Week 4: Trying and learning hard

I have had some people worry about sending me thing to the wrong address. I would not worry about the MTC so long as it gets here and as my name on it. I have gotten two letters, a DearElder, and a package so thank you. Some were address wrong but they had my name on it so they put it into my box. My companion gets letters from people who just put the MTC address on it. Today may be the first day that I sent real letters out. My P-Days are pretty full and this is the only day we should write letters; enough with the trivial stuff.

Just like last week, the time is flying. I have learned so many valuable personal lessons here that I don’t know how people that don’t go on missions learn all they need to learn. Life is sweet and life with the gospel is even sweeter. It is definitely worth living each day so that one can have the gift of the spirit. I am still learning that I must surrender my thoughts, my wants, my desires, and my time to God in order to be successful. These things I have learned through small trials. These trials are so small that they even seem petty, but nevertheless, I learn and grow from them.

One such trial is my wonderful companion. I mention this because this reflects more upon me than upon him. Pride is a trait that I hate, but a trait that I most certainly posses. I have had my companion say slightly degrading or disrespectful things to others and myself and it gets me fairly worked up. I hold it and wait until an opportune time to chew him out. With the help of my pride, I start thinking less of him and recalling his faults and by this time the spirit that I desperately need to do God’s work is gone. I think about this for a bit, trying to get it back, and then realize that my pride has not let me forgive someone that so easily should receive it. I realize I am not handling it the way I should and then start to let it go. I forgive him, remember his virtues, and the spirit comes back to comfort and help me. Just small trials such as these have helped humble me and bring me closer to the spirit.

One of my dearest friends would tell me that when you pray for humility, God will bless you with the opportunities to learn it. So you should pray for the characteristics that He knows you need. Well, I have been praying for humility so I have been receiving the chances. I hope that I finally learn so that I don’t have to repeat the trial over and over until I get it. I may have said it before, but a mission is harder than I thought. I thought that if I ran fast I could get by and get done what I need to, maybe sloppy but accomplished. Now I know that to be successful I must attend to the details, the small thoughts and decisions in my life that it seems that I have neglected.

I love being a missionary. I love the gospel and I can’t wait to share it with the people in the Philippines. I love learning Tagalog. It is coming so fast that I know that it must be with God’s help. I am sorry that I don’t have time enough the write each of you to share the wonderful experiences am having and my testimony of the gospel. Part of the problem is that I don’t have anyone’s address. This means that you will need to send me a letter to get one. My addresses are posted on my blog here:
http://theduct.blogspot.com

The addresses for the MTC on the side bar are wrong, but I put my correct address in the “Dear Elder” post, and it should get to me either way. I will be here for another month and then it is off to the Philippines.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers,
Elder Justin Benson