FYI- About Christmas

I have had a few friends and family members inquire about Elder Towers' Christmas gifts and where to send them. We received some helpful suggestions regarding just that from his mission home, so I thought I'd cut and paste part of that message for you to see. This was really helpful for me, as I sent him a little nativity set today as a "12 days of Christmas" activity that he can either use for his own apartment or as a fun secret santa project. I ended up sending it to the mission home instead of his apartment. Here is the excerpt from the mission home letter:

As you know, Christmas is just around the corner.  What you may not know is that our next missionary transfers are scheduled for Thursday, December 8th.  As a result we just wanted to advise you that in order to ensure a Merry Christmas for your missionary we would encourage you to send all cards, letters and packages directly to the Mission Office at 1111 South Cole Road, Boise, ID 83709 before Friday, December 16, 2016. Please don't forget that UPS ground and Fed Ex packages cannot be forwarded and may very well sit in the office indefinitely until they can be hand delivered by the next available elf.

To help you make your missionary Christmas shopping list, please remember that less is best. Missionaries are often transferred every six weeks and transporting all their extra treasures can oftentimes become a burden.  Homesickness can become a problem so please help ensure that your missionary can remain focused on his or her purpose here in the mission field, do not go overboard on candy, toys and other things that will distract them. Gift cards are great, as are personal items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant and other preferred toiletries that will go a long way to help offset their $140.00 monthly allotment. Scarves and gloves are always appreciated as the weather turns cold.  Also, please be mindful of your son or daughter's companion. Many of our missionaries are from foreign countries and sending packages from their home can be cost prohibitive so they may receive very little at this time of the year.

I love all of these suggestions...especially the one about not going overboard. We'll be sending him things that can only help him as he teaches on his mission...for instance, he asked for a new electric razor (time saver in the morning!), a new watch (his broke), a blue-tooth speaker (to help with instructive videos), some mellow "church-type" music, etc...we'll be sending him all of these things. But $140 monthly doesn't go far. We have an expense account that we sent him up with that helps with things like dry-cleaning, popped tires, etc. So gift cards are a really great option...makes it easy on transfers!

Thank you for loving and supporting our boy! It makes it so much easier for him to focus on his work when he has all of this love and support from home. And I know that he feels the love and support...I know that I feel it. In fact, someone from church told me how she was sending him a cute chocolate bar with a customized Christmas wrapper to him. Such a sweet and simple thing really touched my heart and reminded me that as parents, we aren't alone in caring about him, loving him and wanting him to succeed. 

Thanks again, and Merry Christmas!!!

P.S. Here is the link for the 12 days of Christmas Nativity Set...so cute!
http://overthebigmoon.com/12-days-of-christmas-nativity-countdown-printables/

SNOW IS AWESOME!

I love that Landon loves the snow, because he's going to get a LOT of it! I sent him some thermals just in time! If any of you want to send him some beanies, gloves, scarves, etc...I know he won't mind. Also something I know he can use is gift cards (Walmart, Visa, etc.) These are good because he can pack them easily when he transfers and he always has added expenses that pop up, (like dry-cleaning). Also, if anyone is planning on sending Elder Towers something for Christmas, you should probably send it to his mission home address (the Boise address) because he may be transferred soon. I won't know his new physical address until mid-December. Thanks for all of your love and support for our boy!

Howdy!

I am on a REALLY tight time crunch today, so my email will be really short. But anyways, I WOKE UP TO SNOW TODAY!! Early Christmas! It is even better than I thought it would be. Elder Murphy and I went on a run to the other Elder's apartments and surprised them with an early morning snowball. I honestly thought that snow would be 10x colder than it really is, this is fun. It was snowing while we were running, and I was still sweating while wearing hardly any layers. So far, so good! Now I just have to get past the windy days.

Light the World is SO GOOD! I have probably watched it about 30 or so times at people's houses, and it is still good every time. Even the little things we do can be miracles!

