Do Cats Really Have 9 Lives?

Magandang araw po sa inyong lahat!

Sorry I haven't written a group email in a while! Well, here we go!

I've been thinking a lot about attitude lately and how it effects our lives. If you put attitude together with A=1 T=20 and so forth, ATTITUDE=100 that's right! Attitude is 100%

10% is what happens to us
90% is how we choose to react

There is a story I read the other day during my personal study called:

 The Carpenter

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer/contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project."

Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.

I was listening to a talk last week by President Monson. I think it was his first talk after he became our Prophet. In his talk, he quoted a play. He said "You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering.”

I don't know about you but that hit me pretty hard. How true that is! Let us make every day a day to remember!!!

FSOTW (funny story of the week):

*Elder Vaoiva and I eating breakfast*

Vaoiva: *sets his spoon down slowly*
"Do cat's really have 9 lives??"
Me: "Nah man, I don't think so."
Vaoiva: "K cause that question has just been tearing at me lately. I've wondered that my whole life."
Me: "Well now you can finally have peace of mind."
Vaoiva: "Thank you Elder Furniss."

Also I sang "Sisters in Zion" for the first time in my life yesterday. It was the closing hymn in sacrament meeting.

We have this one investigator named Nanay Lita and she is an absolute baller talaga. She doesn't know how to read so she was like "I want to learn how to read so I can be a missionary like you guys and share this message!" She is so awesome. So I think I'm going to buy a book for her and try and help her out.

I hope you all have a good week! You are awesome! Remember God loves you and He has a plan for you! Thank you for all the prayers you have been sending my way!

Hakuna Matata

Hello friends and family! I hope you all had a good week. My week was pretty great!
I was reading about the life of President Gordon B. Hinckley this last week and I realized how full of optimism he was. President Hinckley truly showed us what having Christlike attributes is supposed to look like. One thing I liked that he said was this:

We have every reason to be optimistic in this world. Tragedy is around, yes. Problems are everywhere, yes. But...you can't, you don't, build out of pessimism or cynicism. You look with optimism, work with faith, and things happen.

There is a lot we can learn from this. When life gets tough there is a lot more we can do than just crawl up into a ball and hide. We can "Cultivate an attitude of happiness, and cultivate a spirit of optimism." Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we are able to look forward into the future and have hope, even through the difficult times. I hope you will all remember that when times get hard, the Lord is always there for you, and he desires to help you.

Last week we taught a family where the dad is a tattoo artist. It's a pretty tough situation because he said "if I join this church I won't have a job anymore." We aren't really sure what to do. This week should be interesting. It's also transfer week so I might be getting a new companion. I'll update you next week!


Have a great week y'all. Thanks for your support :)

Elder Furniss

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is NOW."

I hope you all had a great new years day! New years is a time where we all make resolutions of how we are going to better ourselves over the next 365 days. I found something that I really like in an Ensign I read a couple of days ago by President Russell M. Nelson. It said:

"Spend more time in places where the Spirit is present. That means more time with friends who are seeking to have the Spirit with them. Spend more time on your knees in prayer, more time in the scriptures, more time in family history work, more time in the temple. I promise you that as you consistently give the Lord a generous portion of your time, He will multiply the remainder."

I loved that when I read it! I believe with all my heart that as we are doing what we are supposed to do, the Lord will make us what we want to be! I know that if you make a goal, have faith, and desire to achieve it, miracles will happen. The Lord WILL help you. He wants to help you.

We had one of our families the Austria family, come to church yesterday. I love them! The dad doesn't really like us coming over but the mom and her daughters love us! The only time we get to visit them is when we have someone working with us. Which doesn't happen enough in this area. We are hoping to baptize the Austria family next month.

I wish you all luck this coming year in all that you do. It's going to be great! There is a plan for you. I encourage you all to keep reading your scriptures, pray more sincerely, and keep going to church! You are amazing! Thank you for all the encouragement you all give me while I'm out here in the Philippines. I am thankful for your prayers.

Elder Furniss