Hello my missionary son!
Today as I wrap up my scripture study, I paused to look at your missionary sticker board and am amazed how fast your first year is flying by. By this point of Jansen's mission I had written to him faithfully each week. I must apologize to you as I realize my weakness in writing to you. I used to copy and paste my social media posts and send them to over a dozen missionaries at a time but now that everyone has social media, it no longer serves a purpose. I am just now realizing how I have neglected to write to you since we get to talk almost every week. I have been wanting to record some precious spiritual insights for a long time now. I guess I need to take my own advice and begin by beginning;)
So here goes .... some of the things I have been learning and some precious truths that have been on my mind. We will call them Mama's Musings today. I'm just going to start with this week and see how it goes.
So this past Sunday, Lavon Heath was sitting with Kristen and I in the gym of the church because as per usual, we were too late to get a seat in the actual chapel which still remains in socially distanced rows. Lavon left after the first talk but then never came back. This worried me and so I reached out to her. Here is a portion of our text after I asked her is she was ok:
Lavon: I thought I could make it through the meetings but then just felt worse the more I sat there. If you have any wise or inspiring words, I could use them since I didn’t get to hear them at church
Me: Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear you’re not feeling well 
Sunday school was really good. Dawn facilitated some great discussion. Johny Meuchel was very concerned that he has family members that he’s afraid won’t make it to the celestial kingdom because they’re not members of our church. They’re really good, kind, honest people. What happens to them? I responded directly to his question. I told him I believe we need to stop thinking of the degrees of glory as a destination. Instead, we need to think of them as degrees of relationship with Jesus. I think we get caught up in the complexities of the different glories. I believe this isn’t destination based... it’s a way of living right now 
Later, after class I told him I don’t believe in an all or nothing God. I believe we will be blown away with how merciful and full of Grace our Savior is. So if the glories aren’t destination based what it all boils down to is How much Jesus do you want 
Lavon and I texted back and forth for a while and I asked her if I could do anything to help. She said physically she just needed rest to recover. With MS she has some good days and some bad days. Then she asked me to pray to which I replied: Of course! That's kind of my thing;). Haha!
Here was my prayer response and although it was specific to her I want to share it with you too because the same words will apply to you at some point in your mission:
Anyways.... I hope you and Elder Zuniga are finding purpose in your planning and success in your sharing the love of God with all those you meet! Will, I am so thankful for the man you have become and know that as you access His grace, you will continue becoming the man God needs and knows you can be. You are amazing! I love you so much! I think about you always and pray for you to have spiritual insights as you grow to love the Savior more and more. Work hard and have fun!
love, mama
PS: Pray for Mr. Whiskers. He might be approaching his final nine lives. He's just slowing down and we are worried this time he might not make it. I know we've said that about five years in a row. I'm just hoping he doesn't pass while dad's gone to Oklahoma with Jansen next week. Kristen's just loving on him as much as she can while he's still here. Either way, I love this picture:)
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