Zions Camp

Saturday September 5, 2015

Hello family!

All is well here in the mother land. This week flew by and we are currently in Zamora. We forgot that we were coming with President and sister Egginton starting today so we kind of scrambled to get laundry washed real quick and came on our way. We will be here in Zamora for three days and then continue on to Uruapan, Morelia, and Lazaro Cardenas. We will get home a week from today and continue on with the zone conferences in Guadalajara. The bad part is that I forgot my socks.. Just kidding, I remembered them :)

This week I have been studying a little bit of the teachings of Joseph Smith. I was reading about how a group of men were called to be part of "Zions camp" and had to travel 1600 kilometers to get to the place where they thought they were going to fight a battle. When they arrived the prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation that it was not necessary to fight and that they could turn back. The Lord revealed that it was necessary to get to that point to show their faith and devotion. Many of the men complained and criticized the prophet, but that trip also shaped and formed many of the first leaders of the church. When the church was later organized, nine of the first twelve apostles and all the first quorum of the 70 were men who had been part of "Zions camp". On that trip they took, those men learned what they needed to learn about leadership in the church and showed the Lord their faith and devotion no matter the circumstances. We may never know why we must go through what we do, but we do know that if we are obedient and endure it well, the Lord will shape us into who we must become to be able to serve Him.

I love our Savior and I am learning so much as I try to become a better tool in His hands. Whatever trial you are going through, endure it well :)

Have a great week!

Elder Del Toro