Mission Week 81: Happy Birthday Elder Tyson!

January 23, 2016

Hi Family,

Thank you so much to all of the birthday wishes!! It has been another great year! Yeah this week was great, M. is planning to be baptized and things, saw great miracles, Elder Maurer is doing fantastic, but I wanted to dedicate this letter to two things.

To be honest, I am pretty sure I have learned more in this year than any other year of my life. I have discovered life lesson that I know will have an impact for the rest of my life. I took the time in my personal study to write some things I've learned, and I would like to share them with you

• To obey is better than to sacrifice
• Celebrate the small victories
• This life is between me and the Lord
• There is a consequence to every decision, that may have an affect others around you
• Piano practice is never a good backup plan
• Talk to people at their level
• The Book of Mormon is the most powerful tool we have as missionaries
• Talk with the person who opens the door, when the person who was supposed to isn't there.
• "Pueblo work" is a clever way to waste time
• You know you are close to your companion when you can wrestle him
• Miracles sometimes occur when we are just sitting and waiting, but they always occur when we are actively seeking them
• The contacts we make when we don't want to contact, can be some of the most important contacts we make
• You can find something in common with every single person
• Baptism is the best way to spread love
• The byproduct of caring for a missionary is success in their area, not visa versa .
• Although we might be able to, nothing Gospel related should ever be done on the fly.
• Hymns sound much better when someone knows a harmony
• Eating with members is a great way to gain weight
• Now matter how good or prepared you think you are, someone or something will always come to show you that you are not.
• Don't be afraid to stress the little things, they are what make all the difference
• Creativity doesn't always mean arts and crafts
• Leadership is much more than hyping people up
• The more we lose ourselves in the service of others, the more we discover who we truly are
• Never quit
• The ideas of others may not be the right one, but they normally help lead to the right one, so be open to everything.
• You can't give all your heart, might, mind, and strength in the streets if you don't dedicate that same effort in the planning session
• It's better to be over prepared than under prepared
• We can't control how often they accept but we can control how much we invite
• We are the resource, not the source
• Missionary work should be simplified to two words, invite and testify
• Just because you believe in science does not mean God does not exist
• It really doesn't matter who the president is, what does is the status of our own home
• Families are forever

So there are many more, but those are just a few I wanted to list. I am so grateful for this past year, I hope that I can learn new things in the coming year as well!!