Austin's letter April 24

First things first! Easter! I got to pass the sacrament with 70 other Elders to the entire MTC, and we had a very special guest for the morning devotional. 

You ready? Before I say, in response to dad, I did shake his hand, but he was far too busy for pictures. Because of passing the sacrament, I was in one of the few areas where people got to shake his hand, so in the end I was blessed in a far better way than singing in the choir. 

It was President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. He spoke to us. He looked at me. He shook my hand. He squeezed my arm a few times as he walked around me. 

It was the best Easter ever. 

I have tons of notes about his devotional, but there's one major point he talked about that I want to reiterate: for the apostles, and His gospel in general, that Easter morning centuries ago was very much a refiner's fire. In his words, after the resurrection "everything changed."
It was mind-blowingly incredible. He has such a spiritual presence. He truly is a giant among men, like Moses of old.

Speaking of, you know that Neil L. Andersen spoke a couple of weeks ago. Last Tuesday, we actually had another apostle!  The venerable Dallin H. Oaks spoke at our devotional, and it was another powerful experience. We've been so incredibly blessed with our devotionals. 

Let's briefly review the memorable ones:

Vocalpoint

BYU Men's Choir

Richard Elliot and David Archuleta

Neil L. Andersen

Dallin H. Oaks

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

How incredibly blessed my branch has been as we prepare to leave. We have less than 4 days left now. I hope my package gets here soon! I'll be able to call home during our layover, but I don't think it's very long, and it'll be fairly early in the morning. I'm not exactly sure when, but I think it'll be around 9 o'clock, while we're in Dallas. Don't ask me why we'll be in Texas, I have no clue how that flight pattern works out. 

More exciting news! As you know, Tessa (Sister) Broyles arrived this week! That's been very exciting, even though I've only glimpsed her a few times since she's in her new arrival schedule. Last Wednesday, that same day, my district got to participate in the new arrivals "How to Begin Teaching" seminar. Basically, we start off each of their roleplay discussions, using the principles in How to Begin Teaching. It was a fantastic experience, and it really helped show me how far I've come, thanks to the Lord.

I've been thinking a little bit about writing again. I write brief short stories for fun sometimes, when one of the Elders has a memorable dream, and they enjoy reading them. They're all encouraging me to pursue writing, and it's something I love to do. When I was racing through the Book of Mormon, I filled a few pages, basically writing a talk about the phrase, "Sacrifices to Idol Gods," and it actually turned out pretty well. I want writing to be a part of my future. 

We've been talking about the ferry accident in Korea a lot, lately. I think of the words in Esther: Perhaps we were "born for such a time as this." The gospel can bring peace to those who have lost children or siblings, and are confused, angry, and scared. We can bring them the good news of the plan of salvation, we can teach them where they are, that they're okay. Ultimately, our message is that they can be together again, forever. 

The gospel is the only thing that can save this world from its own self-destruction, in the words of an early prophet. It can unite all people now and forever, bring peace everlasting, and progress eternal. I am so blessed to know of it, and now to have the chance to be the mouthpiece of the Spirit, so that I can teach others of it.

I love all of you so dearly. 

Elder Austin Lynn

Austin's letter April 17, 2014

The exercise field was open this week! It's nice being out there, instead of the big gym.

Tuesday night, I had a wonderful spiritual experience. As I knelt in prayer, I asked Heavenly Father to bless me with a piece of counsel, or a spiritual impression when I awoke in the morning. This request was inspired by a morning a couple of weeks ago, when I woke up pondering an aspect of Christ's earthly life, most likely because my pre-bedtime reading is "Jesus the Christ." 

When I woke up, Wednesday morning, there was a phrase in my head. Most of it slipped away before I could record it, but I got down the main point: "Be still, and know that I am." As we're taught, we have to be obedient to revelation before we receive more of it, so I've been trying to live this piece of revelation. I repeated the experiment last night, and it worked again! Unfortunately, the thought vanished even faster, leaving me with strengthened resolve to continue "experimenting upon the word," as Alma taught us. 

