January 4, 2016

Hey Everybody!

It's a new year!! And with the new year comes new year's resolutions about how this year will be the best year yet. And that is exactly what I want. With the turning of the New Year I also have completed (almost) one year in the mission and lack only one more year to go. So when I began to think about the goals that I want to make for this coming year I thought a lot about who I want to be as a missionary and what it is that I have to do to accomplish this. I set and made very specific plans about what it is that I want to accomplish but I would like to share a scripture that sums up my overall goal with this coming year.

``For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child,submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.`` (Mosiahs 3:19)

This year I want to be more of a Saint in Christ and stop giving in to the desires of the natural man. All of us have carnal desires but we have to learn to overcome our natural man as we yeild to the enticings of the Holy Spirit. I know that our divine potencial is great and God has already prepared the path for us to succeed. (Nephi 3:7, 1Cor10:13)

So this year let´s walk the straight and narrow path and feel a joy greater than that which we have every felt before.

This letter goes out to many people, and I remember each and every one of you. I often pray for your good and am always wishing the best for you all.

I love each and everyone of you and hope that we can all resolve to be someone better this year! 

Love, Elder Rice