April 14th Letter

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Dear family and friends,

I have really enjoyed this last week in the MTC. We've been spiritually nuked, pummeled, round-house kicked, and fire-bombed on a near-daily basis. In seriousness though, I really like this place, and that's in large part due to my district and how wonderful they all are. Without them this would have been far less enjoyable. I also owe a lot to my teachers here at the MTC: Brother Smith and Brother Maekawa, who each did a lot to bring out the (good) teacher in me and answer my questions. I can't believe it, but I really have improved as a teacher quite a bit in my short time here. I am much more eager to get out and teach now than I was before.

I've been reading in John in the New Testament, which is a good break from the war chapters of late-Alma in the Book of Mormon, though I enjoy those too. I highly recommend reading John 14-17. Oftentimes I get frustrated at how imperfect the Bible is, but these chapters restored much of my faith in the Bible when I read them over the past few days. Jesus's words are always wonderful.

I have gained a testimony that God hears our prayers; that we must be proactive and seek revelation and understanding if we want it; that we are each entitled to the Holy Spirit and ought to take advantage of that gift every day; and that prayer is a very useful tool only if we use it with real intent. I know that between the scriptures, the church, the temple, the family, and the Holy Ghost, God has given us everything we need to be spiritually successful in our lives. Let's accept the gift that He's given us!

That gift is centered on Jesus Christ, who not only saved us from death and sin through his atoning sacrifice, but enabled us to become the kind of person He and His Father are. The motto of the MTC is "Become As He Is".  Becoming like God isn't about being super powerful and creative and glorious; it's about being virtuous, being Christlike, being able and desirous to help and lift others. That opportunity--to become as God is, with all those perfect attributes and that power to save and lift others--is the greatest gift that could possibly be given to us. The mistakes that I've made in the past brought me very low. I was not a good person. But those sins can't keep me down because the potential to become good, which I am allotted through the Atonement of Christ, is infinite.

Let's all use that gift He's given us by having faith, repenting daily, renewing our baptismal covenants, seeking and utilizing the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring the the end.

When I first got here I never thought I'd say this, but I'm really gonna miss the MTC. I am really gonna miss my district. (I write that in my journal every night, haha.) But I know that I need to get out there are do whatever the Lord needs me to do in Ohio.

Love,
Elder Gallagher








 

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