Scripture of the Week:

 6 For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing. 

 7 For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.
 8 For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.

Essentially, obedience to God's commandments isn't enough. Even if you are giving up what you desire in order to serve Him, we must do it with a real, true intent out of charity and love for God. Are you merely sacrificing your will, or are you turning your entire being over to Him? This includes ALL desires, not only unrighteous ones. Everyone can reach this point. All it takes is praying unto Him for charity, and asking what we need to change in our lives to become totally submissive in both thoughts and actions. Then do it!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful season, and remembering Jesus Christ in everything that you do!

My first snow angel!

Pranked the bishop on our morning run.

 

My morning view. (All those footprints are mine and Elder Murphy's; we may have gotten carried away and ran around too much)

A few things from Landon last week:
He had some fun on Halloween night! It looks like he and Elder Murphy pooled their resources and enjoyed a night of coma-inducing junk food. It was nice to see him eat like this...if you knew the pre-mission Landon, he weighed about 120 if he was lucky! Not much of an eater...it looks like things have changed a little in the last three months. He even looks like he's put on some weight. I love it!

A few awesome things happened this week...

First of all, we were given the opportunity to preview the video for the Church's Christmas campaign called Light the World, and it is AMAZING! It launches on November 25th, and everyone had better drop everything to watch it. No, like really, pretty much everyone cried while we watched it. It is based on the two scriptures, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12) and "Ye are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14).

The AP's bunked at our apartment before our zone conference because one of them was Elder Murphy's trainer, and they needed a place to stay. It was pretty cool to see how they work when they aren't training the other missionaries.

I honestly kept forgetting about the election, like I didn't even remember that an election was going on until we talked to a guy and he asked, "So how do you feel about the results?" I replied, "What results?" So yeah, being on a mission right now is quite the blessing!

I was reading in D&C 121 today, which talks of Joseph Smith's experiences in Liberty Jail, in which he famously pleads with God to stop the oppressions and sufferings on the Saints. His reply was, "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." HOWEVER, it doesn't end here. After this comfort, God reminds him of the blessings he is still allowed to retain, such as how he still has many people around him that love him and are his friends. "Thou are not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee. neither charge thee with transgressions, as they did Job."

If God tells Joseph Smith to count his blessings and retain his courage, even in one of the darkest times in Joseph Smith's life of constant public persecution and humiliation, then how much more are we to do so? We have it much better than Joseph Smith did in that cold cell (which you should definitely study about if you have forgotten the details). Be thankful for the things you have, no matter low little.

-- 

Elder Towers

I don't think I'll be worrying anymore about if he's getting enough to eat.

Elder Towers, wearing the silly glasses I sent him for Halloween. And Elder Murphy...nice coat! :-)

Before...

AFTER!!! Beast mode eating!

Elder Towers calls these his "free spiky boots"...I have no idea where he got them, but he seems to be quite proud of them!

I'm a week late with Elder Towers' last email. The following email came in on Halloween last week. This week, he took a break on sending a devotional in favor of a more personal email to his mom. Sorry...you don't get to see that one. :-) I hope you enjoy this latest devotional as much as we did!

P-Day is on Halloween! WHOO! And Halloween has a missionary curfew of 6:30! You know what that means? ALL DAY P-DAY! It's going to be a great day. Elder Murphy and I are buying pizza and soda and throwing ourselves a pizza party for two, and we received about 6 pounds of cinnamon rolls on Friday, and a vanilla birthday cake for Elder Murphy's 20th birthday yesterday. I can't wait for this food coma tonight! Also I didn't buy enough food this week and I'm completely out of everything except bread and tomatoes, so yeah.

We also got to go to the Temple on Saturday, which was awesome! We did initiatories because the endowment session was full.

Last night, we got caught in a massive storm that came out of nowhere. We were in the area farthest from our apartment, on foot (my bike tire popped AGAIN), and in clothes that were in no way waterproof. It had as much rain as a typical Florida storm, except way windier, way colder, and way less fun. But we saw someone in this storm that we hadn't seen in a long time due to their work schedule! Tender mercies :).

