Letter Sent on June 10, 2013

Dear Family,

This week was just dandy! I hope that yours was the same and from the sounds of it all is well back home.

This past week I had the opportunity to go on an exchange with a new missionary named Elder Garrow and it was a real treat! I loved his humility and just his great and willing attitude.  I really liked getting to know him better and it turns out he is from Palmyra just like Joseph Smith.  We had a good time and he said that he learned some new stuff that he wanted to apply to his own area.  I just remember how much I learned from Elder Oleson back in the Battambang days and I really know what a difference a good leader can make.  I really want to try and follow his fantastic example and pass it on.  It really just feels so good trying to help others out.

I have noticed that during my mission the times that I am the happiest are the times that I am thinking of others and not myself. Also, that the hardest times or the times that I am the most unhappy are when I am thinking of myself and not others. Really, service and turning out to others as Christ would is the greatest source of happiness.  Really happiness is a choice and it is all about our attitude and what we focus on.  I believe that Christ was the happiest person to have ever lived on the earth and I am sure that was because He never thought of Himself but always turned outwards and thought of others.

I have been studying charity and really want to be more charitable and become more like Christ.  I love 1 Corinthians 13, "Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemingly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth." 

I am so grateful to have a mission, 2 full years, to focus purely on loving and serving others and sharing the gospel.  What a privilege it is. I can feel my testimony growing deeper and deeper.  I know that Christ lives and that this work is true.  I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet and that is continually being confirmed to me.

I know that we can all be happy if we choose to be and I really hope that we can all try and pray for opportunities to turn out and love and serve others during the week.  I remember Elder Ballard encouraged us to pray for a meaningful way to serve each morning and then go and do it!

I love you very much and I hope that you have a happy week and find ways to serve others and show forth the charity and love you always give to me. Thanks and again, I sure do love you:)

Love,
Elder Garlick