Willing to Submit

Tyler's letter for this week.  His cousin Blake just received his mission call and is going to the Democratic Republic of Congo Kinshasa mission and will be learning French.  Also, since he indicated in his last letter that he was so cold, my parents (grandma and grandpa Welch to him), who live in an Atlanta suburb, purchased him some sweaters and a coat and dropped them off.  They also were able to take him and his companions to lunch.  They reported that he is doing great and really focused on the work.  Sounds like he is getting attached to the Atlanta mission.  Enjoy!

Richard (Tyler's dad)

Lot's of lessons learned this week, one of which I will forever be grateful for.

However, before I forget... Blake Thomas Simmons... YYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Agghhh Yeahhh! I loved getting his email. I haven't been able to read it all yet but Africa?? French speaking?? Haha agh man, I'm so pumped for him. I seriously can't wait to see him, David, JD, and Matt again. Every time I read Alma 17 when the sons of Mosiah reunite, I think of seeing them all again after our missions. Man. That day will be awesome

So this week: Jessica was all lined up and looking awesome for her baptism this Saturday. We pretty much had everything lined up with the program, speakers, etc. she just had to have her interview. The zone leaders made the trip down from downtown Atlanta, about an hour drive, to interview her on Friday at 3:00. We met them at the church and then gave her a call. TEN MINUTES before her interview she was rushed to the ER at the hospital! Are you kidding me? We spent the next hour in a half praying and discussing what the best thing to do would be. Her phone actually died when I was on the phone with her, leaving us in the dark. Haha we had no idea what was going on, just praying for the best.

Well, Saturday evening, we finally got a hold of her and it turns out she was okay. She had to receive some shots and other things for something "personal." Not sure what it was but I left it at that. She said she would feel more comfortable if we pushed it back to next weekend. I was happy to hear she was okay and then we called everyone that night and rescheduled it to this coming weekend.

Pretty disappointing, right? Yeah. But it's understandable. It was just crazy because it literally happened ten minutes before her interview. So, I said a prayer to thank Heavenly Father for taking care of her and then hopped in the car to see the Johnson family.

The office elders scared me to death because they showed up on our way to the appointment to have me sign some more papers for my visa... I thought I was leaving! Luckily, it was just some more paper work I had to fill out. So, again, my heart was beating about 100x a minute from all of this happening within ten minutes of each other. (From Jessica asking to push her baptism back a week and the office elders calling and showing up to have me sign papers for my visa).

All right, so I said another prayer just to kind of "cool down" as we showed up to the Johnson's home. This appointment was big time as we were making the final preparations for their baptism this Saturday.

"Knock, knock, knock"

In we walked to an empty house with suitcase after suitcase after suitcase lined up.

"What's going on? Are you guys moving?"

I knew they had talked about moving back down to Florida some time before the end of Winter, so I asked timidly.

...
Man... Words cannot describe what that felt like. They were quiet and sad. Their grandfather is not doing well so they decided it would be best to go down now and be around their family for the holidays. They pulled their kids out of school here and sold everything online that they couldn't take with them. They were moving the next night (Saturday).

Haha I don't think I've ever felt like that in my entire life. It was painful/sad/any "bad" feeling you could ever have all slammed on me at once! I was crushed beyond words could describe.

They took a picture with my new companions and I and then we said our goodbyes. I gave hugs/knuckle bumps to everyone and then looked up to leave. Their mom was standing against the wall by herself when I lifted my head up. She reached her hands out and gave me a hug as she had tears coming down her face. They talked about how happy they were and how much we meant to them. They talked about how excited they are for still getting baptized and then being sealed in the temple as a family in a year from now.

Well, I left their apartment and after planning just kind of looked at the ceiling before going to bed. "What in the world just happened?" I thought. All of that happened within 30 minutes of each other. It was madness.

I woke up yesterday morning trying to figure out if that really happened or if I just had a nightmare.

Well, to wrap everything together, I've recently been thinking a lot about this Christlike characteristic of being "submissive". Mosiah 3:19 is starting to be one of my favorite scriptures now as I try more and more each day to "put off the natural man". It was so selfish of me to "want" these things for myself.

All is well in Zion however! Jessica is getting baptized this coming Saturday and the Johnson's gave our ward mission leader a call last night saying they went to church and are still planning on getting baptized. He, along with a few others, might drive down and surprise them for their baptism. That would be really cool. Haha, I keep thinking about how those missionaries must have felt when they got our referral text about this awesome family.

I'm willing to trust in the Lord with all my heart. To not lean unto my own understanding but just trust Him in all I do (D&C 6:36). I'm having a blast out here.

And yes, I am so happy. Especially because I'm warm now bc of gma and gpa Welch. They. are. the. best.

Elder Welch