Man what a hard week, not only the passing of Grandpa but the lack of work here. On Thursday we went up to Edmond to play in a turkey bowl. it was a ton of fun. After that we went to a McDonald's and got some powerade. That is when I got the news. Elder pugmire said that we missed a call from president... that is weird. So he called and president wanted to talk to me, at that point I knew that it wasn't good news. He said that my Grandpa Quilter had passed away.
As I look back to the past weeks the Lord was preparing me for this event. On the planners we use missionary's usually decorate them with pictures of Christ/ church stuff.. well 3 week ago I decided to put the picture of me and my Grandpa Quilter carving the angel moroni... I have no idea why I did that I just felt like I needed to do that. Also looking back to all of the personal studies I had before.
some of my favorite..
Elder Nelson
The aging process is also a gift from God, as is death. The eventual death of your mortal body is essential to God’s great plan of happiness.12 Why? Because death will allow your spirit to return home to Him
Then the day I guess Grandpa died I read the words of our prophet, as he described the passing of his eternal companion...
Our Heavenly Father, who gives us so much to delight in, also knows that we learn and grow and become stronger as we face and survive the trials through which we must pass. We know that there are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow, when we will grieve, and when we may be tested to our limits. However, such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to become something different from what we were—better than we were, more understanding than we were, more empathetic than we were, with stronger testimonies than we had before.
This should be our purpose—to persevere and endure, yes, but also to become more spiritually refined as we make our way through sunshine and sorrow. Were it not for challenges to overcome and problems to solve, we would remain much as we are, with little or no progress toward our goal of eternal life. The poet expressed much the same thought in these words:
Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees.
The further sky, the greater length.
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.8
Only the Master knows the depths of our trials, our pain, and our suffering. He alone offers us eternal peace in times of adversity. He alone touches our tortured souls with His comforting words:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”9
Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times, He is with us. He has promised that this will never change.
Thankfully I had a strengthening of my testimony, before this happened or this would have been a lot harder. This is the 2nd death of a close family member. But they were very different in how I reacted. I spent a good 30 minutes during my personal study this morning just pondering this..
The first passing that I went through was my Dear Uncle Robert. I received the news quite similar to the way i received the news about grandpa. I was away from home on a mountain biking trip. We had just finished a hard morning ride and were preparing for lunch. The Bishop(Bishop Howes) then called me over, and gave me the news that my uncle had passed away. At this point I broke down it was terrible. I was mad at everyone, especially God. I asked myself what God would take a father away from 3 kids? This thought ran through my head as I rode another 20 miles back to the camp.
That night i didn't sleep. But that night changed my life. I decided to sleep under the stars. and I was just pondering what had happened that day, for those who have seen the night sky it is..well Holy... As I looked into the sky that night I felt the Holy Ghost. This was my Enos experience.
my soul ahungered; and I bkneeled down before my Maker, and I ccried unto him in mightydprayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.
5 And there came a avoice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are bforgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.
Now I didn't physically hear a voice... but I didn't need to. I was comforted. Heck I was converted that night. That night I knew that God had a purpose in all things. And that gave me a perspective that I hadn't seen before. When the news came that Grandpa Quilter had passed away. I was sad. But my perspective didn't change. Am I sad that I won't see my Grandpa after my mission? of course! But when we look at it from a different perspective. I will see my Grandpa and Uncle Robert very soon!
The Psalmist wrote, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints”
(Psalm 116:15);.
But this week was very good we moved!!! the new address is
4200 N Meridian ave.
APRT 939
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (and it is the same zip code)
-- i think
And we got a letter not to send anything to the office just send it right to the apartment address the new apartment is soo nice. It is a lot bigger. For Christmas I thought of desk toys, Sharpie fine point pens and all of the colors, and yeah that is about it.
I think that that will be my letter for this week have a good week everyone!
Elder Finlinson
and I didn't even read through this so good luck if it doesn't make sense -- make up stuff
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