Good morning, internet! Today is January 22nd, and it's very soggy outside. For real, it's been raining non-stop for the past two days! Very fun to see this part of San Diego again, it typically doesn't rain here. I remember a year ago, when I was in Lakeside, it rained so bad that the main road out there flooded. Crazy it's been a year.
Last week I spent one of my study times marking every reference to happiness in the scriptures (OT, NT, BoM). I took my pink highlighter and went crazy with the search bar on my phone. That study went crazy, Anyways, this week I was flipping through my Book of Mormon, trying to figure out where to start my studies for the day and I came across a page that had pink highlighting. It was Mormon 9:14, and discusses what happens after we die; where we're gonna end up and how we're gonna feel.
One thing that I thought was super interesting was that it separates the different states that it expects people to be in. People who live righteously will be resurrected into righteousness, people who live filthy will be resurrected filthy. People who live happy will be resurrected happy. He that is unhappy will still be unhappy, So that got me thinking, if we as people are not happy now, why in the world should we expect to be happy in the next life? It reminds me of a saying that my mom would always tell my sister and I, that happiness is a choice. We can't change the circumstances of our lives, but we can change our perspective around them. It's a hard truth, a truth that I haven't really kept at the front of my mind during my sojourn here in San Diego. But it's a truth that I'll recommit to remember going forward.
Anyways, this week has been the happiest week on the planet. I got to serve God, serve his children and meet some neat people. What else could I ask for? This week we got in contact again with two of our old friends. One is named M, and he's hearing. We had a neat little talk about how I came to know the truth of Christianity and why I still follow it today. He said he liked what I was saying and so we set up a return appointment on Wednesday. Another person named A finally got his video phone working again, and he gave us a call out of the blue last night. He's deaf, and wants to be baptized so he can live with God forever. We set up an appointment with him on Tuesday. How exciting.
Well, that was one long letter. I hope that you have a wonderful day and remember that God loves you. Choose to be happy, it's a great day whether you see it that way or not. There's a deaf saying which translates to 'think yourself'. It basically means to think about it and decide yourself, I'm not going to. So, is today going to be a good day? Think yourself.
-- Elder Coxson
P.S. we had transfers this week, but I'm staying in ASL with Elder S again
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