New Companion/Daily Walk With The Savior

We did not get a family letter this week but I will share Jake's testimony in the letter I got this week.  Also we got his official return date--Thursday May 14th--Yay!

Farewell to a great companion, Elder Whitehead

Happy Missionaries--Dinner at the Bishop's House!

Today I will simply bear my testimony.  Jesus Christ loves us.  He always has and always will.  I remember being at Especially For Youth when I was 17 and we were given a challenge to sit and read about the life of Jesus Christ.  For the first time my eyes were open and this man, Jesus, was real.  He was more than a person who lived 2000 years ago.  He was there for me and I knew it.  When I listened to the talk titled "The Character of Christ" another very real experience happened.  I sat there in the Missionary Training Center learning about Christ's outward thoughts instead of turning inward to his own personal needs.  I felt the love of Christ once again.  The spirit was so strong and I was so motivated to do everything I could for my Savior.  Many times we feel amazing moments with our Savior that we will never forget.  Those times are special as they add great strength to our testimony and foundation.  however, day to day we forget those moments as we get caught up in life.  The only solution is to have our own daily walk with our Savior.  It has to be personal. There should not be a day that goes by where we don't feel His love and the Spirit's direction.  Without our daily walk we will not live the way our experience has taught us to, and we will live beneath our privilege.

I bear testimony that Jesus Christ is in your midst.
Love, Elder Hoddy  

We Cannot Be Perfect In This Life but We Can Be Perfect In Christ

ELDER BEUS!!! He is going to my companion starting tomorrow and he is seriously one of my favorite people in the whole world. We served together in the Choctaw ward forever ago! Heavenly Father must really love me!

Serving with Elder Whitehead has been so much fun... We've made a lot of post mission plans, but he's on of those BYUi kind of people which is a huge bummer. I served by him in the Village, Choctaw, and got to be his companion. We are friends forever. Anyways there is simply a lot of excitement around here with the soon arrival of Elder Beus.

Here's a quick thought for you that I've been sharing today. I read D&C 50 and verse 40-41 really stuck out... Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me.

Having Christ in our lives is like joining bank accounts with a rich person in marriage. Although we have incredible amounts of debt, Christ's assets are infinite. If we will use His atonement and grow in grace we will never need to worry because assests will be always be greater than debts. We cannot be perfect in this life, but we can be perfect in Christ. I love the quote about the blasphemy we tell ourselves that our power to mess up is greater than Christ's power to heal and redeem. We have a Savior to watch over us all the time and he cares about us more deeply than we can imagine. I am so grateful for my Savior and his gospel. I hope you will take as many opportunities as you can to learn the gospel. #OurDailyWalk

Watching Elder Whitehead prepare to go home has been really interesting. His greatest excitement is to spend time with his family and he has so many different goals than when he came out. Last night, he bore his final testimony to one of our favorite investigator families and let his heart out on how much better off families are in the gospel. It is amazing how much peace we have in this life know that we are a part of an eternal family. That fact gives me a lot of motivation to be my absolute best. I am grateful for the amazing Hoddy family and all the support that you give me. 

The valentines box was hilarious! All of them were so good and I read them all a few times. Thanks for doing that.

I love you.

-Elder Hoddy

Prayer and Priesthood Blessings

Dang that's sad to hear about Grandpa and Liz. I really hope that everything turns out alright and good things come from this. As far as Livi's hair goes I think it's pretty cool and I'm glad she did it. It might scare me a little bit if she was planning on keeping it forever, but High school seems like the time in life to be a little crazy and do some fun things. There will be plenty of time to be grown up, so I'm glad she's being adventurous and having a good time. Ain't nobody got time for boring people.

Mom the topic that has really been on my mind lately has been prayer. I have pondered and pondered truly trying to understand its power. We read so many scriptures that if we ask it shall be given and if we lack wisdom, God will give liberally, but too often we forget or don't understand the power in these promises because we fail to recognize the answers. And, as it is written-- Whatsoever ye shall ask in faith, being united in prayer according to my command, ye shall receive. (D&C 29:6). If you want to take the time to unite the family to pray for something, I promise that the prayers will be answered, and that is not my promise alone. An important question to ask is, what does it mean to pray in the name of Jesus Christ? Does it mean to say His name at the end? I think very literally we should be asking for the same things our Savior would ask for; however Jesus Christ thinks differently that we do, so we have to find the right things to ask for first. You must... Ask the Father in my name, in faith believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men (D&C 18:18). And it shall come to pass that he that asketh in Spirit shall receive in Spirit... and it shall be given you what you shall ask (D&C 48:28, 50:30). I testify that our prayers are answered. If we pray sincerely, our righteous desires will grow and we will be given the things we need most. We must ask for the things that are right, believing that we will receive (3 Nephi 18:20) I challenge you to look for more in your prayers and to search for the answers.

I had a great opportunity to give Elder Whitehead a blessing yesterday because he has kidney stone and was in a lot of pain. I thoughtfully carefully about the right things to say because I knew the counsel and blessings were coming from our loving Heavenly Father. The promise came of divine assistance to get through his challenges and we finished our night in peace. The gospel is true. The gospel is real.

-Elder Hoddy

Weakness And Doubt

Mom, I just got your letter and it was amazing! It seriously came at the perfect time. Sometimes life beats us down or sometimes we beat ourselves down; either way that came in the moment that I needed a little pick me up. Life is good right now. In fact we have amazing investigators right now. Somehow I still feel like I'm not working hard enough though. I feel like I worked a lot harder in Enid and saw less success while here it is simply given to us. For some reason I felt better working harder even if it was for less. I want these last months to be the best ones.

