The Freakest Voice Mail Ever: Brought To You By Levi Kiffe

La Caridad Y Amor

Charity and love.

How important are these attributes of Christ? Well, we always hear our leaders and teachers tell us that obedience is the first and great commandment. And I've always believed that, of course. But I will admit that I was a little confused a few months back when I read in Matthew 22:37-38, which says:

 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

 38 This is the first and great commandment.

Now--I wasn't confused to the point where I threw up my hands and said, "The Gospel isn't true!!" No, not that kind of confusion. But I was confused as in I absolutely did NOT understand this simple concept. Being the prideful missionary that I often was, I thought, "Oh. So obedience really isn't the first and great commandment. It's charity and love for God."

Luckily enough, Los Vilos--my last area--didn't have a Gospel Principles teacher, and so I had the chance to teach a lot of classes. Which also meant that I learned a lot as I prepared those classes. And on one Sunday I was asked to teach a class on obedience. And while preparing for that lesson, I came across another scripture that we have all read over and over again. That scripture is John 14:15, which says:

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

It finally hit me. The first and great commandment is to love God and Christ, but Christ taught that if we did indeed love him, we would keep (or obey) His commandments. And so I finally realized that this first and great commandment of loving God could also be read as, "Thou shalt be obedient and keep My commandments with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment."

Now, what is the second great commandment? After explaining that obedience is the first and great commandment in Matthew 22, Christ goes on to teach us:

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

The second great commandment is to love the rest of God's children. Simple enough, right? Well...not exactly. It's definitely a lengthy process. And perhaps even a process that reminds me of the pride cycle a little bit. I'll do my best to explain:

As a young missionary, I remember having this great excitement for the work. I loved every single person that I crossed paths with. This was especially easy as a young, new missionary because I had no idea what people were telling us because my Spanish was FAR from great. And so I would just look and people, and I would think, "Man...I don't know this person, but I love them so much."

I was a bit surprised, though, as time went on. I could finally understand Spanish. I felt like I was a better missionary now because the language was no longer an issue. But I felt so weird and empty. I noticed it many times during my mission, but I would just kind of ignore it. And it wasn't until I was in the last few weeks of my mission when it finally hit me: I just didn't have that love and charity for the people like I did at the beginning of my mission. Mostly because I had been rejected so many times that--over time--I just stopped looking at people and thinking, "I love this person." I am grateful, though, that I repented and prayed to have that charity and love for those people. And I am happy it lasted the rest of my mission.

Now, being home, it's been the same story. I remember coming home and just loving everyone--my family, my friends, complete strangers, etc. But I stopped praying and developing that charity and love over time, and once again--like the pride cycle--I lost it. I felt weird and empty again. And then a few weeks ago...It hit me again! I was being prideful and selfish. I wasn't developing charity and love. But once again...I have been trying my best to improve that in my life, and it has worked wonders. :)

Elder Nelson V's Departure

My little vacation to Utah this last week worked wonders for me. It gave me a chance to catch up with some old friends. It gave me a chance to rethink and ponder a few things. It gave me a better idea of what I now need to do to progress in life.

However, I must admit--despite the good that the trip did do for me--that I do miss my little brother Timmy. He hasn't even been gone a week, yet I already feel a little lonely because he is not here. And as sad as it was, dropping him off at the MTC was definitely a highlight from our trip.

We miss you, brother, but we are praying for you and your success. And we know that you are a great missionary!!

Out With The Old, In With The New: The Rise And Then The Fall

I was surprised when I returned home about five months ago, and I found my room looking like this:
After about four months of living in that, I decided to rearrange a few things and clean things up a bit:

The first week or so was great. But then we were bombarded with visitors, and so I relocated myself to another room. And my leave meant complete destruction:


Yikes. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only remaining person at home who knows how to keep things neat....

Lost Treasure #14: Thirteen-Year-Old Nerd

Yes, this picture is real. And yes, I indeed had THREE video game systems hooked up to my one TV when I was thirteen-years-old. Yikes.

Levi's Hilarious Voicemail: Brought To You By Google Voice

This was a funny voice mail message that I received from my good friend Levi. Hilarious background noises as he sadly tells me he cannot come over. Haha.

The BDN: Tables Turned Again.

Well, it's been a while since I blogged, so I thought I would take some time to do so. I feel like I am getting less and less creative. Kinda. The funny part is I feel like I used to write blog entries that were much more interesting and creative, but then I go back and read them, and I realize that they were far from interesting or creative.

I don't think anyone reads this thing much anyways these days. But that's okay. I mostly keep my blog to keep myself entertained. I love going off on random stuff. And even though looking back on the old stuff embarrasses me a little bit, I must admit it does give me a good laugh. I mean...Imagine reading all this stuff I write 20 years from now. It'll be simply hilarious. It's literally another journal. I love it.

I've learned a lot about myself the last few weeks. I was planning on going into details and what not, but I just now realized that it wouldn't be a good idea. But it does satisfy me to say that I often find that I am disappointed in myself. I feel like I returned home from my mission with a good vision in mind of what I needed to do and what I needed to be. I started off alright, but then quickly corrected my small mistakes. And I was on a roll.

But I feel like I've lost a lot of that vision. I've simply lost my priorities. In the middle of school, work, and other worries, I often find myself doubting and fearing what lies ahead. I do, however, have a strong desire to keep on doing what's right and reevaluating myself so I can get back on the right track. But the truth is I am just a lonely person, and I am desperate for a friend or two. I know it's not true, but I am starting to feel--little by little--that people are forgetting about me.

But why am I complaining? Haha. I need to just get over it, go on some dates, and get married or something. Yes. That's it. That's the solution. I need to find the One. At least then I will have someone to love and support me during life's greatest challenges. :) Now...if only it were as easy as it looks. :/ Haha.

But until then: I am looking forward to going on a run with my little brother Logan in about an hour. The kid really loves basketball, and he wants to start getting in shape and begin training so that he can play varsity next year. I am also looking forward to my two day road trip up to Utah with Timmy. It'll be good for both of us. I'll keep you posted.