Endure to the End

Hello to all y'all!

This day has been very good so far, and I am doing very, very well right now. Today started off pretty well and has just been a really good day. We started off by studying (like good missionaries!) and then we went to the office, and I was surprised to find that I had a package for me! My package from Grandma arrived, and though I haven't opened it, the green sticker made me rather excited to open it. (I haven't really recieved anything else from anybody else for a couple of weeks now, but when I do I'll let you know.) However, right now I have no interest in eating anything at all, and that's because right after we went to the offices we went to a restaurant called the Toronto Buffet. It's an all you can eat buffet here, and as the name implies it is Canadian based. Now, you all might be wondering what on earth is a Canadian-based buffet, and I would love to tell you, but...I'm still not sure. It was a buffet just like any other buffet you would find in the States. A little smaller (i.e. not as big of a variety of food), but basically the same. It was good though. I definitely got my money's worth, and that's because I prepared for this. Yep, I ate a big dinner last night, and then this morning my breakfast was three pieces of toast and 1.5 litres of juice. And all of my preparation worked, because I ate a lot. I probably won't eat until Thursday, when we'll have another very large feast. Some of the members from the stake invited all of the missionaries in the zone Calderón to visit their house on Thursday for a Thanksgiving feast, and they've asked that we don't eat anything that day, so you know it's going to be a good dinner. I'm rather looking forward to it.

I'm very glad to hear that everything is going well with the Schomburg family and the branches thereof. Congratulations Elizabeth on the musical and your solo in Young Women's! I'm sure that you did a fantastic job, and I'll make sure to catch all of your shows when I get back.

I'm also glad to hear that Sacrament Meeting was very good this week. I'm very glad to hear that Grandma enjoyed herself, and Grandma, don't worry, I know the Book of Mormon comes in larger print, and I know that Madre is right on top of that. Also, part of what Brother Carlson shared reminded me of a talk that I just read by Elder Wirthlin. It was his last talk in General Conference before he died, and it's entitled "Come What May and Love It", and it's a wonderful talk. I would recommend it to everyone (http://lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/come-what-may-and-love-it?lang=eng&query=come+may+love <-- What is that, a link to that very talk? How fortunate!). [Not seeing his own blog while in the mission field, Elder Schomburg has no idea that Madre is always including links to talks and information for his readers, so he thinks he really hit on something special here. :) haha]

Well, now that all the fun stuff is out of the way, I'll talk about my week a little bit. Work-wise this was the worst week that I have had in all of my mission. We only taught two lessons this week to investigators. A lot of that was due to meetings, a lot was due to illness, and a lot was also due to our investigators not showing up to their appointments. Needless to say, I am slightly ashamed of the week that we had. I know I need to work harder now, and I will do so. That's part of why I'm happy today though. I have realized that I need to repent, and I am excited for that. We can do so well this week, and through diligent work the Lord will bless us. The trick is that we have to work absolutely as hard as is possible. It doesn't matter if we have to stay out till 9:30 PM every night and risk all of the robbers in Comité, we will have more lessons this week, we will help God's children progress towards eternal life, and we will magnify our callings. It will be ridiculously hard and will require me to change some things in my life (one of which is definitely going to be difficult), but it's necessary and it's more than possible. We will do it.

Oh, yesterday was pretty good though. I had been really sick on Saturday, so much so that after our mini zone conference I had to go back to the house for the rest of the day to rest, but Sunday I woke up feeling much better, which was very good because I was supposed to give a talk that day. I don't know why, but I think giving talks makes anyone nervous, because I felt a bit nervous before I stood up there. My talk this Sunday was about enduring to the end. I was only given seven minutes, but I think it was a fairly good talk. Enduring to the end is such a crucial step in our lives. Sure, there a many things that we need to do before we get to the "enduring to the end" part, but once we have performed all of the necessary ordinances, there's even more to do. Enduring isn't something that's passive. Enduring doesn't mean just not doing bad things for all of your life. It means being an active part in the salvation of everyone that you meet (yes, even you are a missionary!). It means magnifying that to which you have been called. It means doing absolutely everything possible to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Scriptures teach us that anyone who does not endure to the end cannot receive their inheritance in the kingdom of God. There is so much involved in enduring, and though it might be hard, it is necessary and possible. Even Jesus had to endure to the end of His life. If we cannot endure this life, we do not deserve to receive all that God has for us. God's great plan is that we might become like He is, and if we can't handle just being a human, how could we ever handle being like Him? I've not really said anything that I said in my talk, this is all just now coming to me, but I promise I had a pretty good talk too!

Well, I must be going now. I love all of you, and I'm very glad that all is going well for all of you. Thank you for your support, and thank you for taking the time to write to me. I really do thrive on your letters. Have a fantastic Thanksgiving, and don't forget to take some time to think and to give thanks this Thursday and not just eat a whole bunch. I love you!

Love,
Elder Schomburg