New Beginnings

Dear Family and Friends,

I have had such a great Christmas! I hope all of you have as well! We had the storm of the decade for this area and as a result our church meetings were all cancelled :( That was kind of weird but we were able to be productive in the mean time. 

Earlier this year I asked some of you to send your testimony of the Book of Mormon to add in the copies that we give to people. I want to thank each of you that did that. This morning I was really studying the Book of Mormon and thinking about how I really feel about it. I learned so much in such a short time. Mostly I learned how much my testimony has strengthened this past year. I want to just write a part of what I wrote in my journal this morning: 

I would like to add my testimony to 12 others that you can read in the front of the Book, that the Book of Mormon is the voice of God to his children in all the earth. His voice through many of his Prophets has come forth to witness to the World that the Kingdom of God is again on the earth in it's fullness. The Book of Mormon is also a witness of God's love for his children which is manifest perfectly by the Savior Jesus Christ, his Only Begotten Son, of whom this book so boldly testifies. I know that this Book is true by the power of the Holy Ghost. I know that it is true in the same manner that Peter knew as exhibited in Matthew 15:16-18 that Jesus is "The Christ the son of the living God." This is the Spirit of God which reveals all things to the earnest seeker of truth. I also know that the Book of Mormon is true because it has changed every aspect of my life for the better. This is not my testimony alone, but it is echoed by millions across the world today and many more ancient and modern disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ and sons and daughters of the Most High God. 

It's not word for word, but I just felt like I needed to share that today, especially at the start of this new year. The opportunities to learn and change and become better are before us all, we have but to choose to reach out and take advantage of them. As we follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ our efforts are not only magnified, but they are intensified by a great urgency to become who we have been created to be. Simply put, to return and be in God's presence, as his sons and daughters with eternal life before us. There is still the warning to change what we are now, into what Christ himself taught us to become. To change is to repent, and turn ourselves back to the course on which we started out in this life, which is more than just getting by day to day. Life in the eternal perspective is beautiful, with all of the challenges and trials along the way. 

I hope that each of you have a great beginning to the new year. As Thomas S. Monson says, "The future is as bright as your faith." I also add my testimony to that. With the world we live in today, that is a pillar of truth that encourages us to look upward and onward undaunted and with confidence.

Elder McGarry 

 All Elders in our Zone on Christmas Morning with our "New to you" Ties :)

A view of ​the mountains called The Organs. My camera lens has such a wide angle it's hard to tell, but they look like organ pipes, and they are amazing!