shiny rocks...

shiny rocks...when tate was a little boy he would collect rocks.  he loved to go to yellowstone and buy shiny rocks in the gift stores.  this past weekend greg and i went to yellowstone and as we looked around in the gift shop i saw the display of shiny rocks and thought of tate.  as tate was getting ready for his mission he found his plastic container full of rocks he had kept and saved over the years.  in tates letter home today he talks about a "blessing journal" that he plans on starting.  this reminded me of his shiny rock collection.  someday he will look back through his "blessing journal" collection and see the shine.  here is his letter:

okay so here goes for week four! hollay crazy how fast this is already going! haha its nuts! before i start i want you to tell karson kaden and hunter something for me.... i challenge them to go listen to first President Monson's announcement of the age of missionaries. then i challenge them to go listen to Elder Hollands talk and listen to what he says at the end of his message. this is an amazing blessing that they have the opportunity to use! Think how much easier things would have been if this would have been the case with me. i know i still would have played legion but i would have tried to leave earlier that's for sure. tell them to do EVERYTHING they can to get out as soon as possible. such an amazing experience. don't waste your time or the lords time. get out as soon as you can! this is an amazing thing we are doing here and it has already changed the way i want to live the rest of my life as well as how i want to run a family! anyways 

so good to know that i have not lost any weight or gained any!!! haha woo! i do push ups and abs every night just to kinda stay strong but other then that still playing soccer twice a week and basketball the others. hey mom do i wash my slacks or dry clean them?? i know i dry clean my suits but what about slacks? anyways i love the mtc. i cannot wait to leave it as well tho. its the weirdest feeling....i love everyone here and what goes on but i cant wait to get to chile. i talked to a RM from chile and he told me that i will get mail every 6 weeks when i go to zone conferences in chile. there my district leader will pass stuff out. so thats when i would get your packages and stuff i think. but i will be able to email. oh and i am pretty sure i leave the 12th. not sure exactly what time but yes. 

some cool things that i have learned this week are gratitude. i hope we all see how much we have been givin in our lives and that we can always stay grateful. one cool thing i heard about it called a blessing book...its just a book where you go through and write down the things you are grateful for during your whole lifetime. i thought that was awesome. we just recently had a devotional givin by chad lewis the eagles tight end. and that's what his family did. i liked the idea. another cool thing is trusting in the lord and being obedient. i know sometimes the little rules or anything here on the mission seem little or harmless...but i know that if we do obey them we will be blessed so much. that goes for life too! some things might seem harmless but they really are there to help and bless us! use obedience to our advantage and gain those blessings by being obedient. another thing i learned from conference was service. i kinda wanted to challenge everyone who reads this email and also the blog to turn OUTWARD. as much as you can think about the other people in this world and how you can help them. this will onnly help you more in your life. thats a challenge and i hope to hear stories of how that has been accomplished:)


anyways not much has happened this week! general conference was like having 3 pdays in a row cuz we just sat around, ate, and watched conference. i loved it haha crazy stuff. some kid tried to hop the fence at night and go to the byu football game haha so that was funny! a couple kids in my district caught him. 

i cant stress enough how i love this work and i know that this is where i am supposed to be. i hope you know i still have things i need to work on and i hope you can recognize the things you need to work on to better you life. i am constantly using the atonement in my life to better myself and i hope you guys are as well...

haha i really am changing...i'm still tate...i think i just finally realized what is important!

This mission really is shaping my life and i cant imagine what i would be regretting if i didn't come. i have learned so much and still am learning and want you guys to know how much i love you and how much you guys help me in my life and support me! i wouldn't be here without you guys! so thank you and god be with you til next week when we talk again. love you 


love elder harding!!!