And yes, Elder Stevens is now in my zone so I see him frequently, haha!

I have recently done some studying on the topic of baptism, but specifically on the second half of baptism that has been forgotten by many modern sects of Christianity, which is receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is vital to completing the role of baptism, as the Holy Ghost is what allows us to be cleansed of sin and of the desire to sin for the rest of our life, as opposed to just during the act of being baptised. This will cover why and how to receive this gift, as well as how to keep it and utilize it for the rest of your life.

John 3:5

We must be born of water AND of the spirit. What does this mean? It means that a baptism by water is incomplete and inadequate unless followed by a baptism of the spirit, or receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. So how does one receive this gift?

Acts 8:14-17

After the day of Pentecost (which I won't go into detail about), the gift of the Holy Ghost was available for all those who had been properly baptised through the Priesthood authority to receive. These verses document Peter and John, who had recently received this gift, giving the gift of the Holy Ghost to those who had been properly baptized before. Note that this was done by a blessing, not an automatic receival following baptism. It is a separate event following baptism in which you receive this gift. (There are a LOT of references to the Holy Ghost and the gift thereof throughout Acts, and is a great place to study if you don't believe my words and would like to seek out the answers yourselves.)

2 Nephi 31:17

The preceding verses also explain benefits of the of Holy Ghost, but this one is the most clear. After explaining how baptism is the gate to the strait and narrow path back to God, it explains that a remission of sins by fire and the Holy Ghost follows. In other words, it cleanses ALL of you. Not just your sins, but your mind and desires, too. With the gift of the Holy Ghost, you will have less of a desire to continue in your past sins, and have a true drive to follow God's commandments. With this gift, you will learn to hate all sin.

Mosiah 4:3

This is the most important part of baptism. Rather than just cleansing your sins in the moment of being baptised, the Holy Ghost allows for you to feel that same forgiveness throughout your lives, as these individuals were able to feel. By having previously received the gift, they were able to feel that cleansing of fire and true joy as they repented and changed their ways. This is one of the main roles of the Holy Ghost, to give us a continual remission of our sins. Seek after this gift always, and you will find following God's commandments to become easier and easier!

I don't have time to really go back and check my emails for spelling, grammar, or continuity errors, so hopefully this makes sense to everyone!

Here are some pictures from a long time ago that I never uploaded. They are from the City of Rocks, which is a famous rock climbing place! You can see little people in the distance in some of them.

Until next week!

​

-- 

Elder Towers

October 24th, 2016 Burley, ID

It looks like Elder Towers made it through transfers without transfering anywhere. He'll be in Burlery for awhile longer.  
Now, go ahead and read this letter. I have a few thoughts that I'm adding at the bottom of the page. He seems to be venting...at whom exactly? That remains a mystery.

"Righteous Indigation"

So... I got asked out this week... I will spare the details for the sake of keeping the Spirit in this email, but she was very drunk, thought I was really attractive, and invited me to a certain gentile establishment that I will not name... Anyways.

I've been studying a lot about faith recently. There are SOOO many people that have such a misconstrued idea of what it is and how it is different from a belief in God. Due to this, I will be using the Bible to prove my points, as this is the book of scripture that these individuals claim to read and believe in.

Scripture Numero Uno: James 2:14-18

It's pretty clear. You can't misunderstand this concept, only ignore it. Faith without works is dead. I don't need to elaborate this very much. Do you really have faith if you don't follow Christ and His commandments? Of course not. You are mocking the whole idea of Christianity and falsely bearing Christ's name. Sorry, that's just how it is.

#2: James 2:19-20

If that didn't hit it home quite yet, read these verses. Essentially, it is saying, "Oh, you believe that God exists? Awesome! Good for you! So do the devils, and they tremble before God. So what are you doing?" This isn't the Book of Mormon, or the "Mormon Bible," as many call it. This is straight out of the very book that all of Christianity readily accepts as true doctrine. 

#3: Matthew 7:21-23

Even Jesus Christ himself has stated this very clearly. I don't need to elaborate this one really at all. Who can say it better than Christ himself?

