Monday, November 25, 2013

Re: Feliz Thanksgiving - Warner

Great letter Warner! Looking forward to catching one of those long bombs on Thursday!! :)


On Sun, Nov 24, 2013 at 9:30 PM, Warner Nielsen <bwn888@gmail.com> wrote:
Elder Bassett - 

No, I'm not wishing myself a Happy Thanksgiving...just putting my name in the subject line so that the BAWB knows who this is from right away.  Things are going pretty well in the Nielsen household.  Currently we're dealing with a sewage smell that seems to be coming from somewhere in the bathroom.  No, it's not the toilet and yes, the smell lingers a little to long to be natural.  It's kind of nauseating sometimes.  Right now it seems to be permeating the whole place and isn't pleasant.  Our landlords know about it and have tried a couple of things.  Hopefully we can solve the problem soon and hopefully the smell isn't in any way toxic.  That could be bad.  I hope I'm not losing valuable brain cells from a silly smell.  Thankfully neither of us have expressed any symptoms of inhaling toxic gas, but maybe there are some gasses that don't present any side affects.  

Yesterday our ward had a Turkey Bowl football game.  It was a lot of fun and reminded me of when we play in St George.  Can't wait to have you back so that we can score some more deep pass touchdowns.  It was fun throwing you the deep bomb and having you catch them in stride on a dead sprint.  I never played football in an organized league, but those deep bombs are some of the most gratifying parts of playing football.  Well, I guess a well placed throw would come second on the list, maybe a well placed throw in traffic.  I had one of those yesterday for a touchdown and I must say I felt pretty good for how well I placed the throw.  I'm not super fast when I run, but I feel like I can throw ok and so I enjoy providing the catch to the receiver.  Anyway, enough bragging about my amazing skills.  Haha.

This week is obviously Thanksgiving and I'm thankful for your service with a smile.  You can just feel your smile in each of your letters and feel your love for the work and for our Savior Jesus Christ.  Thank you!  I remember my first Thanksgiving on my mission.  I don't ever remember feeling homesick, I loved where I was and I loved being out on the mission.  The people of Hawaii loved to feed the missionaries.  I think we had 3 or 4 lunches/late lunches/dinners that day.  It was amazing.  I ate, and ate, and ate.  There was no stopping.  And I ate some more because the people had so much food and were so willing to share and I couldn't pass up the deliciousness that was literally all around me.  Needless to say I gained a quick 20 pounds in my first three months.  That was the fastest weight I had ever gained in my life.  But it was a part of my mission so I didn't feel too guilty.  I ended up losing about 10 lbs and so it evened out.  There were two missionaries that I personally knew that each gained 80 lbs throughout their missions.  I heard of another Elder that gained 100 lbs.  He was from Japan.  I don't think he had plans to be a sumo wrestler when he got home but I'm sure he was well on his way.

I'm so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  More specifically I'm thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I love the scriptures found in Alma 36.  I think the story of Alma the Younger is my favorite story in all of the scriptures.  I love that we have the opportunity to change from a damned soul to one that full of light and the spirit all made possible because of the atonement.  After I finish the Old Testament I want to start studying more fervently the atonement of Jesus Christ.  I made it a goal to read the Old Testament last year.  I never finished because I read the Book of Mormon twice in that time for different reasons.  So my goal is to finish it this year.  Getting closer.  

Anyway, I just got a comment from Janey, "Is that to Max?"  I said, "yes".  She said, "Wow, that's long".  So, I'll take her advice and finish.  Take care Elder.  Continue working with the love, hope, zeal, carry on-ness, and charity that you have been exhibiting in your letters.  Know that you are loved and that we pray for you practically every day.  

Ciao -

Warner

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Week 36 - Letter from Spain (Elder Bassett you will be serving in...)

Week 36 - Max - Elder Bassett you will be serving in…

Monday, November 25, 2013

7:16 AM

 

Hola familia!! Como Estan!

I am just sitting here on this chilly day, here in Cordoba. Im realizing more and more that Christmas is coming soon (here theres no thanksgiving, but there is Christmas, so I am getting pumped for it!) Today as we were in El Corte Ingles (a big shopping mall) "All I want for Christmas is you," came on by Mariah Carey, and I couldnt help but smile as I thought about mom dancing all over the house as we all set up the christmas tree! haha Good memories!! 

With that said though, I wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving (it is this week right? Or has it already passed?) I am so thankful to have such wonderful family and friends that write so diligently! You all are such wonderful examples to me, and though it sometimes is hard to miss such fun memories, just reading all ya´lls letters makes me feel like I am there! :) So thank so much! :)

 

TRANSFER UPDATE!!!!!!!! 

Well..this week is big transfer week where missionaries about go crazy just thinking where they will be spending Christmas and what not. We recieved our call on Friday night from President in which he said, "Elder Bassett, you´ve got a big transfer." I am heading off to Granada to serve as the Zone Leader!! I am still shocked, and it hasnt quite hit me yet that I have been given this awesome opportunity! For those that dont know, the mission is broke up into zones (or areas) and then inside those areas are the districts. A zone is kind of like a stake, and the district is like the ward. With only 8 months in the mission, I am one of the youngest to be called to serve as zone leader. Talk about getting out of your comfort bubble! haha Thats one thing I love about the mission though, I thought I had stretched my comfort bubble far enough with talking to random strangers about the gospel, but the Lord always finds ways to stretch it even more. I am nervous as I know it will be a super humbling experience, but I am even more pumped as I know it will help build me up to the missionary the Lord wants me to become! I know that your prayers will help out a ton this next week. Thank so much! :)

 

UPDATE ON INVESTIGATORS

Sooooo....last week we had a huge group of investigators and members show up to church. 66 in total!!! This week............35..........WHAT?!?!?! 5 minutes before the meetings started, it was only me, Elder Guarcax and the nursery leader. We had to wait outside so we werent in the chapel with a women along. 5 MINUTES BEFORE CHURCH!!! It was crazy! I think it was because there was a big marathon going on and so most of the main streets were closed down which messed up all of the bus schedules and everything. It was also freezing cold. I dont know, but it sure was interesting. 

I gave a quick little 3 minute talk to say my goodbyes and bear my testimony, but it was sooo hard because I have no voice! This past week I have been pretty dang sick, and as Ive been getting better, my voice has completely gone! So I felt like I was yelling and screaming in the pulpit, yet barely any sound was coming out. haha But the Lord helped me to say what I wanted to say. He has helped me say all of my goodbyes to the members, investigators, menos activos, etc, etc! 

Anyways...interesting sunday. 

 

Random

- Mom, I dont know if you have put up my mission scripture yet, but I wanted to change it to Exodus 4:11-12 where the Lord is talking with Moses. That scripture, so far, has probably made one of the biggest impacts on me personally while I have been out here.

