Org

"I Couldn't Help But Feel Like..."

Elder LeSueur's first letter arrived in the mail today, and it is just amazing to hear how grown up he is already. Wow. We couldn't be more proud of our missionary. Anywho, without any further ado, here's the letter:

Mormon.Org