#4: Bible Dictionary - Faith, paragraph 3

For those that do not have the LDS edition of the Bible that contains the Bible dictionary, I'll quote some important parts here. "Faith is a principle of action ... Faith in Jesus Christ ... is more than just belief, since true faith always moves its possessor to some kind of physical and mental action; it carries an assurance of fulfillment of the things hoped for."  This makes perfect sense. If you truly have a belief in God and in the Doctrine of Jesus Christ, then why wouldn't you be acting on it? If it really is true, and you know it, then wouldn't you be condemning yourself as a slothful, wicked and unprofitable servant? Wouldn't it have been better for you to remain in your ignorance and not believe, and be less accountable for your sins come judgement day?

#5: James 1:22

I have to wrap things up pretty soon, and I think this is a good concluding statement. If you are realizing that you need to act on your faith more than you have been, then do it. Be a "doer" of the word of God. Do all that Christ has asked us to do. These aren't suggestions, these are commandments. It doesn't matter how old or "archaic" you think they are, God still commanded you to follow them. What's your excuse?

I don't mean to be rude to those that believe otherwise. I'm just calling this common hypocritical belief in the hope that maybe you can make the changes in your life necessary to receive exaltation with God and their families. It is "righteous indignation," you know, like when Jesus flipped the tables at the temple. All out of love! :-)

I made it through my first transfer, and it couldn't have been better! I'm staying with Elder Murphy in Burley, so not much will be changing. Also, the occasional written letter is nice, too! I love you all. I have less than a minute left to email so I am going to have to close now.

-- 

Elder Towers

I have a few things that I considered while reading this letter and I'll bullet point them to help me organize my thoughts better.

* Landon is an 18 year old boy who has probably never been challenged on his personal beliefs as aggressively as most full-time missionaries typically are. There is a learning curve here that he's going through.

* I don't know if he is being challenged by a friend who is writing, or maybe investigators that he is teaching.

* I love that he is using the Bible as points of reference to "prove his points"...yes, as Mormons, we actively use and believe in the Old and New Testament as the word of God.

* I understand his frustration, and so I get that he has something to prove. When you realize that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the reason for everything, and that it is meant for everyone, you can't help but be frustrated at the amount of rejection and accusations thrown at you.

* I love that he is trying SO HARD. Having said that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ can't be taught by proof. That's already been done by Jesus Christ himself performing miracles, with many more miracles happening around us every day...and yet there are still many non-believers. The Gospel must be witnessed by the Spirit. It is felt. It is an undeniable witness by the Holy Ghost that what you have read...or studied...or seen or heard...or prayed about...is real. The Bible and the Book of Mormon are priceless tools and witnesses themselves to all of this. It is all real.

* The Gospel is felt through love. The Spirit cannot live with contention...or cannot bear witness during a battle of the bibles. Elder Towers has the doctrine down. And ironically, he's preaching about "Faith"...which is something that you can't see or touch....it's not proven through scripture. Faith is taught through scripture, but proven through the Spirit.

He's convicted, that's for sure! And I hope that his delivery is given with as much love and compassion as his body of proof. I believe all he has said above to be true. I hope that my actions speak volumes about my belief and about my faith, just as Elder Towers has illustrated.  

Thanks so much for taking the time to read Elder Towers latest!

October 17th, 2016 Burley, ID

It's been a little while since I posted a letter from Elder Towers. Realistically speaking, they have been a little light...kind of short and not much in way of news. Today was different! We can really see some growth...both in maturity and spirituality. This young man of ours loves what he's doing and he's doing it well. We were thrilled to get this email today. Enjoy!

Howdy!

Yesterday was amazing. Even though we spent 7 hours at Church between meetings, Sacrament, and classes (I only fell asleep during the last class!), it was extremely fulfilling. Even though it rained all last night and Elder Murphy and I got wet (CTR's waterproof clothing is a scam), we were still joyful and singing as we rode our bikes in the cold, dark rain through a country road to see people that didn't even show up. It reminded me of the talks given in General Conference on joy, and while my experience isn't quite as drastic or bleak, I can testify that those speakers were testifying truth.