 

- CONGRATS to Katherine and Gordy with the big wedding. I hope you get my letter soon!! :)

 

- I won another ping pong tournament. :) But I would still get smashed at a Bassett reunion! haha

 

- PRESIDENT BOYD K. PACKER WAS ON THE BUS!!!!!!

No, not really, but as we got on the bus the other day, there was a man that looked EXACTLY, and I mean EXACTLY like Boyd K. Packer. I dont know the last time Ive seen someone look so alike to someone else. The only difference was that he was a bit taller (but he was sitting down so you couldnt see it.) hahaha random...

 

- I bought a scarf

 

- Nick and Stef, question? I remember that in your ward in St. George, there is a member from Spain and I got to talk to her before. I was just thinking about her the other day. What part of Spain is she from? Does she know other people that live in Utah from Spain? I ask, because I guess there was a HUGE group of LDS girls from Cordoba who headed off to Utah to find and marry the missionaries that were there. It was like 20 or 30 years ago, and so I dont know if she might be one of them. haha It would be funny!

 

- Elder Guarcax´s ex just sent him a whole bunch of photos and hes freaking out of confusion. 

 

Well thats about it for this week from Cordoba. THE LAST WEEK FROM CORDOBA!!! Oh man, thats crazy! Time is flying by!

Thank you all for your support and your examples and I will keep you updated on the big transfer coming up! :) I am exicted to spend Christmas in Granada and I am pumped to see you all! :)

 

I am loving life!

Carry on!

A vencer!

 

I love you all!

Love, Elder Bassett


-- 
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Fwd: photos! :)


Photos of Elder Bassett!

Its getting cold so I like to put on my hipster outfit ;) hahaha

This is Heberson (who served with Blaine) and his family. I will sure miss them a lot. He reminds me a lot of James Yorgason.

Saying our goodbyes to Manuel and his dogs, (and cat). I will sure miss that man. He is progressing a lot. I am excited to see him again someday! :)


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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Nov 24 - Nick

Dear Max,

We just got back from salt lake and it's time for bed, so this needs to be a quickie. A few quick highlights from the week:

I've been working a lot all week on a final group project for one of my classes. We are consulting a local small business and have put together a set of business recommendations for them. Glad we are almost done with that.

Took the youth to the temple to do baptisms. It was awesome! Even though it ended up taking more than 3 hours, we had a great time, and were even blessed to have our new temple president come and visit with us. He sounds EXACTLY like president Packer.

We had so much fun at Kath's wedding. Gordy seems like a great kid. Probably the main highlight for me was when we got to the luncheon at the old spaghetti factory and managed to end up in an isolated little booth with Blaine and Kris. It was so fun to get virtually uninterrupted 1:1 time with them. It was awesome. It was of course very fun to see Easton there too.

We got to participate in the baby blessing of Craig and Kristen Morris new little baby Zak. We had a great time being with the Morris clan

Finally, we had a fun get together at Blaine Kristi's tonight at their place. It's so fun to get to spend time with everyone and I truly wish we were able to have get togethers like that more often. It's so fun being with everyone.

We are so grateful you're out on your mission. Keep up the great work! We pray for you and many of your investigators by name.

Love you!

Nick

Sent from my iPhone
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Michael Buble (Janey)



Dear Chonin Lostin Chon,

We sure love you and miss you! I feel like there have been lots of things this week that have made me really miss you and think about you. Throughout the week I’ve thought of lots of things I’ve wanted to tell you (some are related to me thinking about you, and some are totally random stories)….I hope I can remember them all now.

-I recently got some new toothpaste. After one of the first times using it (I think it was last Sunday right before bed), I noticed that after the toothpaste had been in my mouth for a few minutes (after brushing), the taste in my mouth changed from an “Ah-fresh” taste to a new (and kind of gross) taste.  Anyway, after brushing my teeth, Warner and I kneeled to say our couple prayer; it was at this point that I started to notice the new and gross taste….and the gross taste “tasted” familiar and I was trying to figure out what the nasty taste was. Warner started to pray and I guess I started to make that noise where you are “tasting/smacking” something in your mouth. I didn’t realize how loud I was being, nor did I realize that I guess I was kind of making a face and my eyes were shuttering during the prayer. In the middle of the prayer, Warner suddenly stops praying and says (in a serious/panicky), “Are you alright?” I clued in and was startled as I realized he was talking to me (in the middle of his prayer). I told him I was fine and asked why he asked. He said that when he heard me doing the thing with my mouth he had opened his eyes to make sure I was okay, and then saw my eyes fluttering and panicked and thought I was having a seizure. I then had  to tell him (kind of embarrassed) that I was trying to figure out what this taste was in my mouth. He continued on with the prayer (right where he had left off). I stopped making the noise but my mind was still trying to figure out what the taste was (yeah, I feel sorry that I wasn’t listening closely to the prayer…I’ve been trying to do better.) However, by the end of the prayer, the taste finally came to me: the GLUE that they use when you get your braces on. NASTY!!!! Do you remember that taste? It brought back a bunch of memories and took my right back to Dr. Curtis’ office. Haha. That was a long story but since you had braces…I figured you would appreciate it.

-Michael Buble concert! Oscar (the doctor I work for) is often able to get free tickets to the concerts that come to town. I asked him if I could get tickets to the Michael Buble concert at the Energy Solutions Arena concert Tuesday night. The thing about asking for free tickets is you have to be flexible. We didn’t find out until 2 hours before the concert that he was able to get the tickets! I got 4 tickets and took Warner and Mom and Dad. It was a blast!!!!! I don’t usually love concerts, but I would HIGHLY recommend his! We had tickets that were on the very side and 18 rows up; it was nice because we were really close to him and could see him really well, but the down side was we couldn’t see the back of the stage hardly at all (so we missed out on some of the cool “effects” they did). The pre-show was an a cappella group which were great. They had people up dancing…including mom and dad. I LOVED it. Mom and Dad were totally into it and I felt like I got to experience what they might have been like when they were my age.  Then Mr. Crooner- Michael Buble himself came out! He did pretty great live and put on a fun show. I have to admit that I TOTALLY thought of you multiple times during the show. You could totally be him…dancing on stage with your amazing voice. And then I would look at the guy on the piano and I would totally think of you being amazing enough on the piano to accompany him. I don’t see it as a lifestyle you would really want to live, but I could totally see you working the crowd and making people fall in love with you and your voice. BUT for now, just work on making people fall in love with the gospel! It was a fun night!

