Letter # 21 (Shreveport, LA)

Texr bound!
Well its official as of Friday, I am bound for Texarcana Texas. While there my companion will be Elder Parker, who is one of the Spanish missionaries down here in Shreveport for the four and a half months while here. So here is the reasoning behind me going with a Spanish missionary. There is a city about 20 miles outside of Texarcana on the Arkansas side called Ashdown. The plan for this coming transfer was to have me train a new missionary, and open up the new Ashdown area. But for whatever reason the missionary who I was set to train, ended up going home from the MTC due to injury. So in responce to that, President McDounaugh assigned me to Texarcana so that I can go and work Ashdown once a week with Elder Parker, and get set to open it, and train a new missionary in the transfer following the coming one. It should be awesome because the apartment I will be staying at in Texar is the Zone Leaders apartment as well, which means four missionaries in one apartment! Should make for some good fun!
As far as work goes, this week was a difficult one. It's amazing just how each week changes. Every day you're placed into a moral delima. Go work, or stay inside. Some days, ten in the morning can't come early enough, your so excited to get after it. Other mornings/weeks, you catch your self pretending to have a head ache, or some other bogus reason as to why you can't serve the Lord. If nothing else, the mission will teach me how to work, even when not wanting too. Even when there is nothing going on. No appointments, no members to see, nothing. It teaches you how to make something happen. In my studies as of late, I have been studying Jospeh Smith's life a little bit. Often times we, as missionaries, get told that the Book of Mormon is an opinion, and should be treated as such. Other times, were told how the Book of Mormon is a book written to make Joseph rich. How far from the truth this is, I can not describe. After finishing the Book of Mormon for my second time in my life, I can say, to whomever asks, that this Book is true. This Book, translated by a modern day Prophet, is the word of God, and any man who reads from its pages will truly draw closer to God, more so from this book than any other book in existence, and that includes the Bible. The Book of Mormon is perfect, in each and every way, and if there is an error to be found, then it is the error of man. Each page, each sentence, each verse, was designed for us right now, in this day and age. Never mind the fact that it was written hundreds of years ago by men long since deceased. Take an un biased look at this Book, and you will see its devine origin, and devine intent. To make us better people. Elder Holland gave a talk, entitled Safty For The Soul, with the Book of Mormon as the main idea, or focus point. In this talk, he very boldly proclaims that "I want it absolutly clear when I stand before the Judgement bar of God that I declared to the world...that the Book of Mormon is true." Today I wish for my testimony to be added to that of Elder Holland's. And that is that the Book of Mormon is true. No matter what is said about it, no matter what deragatory musicals are written about it, and no matter the scrutiny that will come from being associated with it, I can not deny the God sent witness that I have of its pages.
Elder Maddox