We have had a pretty neat missionary opportunity recently. A random guy drove up next to us the other week and told us, "Go bother that house, they just moved in." So we did. Without even introducing ourselves yet, they invited us in. We began to teach, and they intently listened. As it turns out, the man was an excommunicated member who had strong desires to change and be re-baptized, and his wife was not a member, but had a strong desire to learn about the Gospel. The lessons went great, and the Spirit was strong! Not only that, but they came to Church this week, and absolutely loved it! Even though the children are louder and run wilder than any ward I have ever been in, they still felt the Spirit, and the whole ward swarmed in an helped them feel welcomed and fellow shipped. One of the speakers even thanked them for coming while up on the pulpit! It almost could not have been any more perfect, and I am so grateful that God trusted me with this golden opportunity to serve Him and His children. I will keep you all updated on their progression!

I absolutely love reading the scriptures. Not going to lie, before my mission, it was a chore to me. I got bored, and often fell asleep while reading. Honestly, I don't even see how that was possible anymore. No matter how tired, aching, hungry, etc I am, I never get bored or fall asleep during my studies anymore! In fact, the brief hour of personal study in the morning seems to fly by in a matter of minutes, and I try to finish planning each night efficiently so that I can get some extra studies in before curfew! There are so many wonderful things contained in the scriptures, and I'm glad that this mission could spark my interest and motivation enough to realize that.

Here's a little bit of what I studied this week. I decided to find references in the Bible that prophesy of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the Restoration in order to increase my testimony of those things.

Ezekiel 37:16-17

With the understanding that a "stick" is a wooden tablet that records were written on, read these scriptures. The stick of Judah, or the writings of the tribe of Judah (the Jews), would come forth into the world and testify of Christ. This is the Bible. The stick of Ephraim, or the writings of the descendants of Ephraim (Lehi was such a descendant, as well as the other tribes that are documented in the Book of Mormon), would also come forth and testify of Christ. Together, they would join together to become a powerful and complete witness of our God and of Christ, and "they shall become one in thy hand." I am humbled and thankful to know that the very books of scripture described in the Old Testament are currently sitting on the desk next to me.

Isaiah 29: 9-12

Although this may be in Isaiah, notorious for being hard to understand and interpret, this passage is pretty clear to those who understand and have studied the Restoration. Verses 9 and 10 refer to the Great Apostasy following Christ's death, which many people don't seem to believe happened as fully as it did. However, my favorite part is verses 11 and 12, which prophesy of a sealed book of scripture that even the most well educated historians would not be able to decipher or read. Yet, when delivered to a humble man without an educated background, God would provide a way that he may translate it. If you don't recall this prophecy being fulfilled, read Joseph Smith History verses 59 through 65.

There are many other scriptures that further witness of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our latter day, but I decided that I would share just these two to keep things relatively brief. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Church, these scriptures, and everything associated with it are true. Joseph Smith, only 17 when he translated the Book of Mormon in a mere 2 months, truly was called of God to restore the Church, and because of that, we now have modern day prophets on the earth today. How blessed are we to have been chosen and foreordained to come down in this latter day! How great is our calling to serve Him and further the work of the ministry!

Anyways, I love you all and I love my mission! I honestly can't believe I am almost done with a full transfer, time is flying by already!

I didn't reserve any time for personal emails this week, sorry everyone!

-- 

Elder Towers

1st Week in Burley!

This email made me laugh a little. Being a missionary isn't always spiritually uplifting and rewarding, as this last email will show you. Landon is learning how to adapt to his new environment which I imagine is going to be hard. He's a dedicated missionary and wants to be effective and I know that he'll find a way to achieve his goals! He's being very well cared for in the dinner department. He also was able to see a friend from home who is also serving in the same mission. I'll attach that picture. The other pictures he attached to this email were also sent to me by the mission home and I posted those last week.  In the meantime, here's his last email!

