Josh's Mission Sept 21 2015

Hello Family! (everyone is included in family, we're all brothers and sisters here )

Well, I'll just start out by saying, thank you so much for everything that you have done! It's been such an amazing experience to get to know so many of my wonderful brothers and sisters out here in Iowa :) it's amazing how the Lord puts us in the right places at the right times.  

so I really don't have any great and last words, mainly because I am not that great and I don't have many words. But I will just leave you all with a relatively brief bit and testimony.

I have loved serving the Lord these last two years, I feel that I have been blessed beyond what I could have hoped for and especially what I deserve. I feel like King Benjamin describes in 

Mosiah 2:24-25 "he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

 25 And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you."

this is true! The Lord has given us everything and we are and will always be indebted to Him. He loves us to much!! He wants us to be happy and joyful. He has given us a plan to follow Him which provides the way to happiness and eternal life, that way and plan is through Jesus Christ our Savior. I know that when we come unto Him and take the Spirit into our hearts that all things will work out for our good.

I also feel as Ammon said in Alma 26:16

"we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."

because of His great mercy we are all empowered to do and be the very best that we can. I know that Christ is our Savior and that He lives!! " and while he lives I'll sing!! He lives to wipe away my tears, he lives to calm my troubled heart, he lives all blessings to impart.

I know that this is true!! and I thank Him for allowing me to come to this understanding and for the blessing is has been to serve Him. 

thank you all for your love!! thank you for everything that you do!! I hope and pray that all is well with you!!

ij iokwe eok!!

Merci beaucoup

Elder Broadbent

ps I would love to keep in touch, if you want, look me up on Facebook or you can email me at joshuabroadbent727@gmail.com

pss I will be giving my homecoming talk in Ogden Ut at the Rock Cliff Stake center (any questions on directions just ask) at 9am on the27th of September... that's this next sunday. I'd love to see anyone and all there!! oh and there will be a lunch after church is over, if nothing else...come for the food (don't tell anyone, but that's what I'm doing...)  I love you!!

Josh's Mission Sept 8 2015

Hello family!!

your welcome for the pictures!! you got the ones from a lady named crystal didn't you?? When she asked to take some pictures and send them to you, I realized that it was your b day and that would be perfect so I'm glad that it worked out :)

You're are welcome for the video, I'm glad that it helps others. I wonder sometimes if the videos we share with people (not just through email) are actually effective, I know they work for me, so I hope they work for others! :)

that's a really good question, how do I focus. really the main thing that helps me is to be thinking about the sacrament and the Atonement as soon as I wake up in the morning on Sunday. I try to think about things that I need to improve upon and repent of, and then during the sacrament to ask my self, how does this apply to the Atonement? Elder Callister in his book "the Infinite Atonement" talks about trying to find applications with each of the ordinances we perform. 

I'm glad that it all worked out to get those things from the Beyer's! they are wonderful!  one of the packages is for Elder Todd, but you don't need to worry about getting it to anyone. When I get home I'm going to give it to his mom, who lives down in American Fork. so for now, don't worry about it, thank you though!!

it's been a very busy and hectic week! We were out of our area for like 4 days, with various exchanges and we also had interviews with President Jensen this week. But it has been a good week! We've been doing a lot of finding and trying to sift the wheat from the tares. We're striving to talk with as many people as we can and to see the work that the Lord has for us here. 

 It is such an amazing opportunity to serve the Lord with all our heart, mind, and strength. Our Heavenly father has provided the way to return to Him, through our Savior Jesus Christ, through living His gospel. This last week we were able to go to the temple and receiver permission to do initiatories (which I haven't done in a long time). it was really amazing to feel of the wonderful spirit of helping my brothers make covenants with Father in Heaven. We then went and did an session (which we saw the Old video, the one that I saw the first time I went through the temple) and it was really an amazing experience to see a lot of connections that I hadn't previously made, which came from doing both parts of the endowment. It was amazing!

 

and lastly I want to leave a thought from President Nelson. He gave a talk at the new mission president seminar at the MTC and I really love what he talked about

 

“We, as agents of the Lord, are privileged to preach His gospel,” Elder Nelson said. “The Apostle Paul taught an amazing concept. He declared that each agent, each disciple, yes, each missionary, can become a living ‘epistle of Christ, ... written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God ... [embedded] in the fleshy tables of the heart’ (2 Corinthians 3:3). With that unique designation, we can help to achieve Their three great overarching objectives for us.”

First, he said, missionaries are helping to gather scattered Israel; second, missionaries are helping the families of gathered Israel to be sealed in a holy temple; and third, missionaries are helping prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord.

“Their objectives become our objectives,” Elder Nelson said. “Keep them foremost in our minds. Their objectives undergird everything that we do. The Lord expects us to maintain His quickened pace. … We need to proceed in faith and do our best, knowing that He will help us.”

 

I love how he talks about the Hastening of the work of Salvation and the Lord's quickened pace in this work! it's true, the work is going forward faster than ever, sometimes we focus too much on the short view of things and the everyday matters, which is very important though. but sometimes we need to take a step back, look at the whole picture, examine our past works, see what we are doing now, and look ahead to what we need to do. Elder Renlend in general conference said

 "God cares a lot more about who we are and who we are becoming than about who we once were.4 He cares that we keep on trying."

I know this is true! I love being a part of this great work!! I love you and thank you for your love!! I hope and pray that all is well and that you know that everything happens for a reason!! thank you for everything!!

ij iokwe eok!!

Merci beaucoup

Elder Broadbent