Letters to Tayler

So, what do you all think about posting your letters that you send to Tayler on here? I think it would be cool to know all the things that are going on in peoples' lives, and it would be a great way for us to all stay connected!

Here's mine that I sent this week:

Hey Brother,
How are you doing? I enjoyed your letters this week - I am so proud of you and all you've been doing, and how you want to keep improving yourself. I was thinking more about what you said about your realization that you needed to be doing better - I was talking to Dad about this same kind of thing earlier this week, and he sent me an article that was all about recognizing the difference between the spirit and its promptings and the adversary. There was a quote in there that really stood out to me, and that I have been keeping in mind over the past few days. It says,

"Consider how it is when we feel the Spirit. We are washed in a flood of light. We feel loved and encouraged. We have hope and know that the Lord can lead us along line upon line. We have increased energy and expanded capacities, not diminished days. We trust that the earth is in the Lord’s hands, and we have no delusion that we are in control or should be. “ The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22).
The fruit of the Spirit is not stress, anxiety, condemnation, worry or a sense of failure. Only one who desires to chain and destroy you would have you think so.
If you are one who is plagued by a critic on your shoulder, pray to silence that voice. Pray to hear more clearly the voice of the Spirit, and the encouragement it surely gives."

I just really liked that, and this is why: I have realized lately that I have always had a keen sense of my shortcomings and areas that need improvement. It is both a good thing and a bad thing. It is what drives me to make changes in my life, and to work hard towards self-improvement, but it is also a source of a recurring trial: that of self-doubt, low confidence, and sometimes depression. Reading this article made me realize that I need to pay attention to the differences between those feelings- The spirit will always motivate us to change - we will feel empowered, motivated, excited and hopeful that we can become better, with the help of Heavenly Father, and through the power of the atonement. We will feel joy and peace, knowing that through our patience and diligence, we will change. On the other hand, the adversary wants us to feel overwhelmed and discouraged, like we will never change, and shouldn't try. There's a huge difference!
Anyway, that's been the theme of what I've been learning this week.

What have you been learning this week? What has been the highlight of it?

Ooh can I tell you the highlight of my week? BAGELS. I MADE bagels! I was so proud of myself! They taste way better than store bought, and even better - they are CHEAP. Richard and I have been trying to think of ways we can cut down on our grocery expenses, and therefore I have been trying to make things that we usually buy - I have also been making granola as a replacement for cereal, and it has been really good too! We have totally cut down on our cereal budget. :P anyway, I've been excited about that.
This week, we are looking forward to some fun - on Wednesday, Richard gets to have a day off from selling, and the whole team is going to a water park! I guess they met their sales goal for June, and they got to choose their reward - going to the water park. Unfortunately, the park is a little bit smaller than Seven Peaks in Provo, but hey, its a water park! I'm sure we'll have a blast - we are looking forward to it. We are also planning on going to the Fresno Temple in the morning, before we go to the park. That will be great. It is about an hour away from us, so I didn't really think that we would be able to go once a month while we were out here, due to Richard's work schedule, but somehow, we have been able to meet that goal so far this summer. Anyway, that's about all the news and fun stuff we are looking forward to in the near future.

I love you brother, and hope you are doing well! Keep up all your wonderful and hard work! You are in our prayers!

Love,

Marissa

P.S. I was just thinking - is there anything that you would like us to be praying for - like for any investigators who need help, or anything that you want us to pray for, for you?