-We definitely missed you at the wedding. Whenever I hang out with Caroline and Richard, I just feel like they are incomplete without you! Their little one line jokes either require your voice in there to finish off the joke, or it requires your laugh after it to make it complete! At one point (or actually several points during the day) we would say how much we missed you. One time when we were talking about you Richard said how much he misses you!!!! The wedding was awesome and I’m so excited for Kath and Gordy. I know Katherine mentioned how sad she was that you weren’t there for it! But we are glad you are where you are!

-I made a goal this year to read all the Ensigns. In October I realized that it was going to take a GREAT effort to read the whole November Ensign by the end of the year….the Conference edition in 2 months! But, I was determined. I decided that I would listen to the talks as I drove to and from work. It has been such an incredible blessing in my life as I’ve done this. Sometimes it would take a little discipline to turn on a talk instead of turning on music. After work I usually like to turn on good music for my drive home to help relieve the stress of the day. But I quickly found that turning on the talk to invite the spirit in my life was an even better way to relieve the stress and forget about work. I have already listened to all the conference talks (and it’s not even the end of November) and can’t wait to listen to them again! I have felt so much peace and happiness as I have done this. I realize that listening to talks isn’t the same as reading them…..but listening to the talks and hearing their voices just takes you back to conference and makes me so happy. Now as long as I read the December Ensign, I can say that I accomplished my goal!

It seems like there was something else I wanted to tell you…but I can’t think of what it is. Life is great and continues to move forward. I’m so grateful for the gospel in my life and am so grateful you are out teaching people about it. We love you so much and continue to pray for you!

Love, Janey

P.S. I gave Warner a hard time for writing you a long letter….and mines super long too. Sorry!!!!

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Feliz Thanksgiving - Warner

Elder Bassett - 

No, I'm not wishing myself a Happy Thanksgiving...just putting my name in the subject line so that the BAWB knows who this is from right away.  Things are going pretty well in the Nielsen household.  Currently we're dealing with a sewage smell that seems to be coming from somewhere in the bathroom.  No, it's not the toilet and yes, the smell lingers a little to long to be natural.  It's kind of nauseating sometimes.  Right now it seems to be permeating the whole place and isn't pleasant.  Our landlords know about it and have tried a couple of things.  Hopefully we can solve the problem soon and hopefully the smell isn't in any way toxic.  That could be bad.  I hope I'm not losing valuable brain cells from a silly smell.  Thankfully neither of us have expressed any symptoms of inhaling toxic gas, but maybe there are some gasses that don't present any side affects.  

Yesterday our ward had a Turkey Bowl football game.  It was a lot of fun and reminded me of when we play in St George.  Can't wait to have you back so that we can score some more deep pass touchdowns.  It was fun throwing you the deep bomb and having you catch them in stride on a dead sprint.  I never played football in an organized league, but those deep bombs are some of the most gratifying parts of playing football.  Well, I guess a well placed throw would come second on the list, maybe a well placed throw in traffic.  I had one of those yesterday for a touchdown and I must say I felt pretty good for how well I placed the throw.  I'm not super fast when I run, but I feel like I can throw ok and so I enjoy providing the catch to the receiver.  Anyway, enough bragging about my amazing skills.  Haha.

This week is obviously Thanksgiving and I'm thankful for your service with a smile.  You can just feel your smile in each of your letters and feel your love for the work and for our Savior Jesus Christ.  Thank you!  I remember my first Thanksgiving on my mission.  I don't ever remember feeling homesick, I loved where I was and I loved being out on the mission.  The people of Hawaii loved to feed the missionaries.  I think we had 3 or 4 lunches/late lunches/dinners that day.  It was amazing.  I ate, and ate, and ate.  There was no stopping.  And I ate some more because the people had so much food and were so willing to share and I couldn't pass up the deliciousness that was literally all around me.  Needless to say I gained a quick 20 pounds in my first three months.  That was the fastest weight I had ever gained in my life.  But it was a part of my mission so I didn't feel too guilty.  I ended up losing about 10 lbs and so it evened out.  There were two missionaries that I personally knew that each gained 80 lbs throughout their missions.  I heard of another Elder that gained 100 lbs.  He was from Japan.  I don't think he had plans to be a sumo wrestler when he got home but I'm sure he was well on his way.

I'm so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  More specifically I'm thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I love the scriptures found in Alma 36.  I think the story of Alma the Younger is my favorite story in all of the scriptures.  I love that we have the opportunity to change from a damned soul to one that full of light and the spirit all made possible because of the atonement.  After I finish the Old Testament I want to start studying more fervently the atonement of Jesus Christ.  I made it a goal to read the Old Testament last year.  I never finished because I read the Book of Mormon twice in that time for different reasons.  So my goal is to finish it this year.  Getting closer.  

Anyway, I just got a comment from Janey, "Is that to Max?"  I said, "yes".  She said, "Wow, that's long".  So, I'll take her advice and finish.  Take care Elder.  Continue working with the love, hope, zeal, carry on-ness, and charity that you have been exhibiting in your letters.  Know that you are loved and that we pray for you practically every day.  

Ciao -

Warner
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Monday, November 18, 2013

Re: Stef- Nov 17, 2013

Stef,

Amen hallelujah!  Can't wait to see little Neddy walk in three more days!   Can't wait to hear Bret's Chinese speech.  Loved hearing about your sunrise gift on the way to the conference after your hard night.  I think it is such a great virtue to recognize and acknowledge things like that as gifts from Heaven.  You guys are doing such great things.  You inspire me!

Love,
Mom

Sent from my iPad

On Nov 18, 2013, at 6:59 PM, bret bassett <bretbassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Great letter Stef.  I so enjoyed all the little updates.

I did find your experience with the Decency group interesting...and wanted to ask a couple of questions about your experience...

1.  Was there a consensus on the best way to help someone keep from getting addicted, or helping someone who already has an addiction?  Drugs, Rehab clinics, the Church's 12 step program, other?  Did they talk about the role family has in making the problem better or worse?  

2.  Did they talk about how to help children think about porn when they are first introduced to it?  I mean it almost seems that besides having a talk about the birds and bees with their kids, they should also have a talk about the different perspectives people have about sexuality...the worlds view and the Lord's view and what they should do as they see the world's view being driven by friends or online.  

3.   When talking about how to avoid temptation, I liked your analogy of being like Joseph...and fleeing.   I also like the scripture that talks about the importance of "crossing" yourself (Alma 39:9).  And the truth that if you will RESIST, if you will just resist, then Satan will flee from you (James 4:7).  I also like how Moses handled the temptation of Satan when he said "Where is thy Glory that I should worship thee.(Moses 1).  Prayer is big (Alma 34:39).  Humility is critical (Alma 13:28).  And putting on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6).  Did they have any key concepts of avoiding temptation?

Thanks again!

