Lessons From the Piano

 Hello hello hello! Wow I think it's been 2 or 3 weeks... SORRY!!! I'll be better!

I've got a new companion named Elder Yoshida. He was born in Japan and lived there for 10 years. Then he came to brazil to live with his grandma. While living with his grandma the missionaries knocked on the door and his grandma made him listen to the missionaries and he ultimately was baptized at age 13. Then his parents got divorced and his mom moved to Brazil and lived with him. And then years later he baptized his sister then left for a mission. So him and his sister are the only 2 members of the family! But he is incredible! He is one of the genuinely nicest companions I've ever had. And I've had 18 companions so that's saying something! He really is just a nice guy. I swear every day there is some way he has served me at least twice. He's better at it than me. I feel like I always strived to be the serving companion. I enjoy making my companions bed or clearing his plate or cleaning up his messes or polishing their shoes or other things like that but dang it Elder Yoshida beats me to all these things. I'm learning I need to serve faster if I want to get a chance to serve Elder Yoshida. Haha it is good. He's the best. 

This week I really just wanted to recount a little faith lesson I learned. We had a leadership meeting this week, and I was asked to play the piano a little last minute. And I have a good amount of hymns that I've got down to just be able to play them at a moments notice for a baptism or meeting or whatever. But this time I really felt prompted to play a hymn I wasn't too familiar with. And I got scared because dang it I didn't want to mess up in front of anyone and stumble through a hymn. Also, no one would sing it was just piano playing so if I messed up... there was no hiding it. 

As i was trying to justify not following this prompting 2 things came to my mind. One was a story President Horsley had recently recounted about Elder Bednar. Basically Elder Bednar went to bless a man who had cancer but before doing so asked the man if he had the faith to not be cured. Which is a pretty big question to ask. Many of us have the faith for things to go right but do we have the faith for things to go wrong... that's what really shows faith. Then also the #hearhim video from President Oaks about following the first prompting we receive. With these 2 things in my mind I figured I didn't have much of a choice but to play the hymn I wasn't very familiar with. And you wouldn't believe it... but I definitely made errors and stumbled my way through that hymn. It was a long 2 verses(I opted out of verse 3). But after the hymn I was pleased. I was happy. I had felt a prompting and went forward with it. Even if things always don't workout, there is so much joy in sticking to promptings and revelation we receive. I learned a lot more about having the faith even when things don't workout the way you want to. Maybe someone was touched by the hymn I chose that day, or it was all for me to learn this lesson. I'm grateful that i was given the opportunity to learn and was able to follow this simple prompting. It has helped me as I've received other revelation and promptings to really stick to them, even if things don't workout the way I had thought. I know joy comes from following promptings!

That's all my future kids and whoever else is reading this email!:) 

Love y'all!!!

Elder Hixon

A Lesson of Repentance!

The past 2 weeks have been wonderful. The baptism of Gaby was amazing! And coming over to Vargem Grande to be with Elder Machado has been so great! It's fun being in a position to help a lot of missionaries. We make a lot of calls each day to check up on our missionaries and it's strengthening to see how hard they work even despite all the troubles. The pandemic is still ragingly real here. We have been on an emergency lockdown basically since I got here a little over a month ago. So there is much reason to have troubled hearts and sad spirits but not these missionaries! I am encouraged to be better and be more because of them

General Conference this past weekend was just the best huh? It was very powerful and was an answer to my prayers and I'm sure many many others. One thing I've been doing since the end of conference is following through with an invitation our prophet extended to us during the Priesthood session. He asked each of us to really reflect on the lessons that we have learned these past 2 years(since the last Priesthood session we had in April 2019) and especially during the pandemic. I'd love to talk a little about one of these lessons I've learned!

Repentance is more than self awareness. It takes hard work and in some cases is a very long process! 

