Letter home, 01/20/10

I haven't received any mail from anyone other than you yet. I wrote a few letters a few days ago to try and stimulate a response. We'll see how that goes. On the topic of mail, if you get this before you get my letter I would love if you could get the address of Jordan Hart and Linsey Bowen. Jordan's cellphone should be in the address book of my cellphone so someone can text him asking for his address. I don't think he checks facebook very often. I don't think Linsey is on my facebook friends, but you should still be able to send a message. Could you send me the addresses of all the people that gave me money for my mission? I've been meaning to write thank you notes but I don't have the addresses to send them off.

We go to the temple on P-day, aka wednesday, so today will be time number two. Gym is always inside since it is still pretty bitter cold down here. They have a large indoor facility that is decent. My district is split between the Toronto, Canada mission and the Eugene, Oregon mission. I know 2 elders that will be going with me to Oregon. Elder Knight and Elder Porter.

I apologize in advance for the lack of flow in the email but you are really crunched on time and I'm just writing things as I think of them or read them.

You have to keep me up to date on what is going on in the outside world. It truly is a bubble in here. I had no idea about the Haiti earthquake until we prayed about it in the temple ... getting your news from the temple. Now that's weird.

How is Hannah doing in school? Tell her that I said to get cracking. She needs to establish good habits now because it only gets harder as you go. I'm totally saving the letter she wrote me because it was super cute. Tell her to keep writing.

So I've seen L. Tom Perry and David F. Evans of the seventy so far in the devotionals. The devotionals are good, but they are just as good over at BYU too.

My flight out is on the 26th. I don't remember when I arrive at the airport, but the phone call home will likely be between 7 and 8.

Letter home, 01/13/10

Sorry it took so long to send an email home. If you haven't already received my letter, it turns out that the day we arrived here (Wednesday) was actually the day we have our P-day on, so we basically didn't get our first P-day here. But here we are a week later, and we all finally get our first P-day. I'll catch you up on things if my letter hasn't arrived yet, but if it has then this will be a little redundant. My schedule includes waking up at 6:30 a.m. everyday, a total of 10 hours of class, 30 minutes per meal, an hour or so of gym everyday but two, and (trying) to retire to bed at 10:30 p.m. It's pretty different than what I'm used to, and a week later I still don't feel entirely used to it. Hopefully it will come with (more) time. Also, I apologize in advance if there are typos and what not because I'm doing this at 7:00 a.m. and I'm a little groggy, plus the keyboard I'm using is terrible. It's squishy, sticky, and some of the keys have to be smashed in order to register. Not something you want when you only have 30 minutes type an email the moment you log on. Let's see .. I had two companions initially, Elder Packard and Elder Graham from Draper, Utah and Hawaii respectively. Since we had an Elder go home Elder Graham has been reassigned. I'll let you read the letter for that. I also apologize if the email has little flow to it. I just have to type things as they come to my mind because I don't have time for formatting things.

I got your package in the mail with the laundry bag and goodies just in time. I have my glasses. Oh! When you respond to this email, don't do it by email. Write a dearelder so I don't have to spend part of my 30 minutes reading email when I could be writing. Could you please get some addresses of people off of facebook so I can write them? You can go just below their profile pic and do the send message thing so it isn't broadcast to all the world. Could you grab Kassie Larson and Chantel Laser and Jennifer Stanley's mailing addresses? The only people I've heard from so far has been the family. I don't know if they are really busy or if they didn't get the update on what my mailbox number is. I think it is 274 but I wrote it on my letter to you for sure. Packages with food are always welcome. I'm never in my room, but snacks are nice to have. I miss the family and my friends and of course the dogs. You'll have to let me know how everyone is doing. I could use some more regular clothing (shirts) because I have gym a lot and stuff gets dirty. I'll try to respond to letters today, so let Hannah know I'm working on it. Let me know how school is going for dad and how you and everyone else is holding up. I would love love love to get more mail from people, it really is a highlight of the day. Well, I'm running out of time, but I'm here safe and sound and doing well. Take care family!

Elder Ferguson

Mission Farewell Talk

Good morning Brothers and Sisters. That day is finally upon me where I get to stand before all of you and begin a two year period of teaching gospel principles. For the few of you who don't know me by now, my name is Isaac Ferguson. I spent last fall through this spring at BYU Provo getting a taste of semi-independent life. I have spent my time since then in what seems like a never ending cascade of snags and hiccups in getting everything ready and receiving that A-OK to finally head out. It is my pleasure to say that albeit was a long and arduous journey; I am finally prepared to head out to the far off and exotic land of Eugene, Oregon. I couldn't be more excited as I have already watched many of my good friends receive their calls and head out on their missions. I finally get to join them in donning the black nametag and attempting to be a little less of a hooligan.