Loves.
Bret

 


On Sunday, November 17, 2013, Stefanie Bassett wrote:
Elder Bassett, 

How are you doing? What an exciting time to be a missionary.  I am going to start off with my spiritual thought.  One of my best friends -Mills- is on her mission in Washington right now.  She recently shared something she learned at her MLC from her Mission President.  He was teaching the missionaries about Jacob 5 where the servant asks for more time to prune the vineyard and how he is granted more time a few times, but eventually he isn't given any more time.  When this happens, he asks for more servants.  She shared with me that she hadn't even made that connection before with what has happened recently with the surge in missionaries.  Time is running out, so God's servant, President Monson, has asked for more servants to help.  I though that was very powerful! You are a part of that, a part of prophecy being fulfilled and that is so neat!  

A few random things to share:
-Clay has pooped on the potty about 10 or so days in a row.  Can I get an amen hallelujah? 
-Ned is as good as walking, its pretty darn cute too!
-Clay is loving joy school.  He loves making crafts, singing songs and is such a joy to teach.  He is way into coloring right now, and is way into the color robin egg blue.  Just ask him, he will tell you. 
-Bret did a speech in Chinese on Friday and we got to go watch, it was very sweet and he is doing very well.  He has also gotten 100% on both his math tests so far.  
-Hastening the work/missionary work is on our minds a lot!
-We have filmed 3 dances so far.  
-Nick has about 2 weeks left of this semester!  YESSSSS!

Lastly, I will finish up sharing about a conference I volunteered at yesterday.  Not sure if everyone knows this, but I have been a part of a group called Women for Decency for the past couple years.  They are a grassroots effort to basically strengthen homes and communities while educating, empowering, and protecting against the effects of pornography.  So I volunteered at the Women for Decency booth from 7am-2pm.  It was a long day, Neddy had woken up in the middle of the night before and I had to get up at 6 to be there.  I hadn't slept well at all and really felt like the adversary didn't want me to go.  As I was driving over to the convention center (where you get your goods for the marathon), I saw such a gorgeous sunrise that made the long (or short night, however you view it) all worth it.  It set the tone for an amazing day.  I got to be with 2 other amazing women that have been through a lot.  Both of their husbands have had pretty much adult life long addictions to pornography.  One of them was divorced and the other one is still working things out with her husband.  It was heartbreaking to hear their stories, and the stories of the presenters and other people that have struggled with this either themselves or with a loved one.  For me, the motivator to be there is that I have 3 boys that will have to face "images" and garbage in the very near future.  It was a completely packed conference.  One the one hand it breaks your heart to see so many there because they may be suffering from some aspect of the addiction, but on the other is was powerful to see so many united there together trying to "fight the new drug" as they refer to it.  I won't fill up this letter with too many more details here, but I do believe that we all need to be aware of how rampant, accessible, and addicting (among other things) pornography is.  I hope we can all continue to be strong and flee like Joseph from Potipher's wife at the very thought/or sight of any such materials.  I truly believe their is hope and healing for any involved or affected by pornography, but I also believe it is a long and difficult road getting there.  The commandments are here to protect us.  They are opportunities for blessings as well as protection if we will keep them.  Teach the people that!  Shun evil.  

You are awesome Max, keep it up! 

Loves,

Posted by at No comments:

Re: Stef- Nov 17, 2013

Great letter Stef.  I so enjoyed all the little updates.

I did find your experience with the Decency group interesting...and wanted to ask a couple of questions about your experience...

1.  Was there a consensus on the best way to help someone keep from getting addicted, or helping someone who already has an addiction?  Drugs, Rehab clinics, the Church's 12 step program, other?  Did they talk about the role family has in making the problem better or worse?  

2.  Did they talk about how to help children think about porn when they are first introduced to it?  I mean it almost seems that besides having a talk about the birds and bees with their kids, they should also have a talk about the different perspectives people have about sexuality...the worlds view and the Lord's view and what they should do as they see the world's view being driven by friends or online.  

3.   When talking about how to avoid temptation, I liked your analogy of being like Joseph...and fleeing.   I also like the scripture that talks about the importance of "crossing" yourself (Alma 39:9).  And the truth that if you will RESIST, if you will just resist, then Satan will flee from you (James 4:7).  I also like how Moses handled the temptation of Satan when he said "Where is thy Glory that I should worship thee.(Moses 1).  Prayer is big (Alma 34:39).  Humility is critical (Alma 13:28).  And putting on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6).  Did they have any key concepts of avoiding temptation?

Thanks again!

Loves.
Bret

 


On Sunday, November 17, 2013, Stefanie Bassett wrote:
Elder Bassett, 

How are you doing? What an exciting time to be a missionary.  I am going to start off with my spiritual thought.  One of my best friends -Mills- is on her mission in Washington right now.  She recently shared something she learned at her MLC from her Mission President.  He was teaching the missionaries about Jacob 5 where the servant asks for more time to prune the vineyard and how he is granted more time a few times, but eventually he isn't given any more time.  When this happens, he asks for more servants.  She shared with me that she hadn't even made that connection before with what has happened recently with the surge in missionaries.  Time is running out, so God's servant, President Monson, has asked for more servants to help.  I though that was very powerful! You are a part of that, a part of prophecy being fulfilled and that is so neat!  

A few random things to share:
-Clay has pooped on the potty about 10 or so days in a row.  Can I get an amen hallelujah? 
-Ned is as good as walking, its pretty darn cute too!
-Clay is loving joy school.  He loves making crafts, singing songs and is such a joy to teach.  He is way into coloring right now, and is way into the color robin egg blue.  Just ask him, he will tell you. 
-Bret did a speech in Chinese on Friday and we got to go watch, it was very sweet and he is doing very well.  He has also gotten 100% on both his math tests so far.  
-Hastening the work/missionary work is on our minds a lot!
-We have filmed 3 dances so far.  
-Nick has about 2 weeks left of this semester!  YESSSSS!

