I can't believe the next time i email all of you I"m going to be in the Philippines! Thats so crazy. We had to say goodbye to all of our teachers except for one yesterday and it was actually kind of sad for me. They were all so awesome and helped us so much and we won't see them anymore. I'll show you a picture of all of us. They were the best teachers ever though. Seriously they were so awesome. I can't believe it's already here. So I did get the phone mom so dont worry. That's lame that that guy was being mean about it. I got it though so that's good! I can't wait to talk to all of you on Monday!! That's going to be so awesome. I think I'm going to buy a phone card at the mtc so I can call in manila. Unless you figured the international stuff out which would be awesome. Ill buy one just in case. Anyway this week has been awesome! Just like all of the other weeks! I'm loving it here especially here at west campus. It's so much fun. I see Elder Mathie, Elder Caine, and Elder Murphy all the time well I guess not Elder Caine and Elder Murphy becasue they left but I used to see them all the time. So crazy story! We were playing basketball and there was a loose ball and Elder Howell went running after it and two othere elders did the same and they accidentally tripped him and he fell and fractured both of his elbows. They aren't really bad fractures but it's a five week recovery and the doctor and disrict president decided it was best if he went home to recover and then straight out to the philippines after. How crazy is that!? Don't worry I don't go after those loose balls for that reason. Too many stupid injuries could happen just like that. I can't believe he's going home though! He's going to see his family and stuff. Anyway so that's the crazy story. So I have a bunch of great things to tell you. Here in the mtc it's like having general conference all the time. It's so awesome! We have devotionals and meetings all the time. I mean nothing can compare to general conference (which is this weekend and I'm so excited!!) obviously but it's pretty awesome. Oh so they watch general conference in the Philippines a week after we do so I'm going to be watching it two weeks in a row! How awesome is that?! Alright so I have a lot of spiritual things to tell you so here I go. So we had mission conference which is basically stake conference. We get to hear from the presidency of the MTC and it's really good. Some notes I took are "You will never know the amount of good you did while in the service of the Lord."-President Hinckley. "The Book of Mormon is the most correct book on Earth."- Joseph Smith. We hear this a lot but do we realize what he is saying? It fiinally hit that he is saying it is the most correct book on earth. That there is no other history book or anything that is more correct. How amazing is that? My love of the Book of Mormon has grown so much. I love it. I love it. It feels my soul with peace joy and happiness and with an fire from the Spirit. That leads into another one of my notes. President Nally, the mtc president said, "there is a power that will flow into your life as soon as you start a consistent study of it(Book of Mormon)." That is so true. If you study it everyday you will feel a power come into your life. I know it will because it has in mine. I love the Book of Mormon and I love Joseph Smith. Sunday Devotional was great. We had the provo temple president and his wife come and they talked about the temple. She quoted President Hinckley who said, "I promise you, come to the temple and life will be better for you." She also quoted President Monson who said, "Come to the temple and place your burdens on the Lord and you will be blessed with a new spirit and new courage. He will take you by the hand and walk you step by step to happiness and to Celestial glory." Pretty amazing quotes about the temple by two prophets of God which means by Heavenly Father himself. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ promise that if we go to the temple life will be better, that They will give us courage and a new spirit, and that They will lead us by the hand to happiness and back to Them. No matter what we do in this life. No matter how faithful we are or how many people we've served, or whatever, our Father in Heaven and our Savior will bless us more than we put in. We can't ever repay Them for all that They bless us with or have done for us or continue to do for us. I testify that They love us so much. I know They know us and love us. I know it and I'm so grateful, beyond grateful for all They do for me. I will always be indebted to Them. The president of the provo temple, President Daines, quoted I believe Elder Neal A. Maxwell who talked about three ways you can tell if what youre doing is important. He said," 1. Is what youre doing true? 2. Is what youre doing important? 3. Is what youre doing urgent?" President Daines said missionary work and temple work are those three things. These are the things that should be most important in our lives. For sunday night film I went to President Uchtdorf (yes he was awesome) but I don't know that title of it which i'm mad about but that's okay. Here are a few notes I took. He said magnifying your calling is going beyond your talents. You go beyond your talents becasue the Lord is with you. He also said "never tire of the first principles of the gospel." He then said this about Preach My Gospel. He said,"read, study, and share as an investigator, as if you are converting yourself, and you will." He then promised this, "I promise that if you do this, Satan and his attacks will have no power against your testimony." Preach My Gospel isn't just for missionaries. It's for everyone. How amazing is that promise from an apostle of the Lord that if we read it and study it and share it Satan will have no power over us. He ended with an Apostolic blessing, blessing us that we will be protected and we will be guided. It was amazing. Tuesday Devotional was also awesome. We had Elder DAvid S. Baxter come and speak to us and he was amazing. He had a Scottish/British accent and it was so freakin awesome. Haha it was so cool. Anyway he was converted to the church at the age of twelve by two missionaries and the first thing he said was "thank you...thank you...thank you for choosing to serve." You could tell that he was so grateful to those missionaries that brought him the gospel. I'll tell you more about that in a sec. He said, "there should be a light in your eyes from the burning in your soul." That gave me chills and it just did again. That was so powerful to me. I can't explain it, I just hope that it hits all of you like it did me. "There should be a light in your eyes from the burning inside your soul." He went on to talk about how the world doesnt think we are christian and the reasons they don't and the reasons we are. He just layed it down. It was awesome. He took all of the views of the world and disproved them with scripture after scripture and with his testimony. It was amazing. I wish I could write all of the things he said. So he ended with this. He said (and I'm paraphrasing) "for the last few moments I would like to talk to all of you as if i'm talking to the two missionaries that taught me the gospel." I wish I could repeat everything he said becasue it was so sweet but this is what I have. He said "thank you, thank you, thank you." And then he got really emotional. "I could never repay the debt I owe you, I will love you forever. Thank you, you truly have changed the future." This touched me so much. this is the reason I'm out here. This is why, to change the future of someone's life. I can't tell you how nice it is to feel appreciated as a missionary. It feels so good to have someone thakn you like that, or just talk to you on the street, or wave at you, or honk, or anything. Its a lot of work and we are away from home and it feels so good to be noticed. So whenever you see a missionary talk to them!! Wave, smile, honk, thank them for their service! there is nothing better than it out here. But yeah it was amazing to hear how grateful he was for the missionaries. I can't wait to go out and serve the Filipinos. I love this gospel. I'm so grateful for it. I know it's true. I love my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for Them and all They do for me. For Their mercy and love that They've shown me. I miss you all and I love you so much!! "Watch and pray!! Vanquish every foe today!!" I love you and pray for all of you all the time! Love you!!!
-Elder Fox
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