Sadly, I won't be singing in the choir this Sunday, for our Easter Devotional/Sacrament meeting. We've heard that not only will a general authority be there, but it will be a member of the Quorum of the 12, or higher. We're all very excited for Sunday, when all the Elders in our district will help pass the sacrament, to the entire MTC. The Lord knew I was disappointed, and blessed me by allowing me to participate in a rehearsal, after our devotional on Tuesday night. The song is beautiful, and is perfect for Easter. It's title is, "Jesus, Once of Humble Birth." 

Speaking of the Tuesday devotional, and the Quorum of the 12, our speaker was Neil L. Andersen. His main point was to know the sermons in the Book of Mormon, and to be able to know where the great passages about the atonement and Christ are, their context, etc. That message really spoke to me. 

Korean wise, we learned tons and tons of new forms this week. We can ask permission, say "even though," use indirect questions, indirect discourse, adverbs, and there's probably more I'm forgetting. We've learned so much, miraculously. 

Sunday night, we had yet another! musical devotional. The BYU Men's Choir sang, and the Spirit was so strong. They sang some incredible songs, but I wasn't able to write the names down correctly. One of my favorite songs they sung was, "He's Not Heavy, He's My Brother." 

Last Sunday, I played piano in priesthood. I kept messing up the bridge in "Praise to the Man," which was extremely embarrassing, especially since I didn't have any problems with it before then! In Sacrament meeting, I gave the blessing on the bread, and boy, was that an intense experience. It went well though; at least I didn't have to say it again. 

I'm not certain if I told you, but we received a new district last week. There's five Sisters, and one Elder. They all seem very studious and diligent so far, though they've been discouraged at times, just like everybody who learns Korean. I shared a few of the tips I received or discovered with them, and I think it helped them. They are: 

Keep your studies seperate. If you ignore Personal and Companionship Studies for Langauge Study, you'll burn yourself out and it'll actually be harder to learn Korean.

SYL, as much as possible! It really does help you learn.

Finally, acknowledge your progress, however small it is. If you constantly compare yourself to how much you have unlearned, it'll demoralize you. If you look back at how much progress you've made, you'll feel inspired and be encouraged to keep going.

We also have another group of Koreans! There's two Sisters, and four Elders. They all have excellent comprehension, and though their speaking is lower, it's better than our Korean. One of them has a father who's extremely famous, and who is fluent in English. His father's an actor/comedian. 

Thank you for my Easter package! I love it. Also, thank Cory for the letter! If you can email me his address, I'll write one in response. I love hearing about things back home.

Finally, I want to commit you to watch the LDS/Mormon.org video, "Because of Him." It's an inspired message about the Savior, and it's extremely powerful. I love it so much. 

Also, the new Mormon Message is fantastic! It's a powerful message about forgiveness and second chances. 

For mom, I read this article yesterday, then read the story on the woman mentioned's blog. It moved me to tears. I think you'd love it. This is her blog.  I'd suggest reading, here. 

(If the hyperlinks don't work, or come out wonky when posting to my blog, just let me know and I'll post the links separately). 

We have about ten days left now, and we're all very excited. Elder Ostermiller may be delayed by two weeks, since he broke his arm a couple of weeks ago. He cracked his left radial head, which is the most painful break in the arm, but also the quickest healing. He hasn't required a cast, and since the bone hasn't shifted, he has a chance of still being able to leave with us, if the doctor approves it next Thursday. We're all praying for him. 

I've been thinking about the phrase, "the blood and sins of this generation." In this scriptures, it usually spoken of as being something a righteous person is cleansed of, or something that the wicked will be punished for. 

How could that be? The Second Article of Faith states that we believe men will be punished for their own sins. 

I think it leads back to Cain and Abel, and the two great commandments. Are we our brother's keeper? We certainly are. If we love God, will we not love our brother? We certainly will. My understanding is that the blood and sins of this generation is a collective toll of iniquity, caused by a lack of goodwill and love towards one another. We all have a moral responsibility to each other. When we neglect it, awful things happen, and the price of sin (and blood) will be collected from the heads of all involved. If we do what we're supposed to and live the gospel, then we will be cleansed from the blood and sins of this generation, because we're trying to prevent that sin and bloodshed. We're doing everything we can, and those bad things happen in spite of our efforts, and not because of a lack of effort.