Lastly, I will finish up sharing about a conference I volunteered at yesterday.  Not sure if everyone knows this, but I have been a part of a group called Women for Decency for the past couple years.  They are a grassroots effort to basically strengthen homes and communities while educating, empowering, and protecting against the effects of pornography.  So I volunteered at the Women for Decency booth from 7am-2pm.  It was a long day, Neddy had woken up in the middle of the night before and I had to get up at 6 to be there.  I hadn't slept well at all and really felt like the adversary didn't want me to go.  As I was driving over to the convention center (where you get your goods for the marathon), I saw such a gorgeous sunrise that made the long (or short night, however you view it) all worth it.  It set the tone for an amazing day.  I got to be with 2 other amazing women that have been through a lot.  Both of their husbands have had pretty much adult life long addictions to pornography.  One of them was divorced and the other one is still working things out with her husband.  It was heartbreaking to hear their stories, and the stories of the presenters and other people that have struggled with this either themselves or with a loved one.  For me, the motivator to be there is that I have 3 boys that will have to face "images" and garbage in the very near future.  It was a completely packed conference.  One the one hand it breaks your heart to see so many there because they may be suffering from some aspect of the addiction, but on the other is was powerful to see so many united there together trying to "fight the new drug" as they refer to it.  I won't fill up this letter with too many more details here, but I do believe that we all need to be aware of how rampant, accessible, and addicting (among other things) pornography is.  I hope we can all continue to be strong and flee like Joseph from Potipher's wife at the very thought/or sight of any such materials.  I truly believe their is hope and healing for any involved or affected by pornography, but I also believe it is a long and difficult road getting there.  The commandments are here to protect us.  They are opportunities for blessings as well as protection if we will keep them.  Teach the people that!  Shun evil.  

You are awesome Max, keep it up! 

Loves,

Posted by at No comments:

Re: Stef- Nov 17, 2013

Great letter STEF! Glad Clay is pooping in the right place and I can't wait to see Ned walk! 
And way to go to be involved and volunteer your time! Love ya. 

On Monday, November 18, 2013, Nick Bassett wrote:
Great letter honey! I'm really happy you captured Clay's "robin-egg blue" phase.  He seriously loves that color and talks about it all the time.  It's not just blue, it's robin-egg blue.  Ask him his favorite color next time you see him.

As for the conference, we're grateful you made the point to go - what a great cause! I do have to always interject quickly and make sure people know that (gratefully) that's not something we deal with personally in our home, it's just something Stef has felt passionate about for a long time and I am very supportive of her being involved.  It's always a great reminder for me and all of us to make sure we are actively trying to keep garbage out of our home.  There is so much sleeze and junk out there trying to get in...just keep it out :)

Anyway, sure love you honey.  Great thought by the way! :)

Nick  




On Sun, Nov 17, 2013 at 10:11 PM, Rosey <roseybassett@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks for your letter Stef, you rock! And you'd make a killer Social Worker  and missionary. Thanks for writing. I really enjoyed it. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 17, 2013, at 9:08 PM, Stefanie Bassett <stef.m.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Elder Bassett, 

How are you doing? What an exciting time to be a missionary.  I am going to start off with my spiritual thought.  One of my best friends -Mills- is on her mission in Washington right now.  She recently shared something she learned at her MLC from her Mission President.  He was teaching the missionaries about Jacob 5 where the servant asks for more time to prune the vineyard and how he is granted more time a few times, but eventually he isn't given any more time.  When this happens, he asks for more servants.  She shared with me that she hadn't even made that connection before with what has happened recently with the surge in missionaries.  Time is running out, so God's servant, President Monson, has asked for more servants to help.  I though that was very powerful! You are a part of that, a part of prophecy being fulfilled and that is so neat!  

A few random things to share:
-Clay has pooped on the potty about 10 or so days in a row.  Can I get an amen hallelujah? 
-Ned is as good as walking, its pretty darn cute too!
-Clay is loving joy school.  He loves making crafts, singing songs and is such a joy to teach.  He is way into coloring right now, and is way into the color robin egg blue.  Just ask him, he will tell you. 
-Bret did a speech in Chinese on Friday and we got to go watch, it was very sweet and he is doing very well.  He has also gotten 100% on both his math tests so far.  
-Hastening the work/missionary work is on our minds a lot!
-We have filmed 3 dances so far.  
-Nick has about 2 weeks left of this semester!  YESSSSS!

Lastly, I will finish up sharing about a conference I volunteered at yesterday.  Not sure if everyone knows this, but I have been a part of a group called Women for Decency for the past couple years.  They are a grassroots effort to basically strengthen homes and communities while educating, empowering, and protecting against the effects of pornography.  So I volunteered at the Women for Decency booth from 7am-2pm.  It was a long day, Neddy had woken up in the middle of the night before and I had to get up at 6 to be there.  I hadn't slept well at all and really felt like the adversary didn't want me to go.  As I was driving over to the convention center (where you get your goods for the marathon), I saw such a gorgeous sunrise that made the long (or short night, however you view it) all worth it.  It set the tone for an amazing day.  I got to be with 2 other amazing women that have been through a lot.  Both of their husbands have had pretty much adult life long addictions to pornography.  One of them was divorced and the other one is still working things out with her husband.  It was heartbreaking to hear their stories, and the stories of the presenters and other people that have struggled with this either themselves or with a loved one.  For me, the motivator to be there is that I have 3 boys that will have to face "images" and garbage in the very near future.  It was a completely packed conference.  One the one hand it breaks your heart to see so many there because they may be suffering from some aspect of the addiction, but on the other is was powerful to see so many united there together trying to "fight the new drug" as they refer to it.  I won't fill up this letter with too many more details here, but I do believe that we all need to be aware of how rampant, accessible, and addicting (among other things) pornography is.  I hope we can all continue to be strong and flee like Joseph from Potipher's wife at the very thought/or sight of any such materials.  I truly believe their is hope and healing for any involved or affected by pornography, but I also believe it is a long and difficult road getting there.  The commandments are here to protect us.  They are opportunities for blessings as well as protection if we will keep them.  Teach the people that!  Shun evil.  

You are awesome Max, keep it up! 

Loves,

Posted by at No comments:

Re: Stef- Nov 17, 2013

Great letter honey! I'm really happy you captured Clay's "robin-egg blue" phase.  He seriously loves that color and talks about it all the time.  It's not just blue, it's robin-egg blue.  Ask him his favorite color next time you see him.

As for the conference, we're grateful you made the point to go - what a great cause! I do have to always interject quickly and make sure people know that (gratefully) that's not something we deal with personally in our home, it's just something Stef has felt passionate about for a long time and I am very supportive of her being involved.  It's always a great reminder for me and all of us to make sure we are actively trying to keep garbage out of our home.  There is so much sleeze and junk out there trying to get in...just keep it out :)

Anyway, sure love you honey.  Great thought by the way! :)

Nick  




On Sun, Nov 17, 2013 at 10:11 PM, Rosey <roseybassett@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks for your letter Stef, you rock! And you'd make a killer Social Worker  and missionary. Thanks for writing. I really enjoyed it. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 17, 2013, at 9:08 PM, Stefanie Bassett <stef.m.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Elder Bassett, 

How are you doing? What an exciting time to be a missionary.  I am going to start off with my spiritual thought.  One of my best friends -Mills- is on her mission in Washington right now.  She recently shared something she learned at her MLC from her Mission President.  He was teaching the missionaries about Jacob 5 where the servant asks for more time to prune the vineyard and how he is granted more time a few times, but eventually he isn't given any more time.  When this happens, he asks for more servants.  She shared with me that she hadn't even made that connection before with what has happened recently with the surge in missionaries.  Time is running out, so God's servant, President Monson, has asked for more servants to help.  I though that was very powerful! You are a part of that, a part of prophecy being fulfilled and that is so neat!  