Why is repentance more than self awareness? Because self awareness requires no action nor sacrifice. Self awareness is an important step that can lead us to having a broken heart and a contrite spirit, which is the very sacrifice the Lord asks of us. He doesn't ask for certain specific prayers, he isn't asking for an amount of money or amount of service in the church. To receive forgiveness we must approach our Lord with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Receiving forgiveness is a part of the process of repentance but is not all of it. We aren't here just to receive forgiveness. We are here to change and become better people. And that's when things can be difficult and take a long time. It is not difficult to receive forgiveness nor does it take a long time. Changing does. 

One quick note on forgiveness. The Lord always forgives in bulk. We can read of countless accounts in the scripture where the Lord claims, "Thy sins are forgiven thee" and does not say "Thy sin is forgiven thee". God and Jesus Christ forgive in bulk. Don't think too much about whether you've been forgiven of some sins vs. not being forgiven of others. If you've been forgiven of some you've been forgiven of all. But again, God isn't just in the business to forgive, He wants us to grow and change so that we can live with Him again. 

This need for change is often times why it is so crucial we approach our common judge in Israel when we have sins of a more serious nature. They can judge our worthiness and help us to change. If you read in the Old Testament in the book of Leviticus you can read about the many many processes and steps needed to take to receive forgiveness and in essence, repent, for the children of Israel. One thing to note is the phrase that is so often repeated, "And the priest shall make Atonement for them". The priest is the one that the people had to bring their offering to. These Children of Israel in some cases brought animals and in other cases brought fine oils and different herbs or spices as offerings, it depended on the sin. The priest then sprinkled the blood on the alter or performed other ritual things in order to "make Atonement" for the offender. Because of Christ's Atonement we have been asked to only bring a broken heart and a contrite spirit. We must bring this offering to our priest, Jesus Christ. Though, as was stated before, with certain offenses we must bring these offerings to our priest, who are our bishops or mission president. It is in this process that the priest can take our offerings and through direction from the Lord can "make Atonement" for us. The need to bring our offerings before another human, a common judge, has been instituted since biblical times. It isn't just a suggestion. For the children of Israel it was vital that they do this to receive forgiveness and be repentant. For us, we have a little more freedom as we live the higher law. We have the freedom to not always have to approach the common judge in order to receive forgiveness or "Atonement" for our sins. But again, in more serious offenses it is vital that we approach a common judge with our offering of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. 

Repentance is not always as instantaneous as receiving forgiveness. Repentance, the act of changing to become more like our Savior, requires sacrifice. It requires an added amount of faith. Discipline is ever so crucial to change. Obedience can aid us with the Spirit so that we can be strengthened in our efforts to be more diligent. From my experiences I have learned that this part is the hardest part. The actual change to becoming a new creature. What a process! It takes time and optimism. It is a path in where family and friends become crucial. Choosing to surround yourself with covenant keepers will aid you in the journey of change. The journey requires one with a determined heart to choose the right no matter what. Even if the offense is repeated during this process, the repenter can speedily seek help and speedily seek advice through prayer, scripture, and others. This will help that failure or falter turn into more of a stepping stone rather than what can sometimes feel like a start over. 

Luckily this process of repentance is joyful because we have an infinite amount of tries!!! I am convinced that judgement day won't come for anyone until one has quit. Once we quit, the Lord can make his judgement. But as long as we keep trying, we can work our way to become who we want to become and who God wants us to be. We are told that as often as we repent we shall be forgiven. We've got second chances and third chances and even fourth chances! Our chances are as infinite as is our determination to keep trying. Once we stop trying, our chances can begin to dwindle until we arrive at judgement day, unrepentant and unchanged, to receive our eternal consequence. We are given our whole lives to repent and even some time in the next life to figure it out. This process wasn't meant to be instantaneous and quick. If it was, our time on  earth would be far shorter. So don't ever lose hope when it seems you just can't change. Don't stop trying when you feel like you've tried over 100 times. Christ's Atonement is infinite in power and time. As long as you keep trying, no matter how long it takes, you can ultimately change. 

These are things I've learned in the last 2 years of my life and in fact I'm still learning! Repentance is more than self awareness. It takes hard work and in some cases is a very long process! 

Love you all! Thank you for letting me share a lesson I've learned these past 2 years. These things are really written for my future family but thanks for being my audience for now;) 

Elder Hixon