Do you know what's incredible? We can never not learn something from the scriptures. We read the vision of the tree of life in Korean and English yesterday, and I received new insights! I must've read that part of the Book of Mormon a hundred times, but I'm still learning grand new things from it. The twin thoughts I was impressed with were these: 

In verse 22, Lehi says that those who wandered down forbidden roads were lost from his sight. Lehi may represent those with stewardships over others in the church, such as the prophet, bishops, and other group leaders. Sometimes, people are lost from their sight because of sin and iniquity, but they will never be lost from The Lord's sight. He knows His sheep by name, and will never lose track of a single one. He is the Good Shepherd.

The second thought is based off of two observations Lehi makes. The first, is that he sees a large and spacious field, "as if it had been a world." Later on, he sees the great and spacious building, representing all the vain, prideful, wicked things of the world. I thought, what if that building is built on that field? The field could represent the world, our life, or specific events or times in our life. While some may choose to build a great and spacious building, filled with sin and hate and vanity, other's may choose to plant a tree, yea, even a tree of life, that brings joy to those who come to it. A field is not inherently bad. It's what you do with it that determines good or evil.

I just want you to know that I love Easter. The Savior's atonement is the single most important event in all of history, and He did it for me. President Neal A. Maxwell has said that the only unique thing we have that we can place on the alter of sacrifice is our individual will. Everything else is really just something that God let us borrow. I want to show my love for my Heavenly Father, who allowed His Son to suffer all manner of affliction, and my Eldest Brother, my Savior, who lived a perfect life, for me, who suffered, for me, and lives, for me. He did it for me, and He did it for you. I bear testimony that my Savior died, and that He now lives again.

I love all of my friends and family so dearly, and I know that my Savior did everything He did for me, for them as well.
Love, 

Elder Austin Lynn

Austin's 6th Letter from the MTC

It's always amazing how we continue to progress in Korean. A few highlights from this week are "I think" (it seems) form, and "I have never/have you ever?" form. Aside from vocabulary, which is a given in any language, basically we're just learning tons of forms, which just stack on the verbs. It's crazy how long a single verb can get! Practically everything is communicated in the verb. 

We hosted again, which is always fun. I got to do two of them, both going to West Campus, (where all the Spanish speakers go) so that didn't take long. We only had around 250 missionaries this week. In a couple of months after school ends, they get around 600+ every single week. We got 5 Sisters and 1 Elder this week. We haven't talked to any of them for more than a few minutes late since our schedules are different, so impressions haven't really sunk in yet. 

The weather here has been picturesque, almost too warm at times. We study outside a lot, and one of our "investigators" was "evicted" so we teach him in a "park," outside now! You can tell he loves the weather as much as we do. :)

To Nick: I did wear your tie! And one of the Korean Elders (Elder Ha) really, really liked it... and... we traded ties. So now it's chilling in K-Town! I got a really neat tie in return, and it bonded us. On the back of his tie, he wrote "I <3 Y," which I thought was hilarious since we write "U," for phonetic reasons. 

On our last night with the Koreans, they sang the EFY medley in Korean for us. It was so good. Afterwards, as is our tradition, we sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again," (in Korean, of course). It was difficult saying goodbye to the great Elders and Sisters after only a few weeks. We all write in each other's journals whenever a group leaves, and, after some meticulous translating, I discovered that one of the Sisters said I was like Winnie the Pooh, which another one of them had said (in English!)! 

On that same note, the other day, in between Conference sessions, some of the Sisters and Elders from the other side of the hall (which is pretty much the rest of East Asia) said that my voice reminded them of Baluu the Bear, from the Jungle Book! I sang a couple bars of "Bear Necessities" for them, and they loved it. Interesting, huh?