A few random things to share:
-Clay has pooped on the potty about 10 or so days in a row.  Can I get an amen hallelujah? 
-Ned is as good as walking, its pretty darn cute too!
-Clay is loving joy school.  He loves making crafts, singing songs and is such a joy to teach.  He is way into coloring right now, and is way into the color robin egg blue.  Just ask him, he will tell you. 
-Bret did a speech in Chinese on Friday and we got to go watch, it was very sweet and he is doing very well.  He has also gotten 100% on both his math tests so far.  
-Hastening the work/missionary work is on our minds a lot!
-We have filmed 3 dances so far.  
-Nick has about 2 weeks left of this semester!  YESSSSS!

Lastly, I will finish up sharing about a conference I volunteered at yesterday.  Not sure if everyone knows this, but I have been a part of a group called Women for Decency for the past couple years.  They are a grassroots effort to basically strengthen homes and communities while educating, empowering, and protecting against the effects of pornography.  So I volunteered at the Women for Decency booth from 7am-2pm.  It was a long day, Neddy had woken up in the middle of the night before and I had to get up at 6 to be there.  I hadn't slept well at all and really felt like the adversary didn't want me to go.  As I was driving over to the convention center (where you get your goods for the marathon), I saw such a gorgeous sunrise that made the long (or short night, however you view it) all worth it.  It set the tone for an amazing day.  I got to be with 2 other amazing women that have been through a lot.  Both of their husbands have had pretty much adult life long addictions to pornography.  One of them was divorced and the other one is still working things out with her husband.  It was heartbreaking to hear their stories, and the stories of the presenters and other people that have struggled with this either themselves or with a loved one.  For me, the motivator to be there is that I have 3 boys that will have to face "images" and garbage in the very near future.  It was a completely packed conference.  One the one hand it breaks your heart to see so many there because they may be suffering from some aspect of the addiction, but on the other is was powerful to see so many united there together trying to "fight the new drug" as they refer to it.  I won't fill up this letter with too many more details here, but I do believe that we all need to be aware of how rampant, accessible, and addicting (among other things) pornography is.  I hope we can all continue to be strong and flee like Joseph from Potipher's wife at the very thought/or sight of any such materials.  I truly believe their is hope and healing for any involved or affected by pornography, but I also believe it is a long and difficult road getting there.  The commandments are here to protect us.  They are opportunities for blessings as well as protection if we will keep them.  Teach the people that!  Shun evil.  

You are awesome Max, keep it up! 

Loves,

Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, November 17, 2013

From Nick - Nov 17, 2013

Dear Max,

Another Sunday come and gone.  It's been a great day and week!  Some of the highlights were as follows:

  • Fathers interviews with my boys today.  Bret was telling me some cute stuff about school and things happening in his life, but Clay was seriously cracking me up.  I wished I had a video running.  I felt like almost every line was something that could have been a part of "Out of the Mouths of Babes".  He would stand up and sit down, tell me all about  a tractor which is his favorite toy and tell me about his best friends (who I would have thought would have been any of the kids we live by, or one of clay's cousins) but his response was Cannon and Grady.  It was all pretty funny!
  • Playing catch and hitting a softball with some neighbors and my boys.  While Stef was at her conference on Saturday me and the boys went to the ball park with a member of the bishopric and a neighbor and his kids and the kids got to run around and play while we played catch and hit the softball.  It was actually really fun.  I'm too young to be having rotator cuff issues...right?
  • I've spent hours and hours doing homework this week, but I feel like it's finally starting to come to a close
  • We get to go up to SLC for Kath's wedding next week which will be really fun.  For how consistent we are at getting up there, I actually haven't been up there since the Bassett Reunion which feels like forever ago.  I'm really looking forward to it
  • I'm really happy about how things are going with my teachers qourum right now.  We've had almost 100% attendance nearly every week and seeing greater participation from some of the boys than I've ever seen.  I feel like they're a pretty tight group who get along well.  We still have our work cut out for us, but I'm pleased the way things are going.  We get to go do Baptisms this week, and I'm hopefully all 7 will be there!
  • We had an AWESOME family night last Monday night! We have a member of our ward who is really into rocks and has a cutting machine and buffers, and makes all sorts of cool jewlery and stuff.  I got brave and asked him if the boys could come over and even just see some of his rocks and what he does.  Well, this brother went above and beyond.  Not only did he take them around, but he let them pick some petrified wood, had some soft stones there they could actually polish themselves, and then let them each choose their favorite rock from his collection.  Clay of course picked a pink polished rock.  Bret's was really cool though that was some brown thing from Mexico or something like that.  After they took us around and had that experience the couple invited us inside for some cake and ice cream.  It was awesome!
  • Things are work continue to go well...nothing particularly new to report on that front.
  • Had a fun temple date night with Stef on Friday.  

Hope things are going well.  Take care!

Nick
Posted by at No comments:

Week 35 - Dad - Searching for solutions

Week 35 - Dad - Search for solutions

Sunday, November 17, 2013

9:34 PM

 

Dear missionary max,

 

We pray for you constantly and for your work.  But we also understand how challenging the work is… so we don't want to put pressure on.  The Lord will help you find those he has prepared. 

 

Thought to Share with Max

 

He will inspire you on the things you should do to help motivate specific people you are working with overcome specific problems… or obstacles:

 

  • Do they have problems with the people in the church? (eg. Coworker who smokes)
  • Do they have problems with the doctrine? (eg. worship on Sunday vs Saturday)
  • Do they have problems with the history of the church? (eg. Joseph Smith)
  • Do they have doubts regarding miracles, angels, Christ's appearance, etc? (eg. First Vision, Gold Plates)
  • Do they have problems with big religion in general? (eg. History of religious wars)
  • Do they feel that Mormon's are devilish and carnal? (eg. Have horns, or have tunnels to the temple for kidnapping women)
  • Do they have friends, family, or preachers who don't want them to be members of the church (eg. Parent who is staunch catholic and says they will disown them)
  • Do they have a religious traditions which they just  don't want to give up? (eg. Mass)
  • Do they have sin which they aren't ready to give up?  Or don't feel they can give up? (eg. Smoking, Girlfriend etc)
  • Are they afraid of commandments?  (eg. Callings, speaking,  tithes)

 

 

No one has problems with all these things.  But everyone will have a problem with one or more of them.  Don't let their initial worries or doubts stop you from helping them overcome their worries or doubts

Everyone can have doubts or problems with the church, religion, keeping commandments, mormons,  angels, etc.   What they need to see from you is an example of one who has a testimony of all these things.

