First things first...

First things first, I'm super happy. I love our area and companion and I'm just a happy lil guy.

​We just finished all the things we had to do today so we have the next literal 7 hours to chill. That's so nice. I miss chilling. Chilling is a commodity that I cannot afford. But just so you know the second I get home, I'm yours. Until then I'll keep working really hard.

We found this super cool family in the park last week and they're literally the coolest. They are super into reading the BoM and do it as a family every day. That's one of the things that I've really come to appreciate on my mission. How important families are. Because they're the best!

I've learned a lot of doctrine. I love doctrine. Here are a few things I found that are pretty cool about our spirits:

"Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes; we cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter."
Doctrine and Covenants 93:29; 131 7-8

"The spirit of man consists of an organization of the elements of spiritual matter in the likeness and after the pattern of the fleshly tabernacle. It possesses, in fact, all the organs and parts exactly corresponding to the outward tabernacle”
(Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, 79).

The beginning was when the councils met and the decision was made to create this earth that the spirits who were intended for this earth, should come here and partake of the mortal conditions and receive bodies of flesh and bones. The doctrine has prevailed that matter was created out of nothing, but the Lord declares that the elements are eternal. Matter always did and, therefore, always will exist, and the spirits of men as well as their bodies were created out of matter. We discover in this revelation that the intelligent part of man was not created, but always existed. There has been some speculation and articles have been written attempting to explain just what these ‘intelligences’ are, or this ‘intelligence’ is, but it is futile for us to speculate upon it. We do know that intelligence was not created or made and cannot be because the Lord has said it.
(Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:401

“All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life”
(Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102).

Kind of cool stuff. The more I learn about our Father the more I realize how wonderful and merciful he is. And I love learning because I feel closer to Him. I like this quote from Joseph Smith that says "The Glory of God is intelligence." I know that to be true.

I hope you are having the best time on your trip. I want pictures. Drink a lot of Pina coladas. They're free if you just charge them to the room and have your parents pay for them.

Xoxo.
​Your boy, Jack