Last Sunday evening I was *pleasantly* surprised by a phone call from Brother Longson about sharing my thoughts with all of you on the topic of prayer, but more specifically how prayer pertains to missionary work. The moment I hung up the phone I began to have some thoughts run through my head about how I might focus on the topic. Truthfully though, the more I thought about prayer the more difficult it became to be able to separate it into a topic all its own. Pensive thinking brings one to the realization of how irrevocably intertwined prayer is in nearly every facet of the gospel. Are you having a particularly troublesome trial? A remedy lies in prayer. Are you seeking guidance through a tumultuous period of your life? Solace and a leading hand can be found through communication with your Heavenly Father. It is my feeling that the true power and importance of prayer is often taken for granted. We fall into the motions and forget that what is taking place is a literal conversation with our Creator. While I'm sure we could discuss volumes upon volumes about prayer, a more focused approach was taken by President David O. McKay. In his discussion he outlines four specific points of how prayer impacts us that fall perfectly in line with missionary work.

In his own words, President McKay first says, "If we can get our young people to have ... faith and to approach their God in secret, there are at least four great blessings that will come to them here and now. The first is gratitude--gratitude for blessings before unrealized. Their souls will be filled with thanksgiving for what God has done for them. They will find themselves rich in favors bestowed. The young man who closes the door behind him, who draws the curtains, and there in silence prepares to plead with God for help, should first pour out his soul in gratitude for health, for friends, for loved ones, for the gospel, for the manifestations of God's existence, as seen in the rocks and the trees and the stones and the flowers, and all things about him. He should first count his many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise him what the Lord has done." So President McKay's first point of emphasis is expression of gratitude. The application of this to missionary work is quite simple. Recounting our blessings to the Lord daily preserves our humility and reminds us of how deep a role He truly plays in our lives. It is difficult to be an effective instrument of God and to convey the Spirit to others without gratitude and humility. I have a firm connection to the scripture that I have chosen to be engraved upon my plaque. From Alma 26:12, it reads, "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in His strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." Within this scripture I immediately felt a connection to my innermost feelings about serving a mission. I go into this new chapter of my life understanding my role and embracing it with humility. As it reads, I myself know that I am nothing, and indeed as to my strength I am weak. Beyond this point in the scripture the true deeper meaning unfolds. "Therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in His strength I can do all things.: It is this humble recognition that allows us to know that to wield the very strength of God is to wield power infinite and unending, through which all things are possible. A humble and grateful missionary is a spiritually in tune missionary.

President McKay goes on to highlight a second point of prayer. He says, "The second blessing of prayer is guidance. I cannot conceive of a young man's going astray who will kneel down by his bedside in the morning and pray to God to help him keep himself unspotted from the sins of the world. I think that a young girl will not go far wrong who will kneel down in the morning and pray that she might be kept pure and spotless during the coming day. I cannot think that a Latter-day Saint will hold enmity in his heart if he will sincerely, in secret, pray God to remove from his heart all feelings of envy and malice toward any of his fellowmen. Guidance? Yes, God will be there to guide and direct him who "will seek Him in faith with all his might and with all his soul." Beginning each morning in earnest prayer sets the stage for the rest of the coming day. Prayer provides guidance to those who will seek Him in faith with all their might and with all their soul. Missionaries aren't perfect, although they strive to be each and every day. Sometimes the correct path to take isn't always obvious. Devoting seven days of the week to being in the service of the Lord certainly refines an individual, but room for error is always present. There will be days where you or your companion might wake up and think, "I am just not feeling it today. The desire just isn't there." Even though missionaries stand as a bastion of light and truth in an increasingly wicked world, they are not free from temptation. To discourage one missionary is a wondrous victory for Satan. Who might be missing the chance of receiving the gospel as a result of but a moment of giving less than everything you have to give? It may be many years or perhaps never again during their temporal existence that someone will have the chance to let the light of Christ into their lives. While remaining humble, do not forget the importance one missionary can have. My mission prep teacher at BYU said something that I will likely never forget. While not an exact quote, it was something to the effect of , "Do not ever doubt yourself. You will have days where the weight of the world seems stacked against you. You may wonder if you are truly qualified to teach those who you will encounter on your mission. To this I say yes, you are not only qualified, but you are among the elect of God. You will encounter those on your mission who YOU are meant to teach, and that YOU and YOU only will be able to touch. Those souls are waiting for YOU and YOU specifically to let them know of true joy, of their loving Father in Heaven, of their purpose here on earth, and of the Plan of Salvation." Those words struck me at that moment and assuaged any doubts I may have had. There are sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father that are waiting for not just any missionary, but for ME. Taking counsel such as this proves a strong motivational factor and a barricade against discouragement, allowing the work to go forth unhindered. So pray and pray always, that it may be an iron rod to keep you on the straight and narrow and save you from wandering astray.