I cannot emphasize how great Brother Egget, our choir director, is. I am so excited for our Easter Devotional. We'll be singing a selection of songs, for a general authority! All of you should recognize Brother Egget... he directed at conference! Wow!

Last Sunday, for our Sunday evening devotional, you'll never believe who sang: Vocal Point! I had no clue who they were, but apparently they're pretty big. They're a BYU Capella group, and they were incredible. 

After that, we watched the long version of the "Restoration" movie, and it was so spiritually powerful. I received the strongest witness that I ever have received about the divinity of Joseph Smith's call to be a prophet when I was watching it. It was after that film that the Koreans performed for us, so it was extremely emotional. 

I don't think it'd be very useful to share all of my conference notes, but here's a few highlights for me: 

Elder Rasband's story about the Elementary School girl, Tory, hit me with the spirit really hard. It went really well with a story Brother Egget shared Sunday night, which was "when we're in danger, we think 'Who can save me?' Children always think, 'God can save me. Let's pray.' As we get older we start to think, 'the medicine can save me, I can save myself,' etc." It's the heart of that childlike prayer, "Let it be over soon," that hit me so hard. God's will be done, but let the bad pass quickly, and prolong the good. I want to implement that prayer in my life. 

Elder Nelson's talk, about 'religion' was really good. I liked how he said that we cannot separate "spiritual truths" from other truths. I also thought of dad when he said that all truth emanates from God and is a part of the gospel. I also thought that it was very interesting how he drew the conclusion that man's quest for knowledge, kept outside of the gospel, reaches the same results as the gospel, but with far more pain and suffering in the interim. He said that you cannot be your best, truest, self if you "compartmentalize" yourself. You are who you are, as a whole.

I won't quote President Oaks' talk, because the whole thing was pure revelation. I learned more about priesthood keys, priesthood authority, and priesthood power in that talk than I think I ever have before in my life. It was an excellent response to "Ordain Women," and a powerful talk that will surely be a go to about the priesthood for years to come. 

I really enjoyed President Uchtorf's "Don't Sleep Through the Restoration," as well. I love that short story, and that was a brand new twist on it. Priesthood session in general was INCREDIBLE this year.

President Eyring's talk about heroes also really got to me, because that's a concept that's always interested me. It got me thinking about who my heroes are, and what Christlike attributes they embody that I want to emulate. 

President Monson's address was also, obviously, fantastic. It was very interesting that he said "You can't stand upright, rooted in shifting popular opinion and desires." You see it all the time in the world, but, as he said, "Courage [and the gospel] brings peace of mind."

President Uchtdorf's talk the next day, about gratitude, was also a stand-out talk for me. It really stood out to me when he said, "Endings are not our destiny." He talked about how we're divine beings, and that's why we don't like endings. It made me reflect on leaving. We need to look past disappointing endings to the bright future Jesus has prepared for us. Mortal endings are only temporary stops in the eternities. 

One last note: when President Monson shared the story about the injured 2-year old boy, and the generous people onboard that plane, the spirit walloped me so strongly. It was such a powerful lesson.
That's all for now, folks.

Faithfully,

Elder Lynn

5th Letter from the MTC

This week has been fantastic, as usual! The biggest highlight is certainly the Sunday Evening Devotional. We were graced with the presence of Brother David Archuleta and Brother Richard Elliot! Richard Elliot is an accomplished organist, and plays for both the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and his own performances. David Archuleta is David Archuleta. They both shared some of their talents, bore their testimonies, then performed together. It was incredible.

In other news, since three weeks have passed, our District Leader changed. The first three weeks it was Elder Ostermiller (the tall one), then it was Elder Ely (his companion) and for our final stint at the MTC, it's me. As District Leader, I check mail, lead the District in discussions, attend Branch Councils, and Leadership Training Meetings. It's been going well so far. We have a wonderful branch where everybody clicks well and gets along. The Branch Presidency constantly comments on how we have such a special spirit, or how well we're put together. I know I certainly consider myself blessed.

I finished the Book of Mormon last Sunday, and now I'm moving on to D&C! Hopefully I'll be catching up to the family soon.

