I Am Part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed

He asked that we post the following quote here:

"I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed.
The die has been cast; I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
My past is redeemed; my present makes sense; my future is secure. [He loves you, Ashton!]

I am finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees and colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap living and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions or popularity.
I don't have to be right, first, recognized, praised or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience and labor with power.

I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, pander at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won't give up, shut up or let up until I have stayed up, stored up and paid up for the cause of Christ.

I must give until I drop, preach all that I know and work until He stops me.
When He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.

My Banner Is Clear!"
(Henry B. Eyring)

The Spirit Whispered This to Me

From 8/28/09:

"I love teaching (one of his investigators). Last time was so cool. He started crying and said that something I said came word-for-word from a poem he wrote in high school! Yeah, weird to know that I'm not the one speaking in moments like that."

Again, he sends his love and thoughts to everyone - especially one person in particular.

Catching Up: Info from Multiple Letters

From 7/20/09:

A question to consider - "What kind of man do you want me to be when I get home?"

From 7/27/09 - 8/10/09 (some of the difficulties of missionary work):

1) "(One of the people we have been teaching) was gonna get baptized Saturday, but she got evicted Friday morning from her place - so we have to re-find her." [Papa's commentary: Learning to deal with the consequences of others' bad choices can be painful - especially when you come to love someone and want so badly to help bless their life.]

2) He was humbled by a young man who has had an incredibly difficult life but for whom the Gospel just "clicked" as he heard it for the first time. Now Elder DeGraw just has to help convince him to marry the mother of their children.

3) Another woman who had been working toward baptism disappeared to get away from an abusive boyfriend.

On the bright side, he baptized someone for the first time as a missionary about a month ago - a really neat experience!

From 8/15/09:

He wrote of suddenly realizing how miserable it would be to live a life of trying to make others miserable. What a waste of energy and time. There are people who live FOR something and people who spend their lives living AGAINST something. He wants to live FOR goodness and joy and love.

In each letter, he asked us to make sure someone in particular knows he loves her. He really does.