So I shared some thoughts with my friend Haley that I wanted to sent to you. It's not super focused, but I like it...
If we were born complete we would never feel a need for God, so instead we are born with weaknesses that will teach us to depend on Him. Why?.. Why would God want us to depend on Him? Simple... We were not like our Father in Heaven and for us to become like Him, we would need the help of the only One who knew how to get us there. Heavenly Father sees your heart - desires, passions, frustrations, etc. - but more importantly he sees the end goal. He sees your potential and also sees the path to get there. Thus the words of Elder Holland, "God doesn't care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go". 

Then comes the weakness and the doubt. Why did I do that? Why am I not better? Why can't I be more like them? Why does this happen to me? In our time focused on "me" we miss the awe of what Heavenly Father has done for us. The fear of the journey blocks the beauty of the end goal and the remedy of Jesus Christ. But overtime our experience teaches our perspective to keep pushing forwards. One by one the challenges come and with the help of God we beat them. We learn something new and we feeling the exciting reminder that this truly works. Our Savior's atonement is real. Then we see the next challenge and the process repeats itself. The problem comes when we get so wrapped up in the immediate challenges of life that we forget how far our Savior has already taken us and that His help will never end. "We learn on the one hand that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection. (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)"

I loved your thoughts on the "are you striving" questions. We are simply asked to give our best. Have a good week mom!

Now In Yukon Oklahoma....There Are Going To Be Miracles Here!

This has been a fantastic week in Yukon. I'm still getting used to everything and have no idea where we are most of the time, but I love it. Elder Whithead has been a great friend since the beginning of my mission, so it has been easy to play off of each other as we teach.

One of the greatest parts of being here was PEC yesterday. I was taking note of so many things because these men have a great understanding of gospel leadership and their example taught me more in an hour than anything I have ever read. I absolutely loved the way the bishop lead, followed up, counseled, and did many other things. My experience could have easily been drowned out in a room with great men, but they treated my comments like gold. I am so grateful to be here, and I feel like this is a ward that does great things.

D&C 10:46-47 And, behold, all the remainder of this work does contain all those parts of my gospel which my holy prophets, yea, and also my disciples, desired in their prayers should come forth unto this people. And I said unto them, that it should be granted unto them according to their faith in their prayers.

I love that our Heavenly Father didn't force the prophets to say everything. The scriptures contain words from men that cared about us and wanted us to have the knowledge they cherished most. It adds perspective and helps me to ask the question why the doctrine and stories written were so important to the people in the Book of Mormon.

Last week a girl named Bailey walked into church and told the missionaries she wanted to be baptized. I walked straight into a gold mine! She is super excited to get baptized and is learning really quickly. I have prayed for progressing investigators every day for weeks, so it's amazing to see answers like that come. She is quite the amazing person

I'm in the OKC 5th ward and it has been wonderful. I love the people here and I'm having a great time. There are going to be miracles here this transfer.

Oh ya I also am running low on contacts. My prescription was for 2 years, so they should let you get more.

I love you Momma! Have a wonderful week.

Transfer To Yukon After A Great Experience In Enid

This week was another amazing one as we begin the new year. I got the call that I am getting transferred to Yukon with Elder Whitehead. He was my district leader over a year ago and is about to be on his last transfer. We will have the Oklahoma City Temple in our ward boundaries which is going to be a huge blessing. Hopefully we'll be able to sneak over every once in a while

One of my favorite experiences was as we visited with Cindy, a new investigator, for the first time. Prior to finding us, she had been sincerely praying that she would be able to have the the Holy Spirit with her all the time. The member with us looked like a kid on Christmas morning when he heard her say that. He is a recent convert and was so excited for her. She talked about the way she felt the Spirit and how excited she was. Cindy is very intelligent and inquisitive. We had been praying night and day for progress and investigators, so Cindy Sutton truly is an answer and a miracle.

D&C 5:16 And behold, whosoever believeth on my words, them will I visit with the manifestation of my Spirit; and they shall be born of me, even of water and of the Spirit-

This verse stuck out to me this week as I read it. There is not doubt in the Savior's words as he says this simple phrase. I truly believe these great people we meet can, will, and do receive confirmation about our message. The gospel is simple and I am grateful for it in my life.

Leaving Enid is really sad. I have made so many amazing friends that I don't want say goodbye to. Last night we said goodbye to a couple people and it was so sad to think I may not see them again in this life. I truly can't imagine my life without the experience of coming on a mission. It is all worth it because of the relationships and conversion I have gained.

Thank you for all the support. I love each of you and am so grateful for the role you play in my life. Have a great week and year!

-Elder Hoddy

Thought From Jake's Mission President

President Walkenhorst said this in his email this week... As we begin another new year I hope that you will evaluate where you are and want you want to become. Set goals for the coming year. Take time to counsel with the Lord as to what He wants you to become. Read and ponder your patriarchal blessing. Are their expectations that God has for that you are not putting forth enough effort to obtain? Remember that He has a "perfect vision" of you and for you. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Cor 2:9, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." What has God prepared for you in this coming year? What will He bless you with? What are you willing to do to obtain those blessing? How hard are you willing to work? What aspects of the "natural man" will you overcome next? Take some time to ponder and set goals for yourself

I hope you have an amazing week momma! I love you :)