We hosted again on Wednesday, and it started snowing! That's actually happened a few different times since I've arrived, but it always melts by the end of the day.

It's absolutely ridiculous how much Korean we learn each week. There are days when my head feels like it's just going to blow up from all the new information it's taking in. It is truly miraculous.

Our lessons with our progressing investigators have improved, mainly because we've learned how (literally, we've learned more about how to use the language to) teach from the Book of Mormon. 

I've been practicing piano a lot, during my additional study times, and I'm going to be playing for our Priesthood meeting in two weeks (two because General Conference is this Sunday, then we have a special Easter Morning Devotional the week after). I wish that I had been more diligent about keeping up with my piano playing (I can hear you saying, "I told you so," from here). But, I will be musically fit by the time I leave the MTC!

It's funny how we have so much going on every week, but when I look over my journal and go to write, there's not a lot to share. I suppose that's mainly because we spend hours and hours in class studying Korean and the gospel. A lot of my insights are short personal ones, but there's a topic that I've been drawn to lately.

It reminds me of an analogy our teacher, Sister Allen, used after Korean class. 

You're going to the party of the century. As you're walking up the block, you see two people. You tell them, "The party of the century is right over there! Just go to that corner and turn three feet! It's the best thing ever!" And then they go, but they only turn two feet. You tell them, "Why didn't you turn three feet?! The party of the century is right there! You just have to turn one more foot!" 

Of course, the metaphor is obvious, and similar to one Christ used, when telling the Parable of the Marriage Feast. The frank truth is that the things that are helping me, the things I'm learning, the things that are preparing me for the future, are gospel principles. When I live the gospel, I feel better about myself, love others more, am more willing to sacrifice for others, and am more driven to improve. It improves my life in every aspect, because that's what it's meant to do. 

It's a gospel of improvement, a gospel of action. In 1 John 4, near the end of the chapter there's a verse that basically says, "Whoever says he loves God, but hates his brother, is a liar." If a person truly loves God, then they will love their 'brother,' because we're commanded to love each other, and when you really love God, you'll love the things He loves, which is all of us, His children. Sadly, there are lots of hypocrites and liars in the world. It depresses me that there are people who profess to be Christian, but only attend church on Sunday. That's not being Christian. A true disciple seeks to be like their master, and lets their teachings change their life. Those false followers are an embarrassment to those who truly are seeking to live like Jesus, and live the principles of love and service He demonstrated. We watched this fantastic video by Elder Bednar called "The Character of Christ," and he stated it really simply: "Christ turns outward when others would turn inwards." I want to be like that. 

One of my favorite topics to learn about lately is the future, in the sense of building a better future. I was reading this old conference talk from the 70's, and the man (Paul H. Dunn) said that, "We who are older speak of building a better world, but our progress is slow. Real generosity to the future lies, then, in giving all that we have to the present." 

I thought that was genius. If I want to build a better tomorrow, then I need to do everything I can today. That's why I'm here! I finished reading the Book of Mormon last week, and found a great scripture in the Book of Ether, 12th Chapter, 4th verse. Paraphrasing, it says that those who live the gospel "have hope for a better world." In D&C 25:10, it's said that we "seek for the things of a better" world. It really reinforced to me that this is a gospel of hope. Anybody who reaches out to Christ can find their heart's deepest desire fulfilled, so long as they obey His commandments. 

And really, if you love God keeping the commandments will follow. He gives them to us because He loves us. Everything boils down to that. In 1 John 4, it says quite frankly that, "We love him because he loved us first." We're not exercising mighty faith and believing in an unknowable god, but we're returning the feelings of devotion and care we've already received from him, of which all things bear testimony of, as Alma said. Heavenly Father sent Jesus, who volunteered, to die and suffer for us, so we could come back. God is, above everything else, love. Heavenly Father loved us enough to risk losing a few of us, and giving us the chance to make our own choices. I have been learning so much about the characteristics of Christ, and of God, through both my personal scripture studies, and reading "Jesus the Christ" at night. It's incredible. I love the way Christ treats children, and how he talks about them in Moroni Chapter 8. It's really one of my favorite things about the gospel. Little children are "alive in Christ." They don't sin, and they have no need of baptism or repentance, because they're not accountable for what they do. Christ used His strongest language in condemnation of those who harm children: "And whosoever offends one of these little ones, it would be better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck and he be dropped into the ocean." That's a paraphrase, but the basic ideas there. He says it'd be better for a massive stone to be hung from their neck, and to drown in the ocean. Christ is constantly demonstrating his love for children, such as when he blessed them one by one when he visited the Nephites. 