The third point in President McKay's discussion proceeds as follows, "The third blessing is confidence. All over this land there are thousands and tens of thousands of students who are struggling to get an education. Let us teach these students that if they want to succeed in their lessons, they should seek their God, that the greatest teacher known to the world stands near them to guide them. Once the student feels that he can approach the Lord through prayer, the student will receive confidence that he can get his lessons, that he can write his speech, that he can stand up before his fellow students and deliver his message without fear of failure. Confidence comes through sincere prayer." While this point seems to take on a more academic focus, I encourage you to look at it this way: Are we not all students of religion? We study scripture and doctrine in hopes of greater understanding. This is especially true of a missionary. We teach lessons of a religious nature. I stand before you giving a lesson this very moment. Through prayer we can achieve confidence in our actions and abilities. Like the quote from my mission prep teacher said, do not ever doubt yourself. Missionaries new to the field are prone to being less than fully confident in teaching an investigator. They may find it difficult to strike up a conversation about religion with a complete stranger. It may be uneasy to discuss gospel principles with someone who has no knowledge of them. In prayer we can seek out the confidence we need to boldly declare our message to all those who might hear it. In prayer we can find the reassurance that indeed, those whom God has called, He has qualified. We can find the courage to knock upon each and every door until our knuckles blister from the task. We can find the strength to warmly greet the brothers and sisters who would open up their homes to us and tell them of the most important message they will likely ever hear.

President McKay's final and arguably most important point is this: "Finally he will get inspiration. It is not imagination, that we can approach God and can receive light and guidance from Him, that our minds will be enlightened, our souls thrilled by His Spirit. ... Joseph Smith knew it; and the testimony, the evidence of the Prophet Joseph's inspiration is manifest to all who will but open their eyes to see and their hearts to understand." Much as the call to where a missionary will serve is inspired, so too is the work of a missionary. It is amazing what the promptings of the Spirit can do. You may stop at a door that is out of the way just because you had this "feeling" that you should, and find someone ready to hear the gospel or someone that is in need of help. You may avoid a certain area because of a "feeling" that you shouldn't be there only to find out later how truly dangerous the area is. You may have a "feeling" about what lesson to teach next to an investigator and discover that it pertains to a current issue in their life. Prayer is the vessel by which we become the mouthpiece of God. Friends have recounted events where they have uttered powerful messages and later realized that they could not recollect what they had said. In those moments they were overtaken by the spirit and speaking words that were not their own. I can attest to the same as I myself have had identical experiences. An inspired message will always be infinitely more influential than a canned, expository one.

In announcing my immediate departure, I have received some interesting messages from friends, one of which from a nonmember struck me particularly hard. She said this to me, "I encourage you to remain unwavering and passionate on your two year journey. Be ready and ever vigilant. Arm yourself with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of gospel-readiness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit and always...always...have communication with the Commander (pray in spirit)."
I would like to share my complete testimony with you, and to avoid missing anything I have written it all down:

I know with all of my heart that this is the true church upon the earth today.
I know that we teach the restored gospel as Christ Himself would have taught it.
I know that we are led and watched over by a Prophet of God, Thomas S. Monson.
I know that we meet certain people in this life that are undoubtedly sent by God, not only to help us along the way, but to remind us that we are loved.
I know that without this church and this gospel that I would be an entirely different person, and it scares me to think of where I could be. I have seen all too many times the people that have mastered living not only in the world, but of the world as well. I have seen them partake of things that they think give them joy, but what they taste of is fleeting. The sorrow I feel in my heart knowing that they have yet to experience true joy and everlasting happiness is almost more than I can bear. But this is why I choose to serve. To spread to others the same happiness and joy that I have been privileged to have my entire life.
And last, the knowledge that there is life after death and that families are eternal are comforts that I couldn't live without.
I want to leave you with "My Missionary Commission" by Elder Bruce R. McConkie by which I will live the next two years of my life:
I am called of God.
My authority is above that of kings of the earth.
By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is my master and He has chosen me to represent Him--to stand in His place, to say and do what He Himself would say and do if He personally were ministering to the very people to whom he has sent me.
My voice is His voice, and my acts are His acts; my doctrine is His doctrine.
My Commission is to do what He wants done; To say what He wants said; to be a living modern witness in word and in deed of the divinity of his great and marvelous Latter-day work.
How great is my calling!

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.