Brothers, Sisters, and everything in between and above,
Elder Sandberg is leaving the great city of Monticello. My heart truly will have a great proportion of it made up of this place and the people here. I have once heard someone say, "I'm grateful to have so many people who make it so hard to say goodbye", these words are now my words. I cannot count on one hand the people whom I will miss when I leave here. Although there are a few that I hold closer to my heart, my capacity and ability to love has been magnified. There are so many people that I wish to say goodbye to, but there simply is not enough time.
Just want to share a couple things that I have learned since being here in this area. First, your attitude truly is EVERYTHING. With a poor attitude, even the greatest of places can be the worst thing in the world. When I first got here, I had a very bad attitude, and thankfully, the Lord has helped me. You can't always change your circumstances, but you can always change how you feel about them. We are not creatures of our circumstances, we are creators. The Lord has given us the opportunity to choose and that is what we must do.
Second, memorizing scriptures is one of the greatest and worst things in the world. I have gained an immense testimony of the Book of Mormon and it's power. There have been several instances where I have had to completly rely on that resource to answer questions and concerns that were thrown at me. And due to my diligence in getting to know what is in there, I was able to withstand the blows. The price to know the Book of Mormon has come at the expense of my mind being strained and stretched quite dramatically. I recently hit the 200 mark of scriptures memorized, and it is draining. So many different variations to say the same thing and all the, "behold', "nevertheless", "and it came to pass", and on and on, can make it very difficult to sort out which is which.
Third, and last of all, due to time, relationships are of the greatest value that we can attain in this life. Everything else will fade away when we leave this life, but the bonds and connections we establish and build here will continue beyond. The most important relationship, of course, is with our Savior Jesus Christ. All things are possible through him. It is because of him that we can continue to have our spouse, our family, our friends, and all else we come in contact with. The reason the relationships I have built on the mission will last so long, is because they are built in Him.
I am so grateful to have been here, and will add 30 plus other people from Monticello to this email next week.
I love you all. THank you so much for the support!
Elder Sandberg
New mailing address
PO Box 385
Tuba City, Arizona,
86045
Yes, that is indeed going to be all four states that I have served in! WAhoo!
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