I had a massive epiphany regarding God's treatment of children: He teaches us to care for them, and emphasizes their importance, because all of us are *His children.* He's teaching us to treat children the way He treats us, and He's telling us how He feels about us! He wants us to raise children right and protect them, because He went through that same process with us, so long ago! He's teaching us by example! It humbles me so greatly, and I'm filled with gratitude when I think that one day Heavenly Father will put a few of His children in my care. It's also distressingly sad to imagine how He feels when children are so grossly mistreated. It's no wonder there are so many talks about "Saving the Children," "Thinking of the Children," "Helping the Children," and a multitude of such things. However, those sad events are only temporary, because all people will one day stand accountable for every tear they caused another to shed, every injury they caused, every hurtful word they spoke. At that time, they will be judged by the God of justice, and those who withhold mercy will similarly be denied mercy themselves. All things will be made right in the bright morning of the Second Coming, after the dark night of iniquity. That's the wonderful catch-all of God's plan. 

Until next week, 

Elder Austin Lynn

        

4th Letter from the MTC

As you know, we get to go to the temple at 7:20 on P-Day. As we were walking to the temple this morning, it started hailing! We were soaked by the time we made it in. It's been raining and shining sunbeams on and off today, so that's been interesting. I do love the weather though. It helps that most of the places we walk are covered. 

I read the Book of Mosiah this week, and found a scripture I'd been looking for -- Mosiah 28:7, a promise from The Lord to King Mosiah, though it wasn't addressed to the king of the Nephites, but the father of missionaries. What He says to one, He says to all, so I think it's appropriate to think of it as applying to all parents of missionaries. 

I've been reading the Book of Mormon like I never have before, in part because of a commitment I made to Brother Snow, a member of our branch presidency, during my half-way interview. Half-way! Can you believe it? The time is passing so quickly, it reminds me of a phrase from Jacob 7:26: "...the time passed away with us, and it were like a dream unto us..." Time really is passing like a dream, and I'm sure it'll feel like a dream when I get back. 

Back to the interview: he asked me about my goals. One of the goals I mentioned was to finish the Book of Mormon before I left the MTC. At the time (last Sunday), I had just started 2nd Nephi. He nodded, then asked me how long I had left in the MTC. I realized I only had 4 weeks left, and has just committed to finish the Book of Mormon. He told me he'd commit to that same goal, and would use me to pace his reading!  I'm happy to report that I'm in Alma 37 now, having read like crazyyyyyyy. It's been a huge blessing though. I'm excited to finish it in the next couple of weeks, so I can take up Elder Holland's challenge from "The Character of Christ," (which we watched last Sunday; it's incredibly powerful) and read through a small paperback Book of Mormon focusing on one topic, question, or thought.

We watched a fantastic Mormon Message, titled "The Will of God," that I am thinking about constantly. 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-01-014-the-will-of-god?category=mormon-messages/mormon-messages-2012&lang=eng

On Wednesday, we had the chance to host new missionaries! I had the chance to host two of them, and we'll be hosting for the rest of our stay, if we desire to. The feelings of joy and nostalgia were so strong hosting, that I will definitely be doing it for the remainder of my stay here. It was a wonderful opportunity.

We got 9 natives this week! There are 4 Elders and 5 Sisters. They're very fun to talk to, and just generally excited to be around us. We love them already. We memorized our purpose as missionaries in Korean this week, and that was really cool! 

Finally, shout out to Sister Shelley Jackson and Mariah for sending me a package! Thank you so much! 

Faithfully,

Elder Austin Lynn