They really don't give much time for email, so I able to respond to all of you individually! Also I can't write several paragraph responses to every email. I wish I could, but I only get 1 hour for all computer time. Anyways.

Thank you for the packages! To the Mcknight and Rossi family, thank you so much for all the food! Queso is pretty much my favorite snack, so that was perfect. To my own family, thank you for the camera, I needed it. Bad news, though. I just found out 2 minutes ago that the cord that came in the box is the wrong one, so I can't upload any of the pictures I have taken over the last week and a half :(. I have the correct cord at my apartment since I just so happened to bring a portable charger with the same cord, so I'll send those next week. I have uploaded a few pictures that were sent to me by the mission office.

I totally forgot to mention that we had Elder Christofferson come to the MTC to speak a couple weeks ago! And last week, Elder Ballard came! We missed both Elder Holland and Elder Oaks by one day, but at least we got to see the others. I had pretty much front row seats to both of them, it was awesome.

Saying goodbye to my district was pretty depressing. We had a very powerful testimony meeting and gave Priesthood blessings of comfort to all who wanted one. I gave 2 of them. It was very spiritual and many tears were shed. I'll miss them a lot.

So now I'm in Idaho! I'll be honest, this place is exactly how I expected it to be, except maybe a little bit hotter. The land is pretty ugly and brown and looks exactly like in Napoleon Dynamite (no offense to the people that think Idaho is beautiful, just a personal opinion). By the way, I am in Burley Idaho, which is a few hours to the east of Boise, and it is even uglier. It is a small town with a lot of factories and not much wealth. However, the people here are really nice and humble. I have had a home cooked dinner every night, and so far, none without meat and potatoes. People, even nonmembers, give us random $20 bills to buy food and they don't allow us to deny it. Between Elder Murphy (my new companion) and I, we have made $80. For reference, I have only spent $20 since arriving here on my food. There are probably more dogs and cats than people here, too. They are everywhere. Also, they are mostly the really small obnoxious ones like Chihuahuas. If anyone wants a baby kitten, you could easily just walk down the street and pick one up and no one would even notice it's gone. The factories here send off a pretty putrid smell, I almost threw up this morning from gagging. It smells like wet dog food and soggy burnt bread.

In other news, I saw Elder Stevens in Boise. We talked for a few minutes before I left for Burley. I would post the picture, but like I said, I can't upload the pictures quite yet. We also see many drug addicts in the streets, and I wanted to relate a certain convo I had with one of them that was odd.

Meth user: "Heyy, why do we have names? Is it like judgement day or something?"

Us: "Um, we have names because our parents gave them to us to --"

Meth user: "Yeah well why is parent with a 'P'?"

Us: " ... I don't know."

Meth user: "Yeah you do, you go to that expensive God school. Umm, *picks up handful of dirt* is this like God's fuel or something?"

Us: "Well, God made it,..."

Meth user: "I have to go. We shall continue this discussion another time, gentlemen." *runs away*

My new companion, Elder Murphy, is a fantastic missionary and trainer. He is very obedient, which I am very grateful for, because the Boise mission is apparently well known for its major disobedience. Apparently, I came at a perfect time when the new mission president started cracking down on the disobedience, since many missionaries decided to take advantage of the transition of mission presidents.

I have already seen 2 baptisms and met countless wonderful people, and am excited for what the rest of the mission holds. I only have 15 minutes left to email, so I'll close this and respond to as many personal emails as I can.

Elder Towers and Elder Murphy helping a member move.

Elder Towers was able to see his friend Elder Stevens. These boys come from the same town, ward and even quorum! Now they are serving in the same mission. 

Fun Fact! Our mission president here in the Jacksonville mission (which includes Gainesville) is from Burley, ID and owns a furniture store called Lee's Furniture! He is relatively new here. His name is President Brent I. Lee.
Another Fun Fact! We have two new missionaries in our ward and take a wild guess as to where they are from? Twin Falls, Idaho (right by Burley) and Boise!