President Summerhays' Letter

December 5, 2010 Dear Sisters and Elders,

I desire your happiness now and forever. The lessons you learn while serving a mission will help you be happy. Let me share an excerpt from a letter from one of your fellow missionaries.

“On another note, I have learned a lot of life skills and treasures this week that will stay with me forever.. This week I had some amazing learning activities. I have been yelled at, rejected, and had doors slammed in my face all week. Its soooo good. I love it. I realized that people reject and accuse me because I stand for something. I have a standard. I have never felt better. Obviously I want everybody to meet with us and accept the gospel. But the rejection is great. Never let an experience go by without learning from it. I have learned how to learn, if that makes sense. The only way we can change is by applying what we learn. If we learn more, there will be more to apply. Change is the best part of being alive. I can’t believe I was afraid of it.”

President Hinckley has admonished us that we need to Stand for Something. Do we stand for the Savior as His representatives? This Christmas season let us stand for our Savior Jesus Christ. President Howard W. Hunter once gave us some advice on how to do that. He said:

This Christmas we must know Christ

Better than we know Him;

We must remember Him more often than we remember Him;

We must serve Him more valiantly

Than we serve Him.

I pray that we might treat each other with

More kindness, more courtesy,

And more humility, more patience and Forgiveness.

These are simple gifts we can give to our Savior. Can you think of others? I would love to hear about them. This Christmas season, let us as consecrated missionaries focus on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us offer our whole souls as an offering to him. Let us learn to love the work even when we are yelled at, rejected, and when we have doors slammed in our faces. If this becomes our attitude, we will know Christ, we will remember Him and we will serve Him more valiantly. If we learn this here, we will be happy and successful now and in the future.

I love you and I believe in you. You are the best!

President Summerhays