 

What the Lord will help you do, is to looks at a specific person, and prayerfully understand what you can do to help them overcome their obstacle.  It may be to teach them something new.  It may be to help them find a friend in the church who will help them make the transition.  It may be to laugh with them as you seek to understand how they got that weird idea.  It may be to cry with them as you recognize how hard this false notion or challenging issue will be for them.

 

But in every case, the Lord knows what they need, and he can use you  to help them get it.

 

It will different for each person, and for each roadblock.  But no one is impossible to help.

 

The key is to teach them about faith - what it is, how to exercise, how to understand what they will experience as they develop it (Alma 32-34)

 

Don't get impatient with them when they feel the spirit with one visit, and then ask you to leave on the next visit.  That's all because they don't have the gift of the HG.  They can feel it (and did feel it in one visit) but then they have to be retaught truth so they can refeel it again.

 

So pray for wisdom, pray for knowledge, so you can see into these people's hearts and give them what they need.

 

Things to Tell Max

 

  • Good second week at work.  I'm learning so much, and hope that I can get to where I need to get as quickly as I can.
  • We had a family dinner tonight.  Wonderful to be with most of the kids and their families.  We always talk about you and how glad we are that you are doing what you are doing.  We are always proud that you are able to serve the Lord.
  • We went to Kathryn's temple session last night.  She said that she had a dream about you, that you were able to come to her wedding and how happy that made her.
  • I have written a screen play over the summer while I was looking for work.  Here's a brief description.  It's something to get excited to read when you get home.  (just not too excited)  "A young military commander must enter a world of secrets buried within the new worldwide government he serves.  Joined by a group of unlikely allies, he uncovers truths that shake everything he believes about humanity and the planet we inhabit.  Can he find his way through the lies and secrets regarding UFOs, Hollow Earth, and mind control in time to save humanity from a secret government surveillance system designed to predict and control human behavior before freedom is destroyed forever?"

 

Favorite Scripture of the Week:

  • Moses 1:9-14

 9 And the presence of God withdrew from Moses, that his glory was not upon Moses; and Moses was left unto himself. And as he was left unto himself, he fell unto the earth.

 

 10 And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.

 

 11 But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his iface, for I was transfigured before him.

 

 12 And it came to pass that when Moses had said these words, behold, Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me.

 

 13 And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?

 

 14 For behold, I could not look upon God, except his glory should come upon me, and I were transfigured before him. But I can look upon thee in the natural man. Is it not so, surely?

 

I love this scripture because it reminds us, how empty and shallow the things of the world are when compared to the things of God.  He couldn't see God and his Glory without being changed.  But he could look upon the things of the world, the temptations of Satan with no assistance.  And what he saw had no glory.  I love the phrase - "Where is thy Glory that I should Worship thee?"  If we are ever tempted, we must remember the greatness of God and our own Nothingness.  (Mosiah 4) and we will always have joy.

 

So with that, I say my goodbyes.   You and your investigators can find joy, but you must look to God and live with Joy.

 

Loves.

 

Dad

 


Posted by at No comments:

Re: Stef- Nov 17, 2013

Thanks for your letter Stef, you rock! And you'd make a killer Social Worker  and missionary. Thanks for writing. I really enjoyed it. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 17, 2013, at 9:08 PM, Stefanie Bassett <stef.m.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:

Elder Bassett, 

How are you doing? What an exciting time to be a missionary.  I am going to start off with my spiritual thought.  One of my best friends -Mills- is on her mission in Washington right now.  She recently shared something she learned at her MLC from her Mission President.  He was teaching the missionaries about Jacob 5 where the servant asks for more time to prune the vineyard and how he is granted more time a few times, but eventually he isn't given any more time.  When this happens, he asks for more servants.  She shared with me that she hadn't even made that connection before with what has happened recently with the surge in missionaries.  Time is running out, so God's servant, President Monson, has asked for more servants to help.  I though that was very powerful! You are a part of that, a part of prophecy being fulfilled and that is so neat!  

A few random things to share:
-Clay has pooped on the potty about 10 or so days in a row.  Can I get an amen hallelujah? 
-Ned is as good as walking, its pretty darn cute too!
-Clay is loving joy school.  He loves making crafts, singing songs and is such a joy to teach.  He is way into coloring right now, and is way into the color robin egg blue.  Just ask him, he will tell you. 
-Bret did a speech in Chinese on Friday and we got to go watch, it was very sweet and he is doing very well.  He has also gotten 100% on both his math tests so far.  
-Hastening the work/missionary work is on our minds a lot!
-We have filmed 3 dances so far.  
-Nick has about 2 weeks left of this semester!  YESSSSS!

Lastly, I will finish up sharing about a conference I volunteered at yesterday.  Not sure if everyone knows this, but I have been a part of a group called Women for Decency for the past couple years.  They are a grassroots effort to basically strengthen homes and communities while educating, empowering, and protecting against the effects of pornography.  So I volunteered at the Women for Decency booth from 7am-2pm.  It was a long day, Neddy had woken up in the middle of the night before and I had to get up at 6 to be there.  I hadn't slept well at all and really felt like the adversary didn't want me to go.  As I was driving over to the convention center (where you get your goods for the marathon), I saw such a gorgeous sunrise that made the long (or short night, however you view it) all worth it.  It set the tone for an amazing day.  I got to be with 2 other amazing women that have been through a lot.  Both of their husbands have had pretty much adult life long addictions to pornography.  One of them was divorced and the other one is still working things out with her husband.  It was heartbreaking to hear their stories, and the stories of the presenters and other people that have struggled with this either themselves or with a loved one.  For me, the motivator to be there is that I have 3 boys that will have to face "images" and garbage in the very near future.  It was a completely packed conference.  One the one hand it breaks your heart to see so many there because they may be suffering from some aspect of the addiction, but on the other is was powerful to see so many united there together trying to "fight the new drug" as they refer to it.  I won't fill up this letter with too many more details here, but I do believe that we all need to be aware of how rampant, accessible, and addicting (among other things) pornography is.  I hope we can all continue to be strong and flee like Joseph from Potipher's wife at the very thought/or sight of any such materials.  I truly believe their is hope and healing for any involved or affected by pornography, but I also believe it is a long and difficult road getting there.  The commandments are here to protect us.  They are opportunities for blessings as well as protection if we will keep them.  Teach the people that!  Shun evil.  

You are awesome Max, keep it up! 

