".... this marks a momentous event in my life--- I've now officially finished the complete standard works of the church for the first time consecutively. I've studied them deeply, comparing one with another. All I have to say is the Church is true."

Dear Family and Friends,

            I finished reading the Doctrine and Covenants this week, so I will list a few reflections: I learned a lot about the organization and responsibilities of the priesthood, especially from Section 107. The priesthood is divine, no man could invent such a complex, precise, and everlasting ideal. Also, there are some portions of the D&C that are not direct revelations, such as minutes from a meeting or letters from Joseph Smith to the whole church. Every time I read those portions, I could sense the difference between them and the direct communications of Jesus Christ to His prophet. It just made me realize how divine the writings really are. No mere man could write the Book of Mormon, we know, let alone subsequently claim 280 pages of admonishing instruction from the Savior himself. The notion of fraud in the matter is preposterous. Jesus is the Christ. Joseph Smith was His prophet, end of story.

            Now this marks a momentous event in my life--- I've now officially finished the complete standard works of the church for the first time consecutively. I've studied them deeply, comparing one with another. All I have to say is that the Church is true.

            Speaking of scriptures, Elder Ormond and I found a sweet chapter in the Book of Mormon to illustrate the way the adversary tempts us. We taught it in a lesson to a recent convert to show how the BOM applies to us. Go read Alma 47: 1-19 with this key: AMALICKIAH=SATAN and LEHONTI=YOU. I was nerding out about how awesome this was, and how it would make a pretty good screenplay...

            So there is a huge granite quarry not far from our proselyting area near the ocean, and this week we could hear them blasting. A few days this week we would hear the blast, and a bit later see huge clouds of dust billowing into the ether from the explosion. It was cool.

            We have one investigator who is progressing very well. His name is F., and he is 17 years old. He's a referral, from his uncle who is a strong member. Yesterday we had  a lesson with him planned at the same time as another lesson, so my comp and I had to split. I went to teach F. the Law of Chastity with two other teenage boys, which was just dandy, haha. I thought they handled it pretty well, there were only a few isolated giggles. Anyway we are planning to baptize him this coming Sunday. He's already really active and has lots of friends, so we're not too worried. He's a good listener too.

Love,

Elder Doggett

PS (we had a water fight this morning, and I am sad to report that while my nerf gun does well against the crawlers, it can't hold out against water pistols.)

Taxi, anyone?