Loves,

Posted by at No comments:

Stef- Nov 17, 2013

Elder Bassett, 

How are you doing? What an exciting time to be a missionary.  I am going to start off with my spiritual thought.  One of my best friends -Mills- is on her mission in Washington right now.  She recently shared something she learned at her MLC from her Mission President.  He was teaching the missionaries about Jacob 5 where the servant asks for more time to prune the vineyard and how he is granted more time a few times, but eventually he isn't given any more time.  When this happens, he asks for more servants.  She shared with me that she hadn't even made that connection before with what has happened recently with the surge in missionaries.  Time is running out, so God's servant, President Monson, has asked for more servants to help.  I though that was very powerful! You are a part of that, a part of prophecy being fulfilled and that is so neat!  

A few random things to share:
-Clay has pooped on the potty about 10 or so days in a row.  Can I get an amen hallelujah? 
-Ned is as good as walking, its pretty darn cute too!
-Clay is loving joy school.  He loves making crafts, singing songs and is such a joy to teach.  He is way into coloring right now, and is way into the color robin egg blue.  Just ask him, he will tell you. 
-Bret did a speech in Chinese on Friday and we got to go watch, it was very sweet and he is doing very well.  He has also gotten 100% on both his math tests so far.  
-Hastening the work/missionary work is on our minds a lot!
-We have filmed 3 dances so far.  
-Nick has about 2 weeks left of this semester!  YESSSSS!

Lastly, I will finish up sharing about a conference I volunteered at yesterday.  Not sure if everyone knows this, but I have been a part of a group called Women for Decency for the past couple years.  They are a grassroots effort to basically strengthen homes and communities while educating, empowering, and protecting against the effects of pornography.  So I volunteered at the Women for Decency booth from 7am-2pm.  It was a long day, Neddy had woken up in the middle of the night before and I had to get up at 6 to be there.  I hadn't slept well at all and really felt like the adversary didn't want me to go.  As I was driving over to the convention center (where you get your goods for the marathon), I saw such a gorgeous sunrise that made the long (or short night, however you view it) all worth it.  It set the tone for an amazing day.  I got to be with 2 other amazing women that have been through a lot.  Both of their husbands have had pretty much adult life long addictions to pornography.  One of them was divorced and the other one is still working things out with her husband.  It was heartbreaking to hear their stories, and the stories of the presenters and other people that have struggled with this either themselves or with a loved one.  For me, the motivator to be there is that I have 3 boys that will have to face "images" and garbage in the very near future.  It was a completely packed conference.  One the one hand it breaks your heart to see so many there because they may be suffering from some aspect of the addiction, but on the other is was powerful to see so many united there together trying to "fight the new drug" as they refer to it.  I won't fill up this letter with too many more details here, but I do believe that we all need to be aware of how rampant, accessible, and addicting (among other things) pornography is.  I hope we can all continue to be strong and flee like Joseph from Potipher's wife at the very thought/or sight of any such materials.  I truly believe their is hope and healing for any involved or affected by pornography, but I also believe it is a long and difficult road getting there.  The commandments are here to protect us.  They are opportunities for blessings as well as protection if we will keep them.  Teach the people that!  Shun evil.  

You are awesome Max, keep it up! 

Loves,

Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Re: Beautiful Sunshine - Warner

Great letter Warner! It's always fun to hear your updates.  Thanks for loving and taking good care of Janey.  I think about the importance of being responsible for the temporal and spiritual well-being of my family and am sometimes overwhelmed.  Love your thoughts on it!

Take care!

nick  


On Sun, Nov 10, 2013 at 4:44 PM, Warner Nielsen <bwn888@gmail.com> wrote:
Elder Bassett -

As Janey mentioned, the weather has been wonderful.  I love the warm sunshine and 60 degree weather in November.  I keep trying to convince Janey to move to Hawaii, but it's really expensive and far.  But, I think we could do it for a little while.  In my dreams I would love to live there for a bit.  I love the weather there.  Every time winter rolls around I feel like I need to be somewhere else, but so far I haven't left.  Maybe we need to follow Janey's story and just go down that path to see if it's right. :) 

Today Janey and I are cooking a roast in the crock pot.  It sure smells good and I hope it turns out really good.  We put some potatoes and carrots in there as well.  It should be a good one.  I love that crock pots are so easy and can make things so delicious.  Thank you to whomever invented that beautiful appliance.  It's brilliance.  Do you have to cook for yourself often?  Thankfully I didn't have to on my mission.  The members were able to feed us pretty much everyday.  I do miss that part of everyday life...having somebody else cook for you and your companion and all you have to do is share a message.  Janey does a great job, I'm not complaining about quality, just the no hassle of not worrying about  a meal every evening.  You just have to show up a someone's house and it's already to be eaten.

Our ward Sunday School has started a new class.  It's the Marriage and Family Relations class.  Janey and I have attended it before but the Sunday School President invited us to attend again and take a turn teaching the class.  We were asked to teach next Sunday.  I also have to teach the lesson in the Teacher's Quorum.  So that will be fun to have double duty.  Maybe I'll just let Janey take over the Sunday School lesson.  Just kidding.  We've helped teach that class before and it was fun.  I don't mind doing it again.  I guess we didn't get it right the first time and so they want us to start over again and hopefully allow it to sink in.  

Today's lesson was titled "The Family is Central to the Creator's Plan".  We mostly read a discussed the Proclamation to the World.  I love that document.  I know it was inspired by the servants of God for the whole world.  Janey and I have been challenged several times to memorize the whole thing.  We've got to make that a priority and really go for it.  As we read it today, the part or parts that stood out to me the most were the phrases that contained the word "accountable".  We will be held accountable for what we do/don't teach our children, how we love our spouse, etc.  I really like that word accountable because it shows that Heavenly Father trusts us, but expects us to do our part.  Not everything will be given to us.

It looks like next weeks lesson is "Developing Unity in Marriage".  You can also develop unity in your companionship.  You both have responsibilities.  We are often reminded that we need to include God in our marriage.  The husband and wife work together to fulfill God's plan on this earth.  As a husband and wife work together to make it back to God then our burdens will be lighter, we can communicate more easily and life is just better.  Life is not perfect, but better.  Your companionship can be the same way.  Always put God first in your relationship and the two of you (or three sometimes) can be in harmony in doing God's work.

Well Elder Bassett, keep up the great work.  It's so much fun to read your letters.  I read them usually during my lunch break at work and I can feel the Spirit testify to me that you are a great missionary and it always puts a smile on my face as I read about your adventures and diligence in serving the Lord.  Being District Leader is a fun responsibility.  Rely on the Lord and ask him for revelation when preparing your District Meetings and you will be able to help the other missionaries know what they need to be working on and what goals you want to work on as a district.  Keep your eye on the prize and stay faithful.  We love you and appreciate your great work.

Ciao,

Warner

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