Birth Month - From 09/01/18

Good morning everyone!!! This will probably be a short email because nothing fun has happened.

My birthday: Ok. So, it is officially my birth month. In 26 days, I will finally be the big 2-0. Not really that big of an age because nothing much happens at the age of 20, but still exciting. Anyway, in case anyone is planning to send me anything 😉 😉 here are things I like. I like Doritos Cool Ranch, Nacho Cheese, and Spicy Nacho, Swedish fish, sour patch kids, Chex Mix, and Munchies. I also like floral ties. In addition, local restaurants that I have access to all the time are Chick Fil A, McDonalds, Sbarro, Cheesecake Factory, and I think that’s it. There’s a few more but nothing important enough to eat at. However, I’m not expecting a present from anyone, I just thought that would narrow it down for anyone who wanted to send me something. Don’t be restricted to just this list because I know there’s plenty of things I would be grateful for, even it was just a happy birthday letter or an email I can read on P-day. My birthday will be the 27^th.

Other birthdays: Happy birthday to my old roommate Dakota. I think that might be the only birthday for now. I’ll check my calendar. (I forgot to check my calendar)

Fun events: I honestly don’t even know if anything exciting happened. My life has become boring. I remember my first few weeks in Vegas were really fun and then it became dull and it’s the same here. We did have transfers and I am still in QRC. Same place for the same amount of time every day. I’m able to occupy my time somehow.

Spending time: I’m currently spending my free time writing 2 in-depth stories about certain parts of my life. I know I have my blog but that’s not as good. I am putting some depth into it and I have plenty of side stories to go along with each story. One story is currently at 16 pages and my serving a mission story is at 10 pages. Be on lookout for those to be released in like 15 years. Haha. It’s personal for the time being and won’t be made public for a while.

Spiritual thought: Just keep on looking out for your fellow brothers and sisters. Everyone just love those around you and appreciate them for everything they do. Try to serve them in every way possible. Looking out for those around you and comforting them and loving them is something we should all do. It helps everyone and creates an environment of peace and love. There should be no reason to be mean and rude or to try and tear other people down. Kindness and respect are all we should show. Love thy neighbor.

Thanks for all the support and prayers. Things are definitely going much better this week than last week. It’s gotten better and I am improving myself. Continue to love and respect each other. Also, shoutout to all you Libra’s because our time of year is coming up!!!

Pics: I only have one pic this week and it was actually taken last week. Haha. I don’t have much reason for pictures anymore.  Also thought I would explain the pretty obvious picture here. A couple weeks ago, it was raining and I thought I would look photogenic standing under the trees while it was wet and rainy with a suit on. Like, I don't look too bad but I could have definitely done better. Haha   

I love you all with all my heart,

Elder Michael Skaggs
15 E South Temple
JSMB 3 East
Salt Lake City, UT  84150

Temples Are Amazing - from 08/25/18

Hey everyone,

I hope everyone has been doing good. Things are actually going a lot better here. I have been able to draw closer to my Savior and feel the Spirit in my life. This week has been really good. It’s been filled with a ton of huge struggles and trials, but I have seen the blessings in this week too. I have also been able to feel the love of the elders here. This week has shown me that there truly are a lot of elders who love me and want the best for me. I have seen them express their gratitude and love towards me every day. It has made me grateful for everyone and that I know there are people looking out for me.

Temple trips: Last Saturday we went to the temple with two other elders to do baptisms. It was an awesome experience. I love the baptismal font of the Salt Lake temple. It is so beautiful. I just felt the Spirit so strong and it made me extremely happy.

Yesterday morning, we also did a group endowment session with the mission. It was a much-needed experience. As I said earlier, this week has been extremely rough. Maybe I’ll tell the story another time, but Thursday was rough, and I had a horrible day. I knew the temple trip was happening and I just looked forward to it. I spent almost an hour in the celestial room and it was amazing. I had so many concerns and thoughts in my life and I just sat there praying and asking the Lord for comfort. I immediately could feel the peace in my life. A few elders in the mission know what I am currently going through and they have been a huge support. One Elder who I will just refer to as Elder B. for now, has been one of those amazing elders. At the beginning of my mission, he didn’t think too highly of me because he thought that I was still “stuck in proselyting missionary mode.” Which is true. I was stuck in that mode. It’s hard to go from serving in a proselyting mission to serving here. I missed it and I wanted to be there and didn’t want to be here. However, he told me that he realized that he would probably be the same way and decided not to hold it against me. He decided to show love for me and get to know me. I am grateful he did because he has been a huge support for me these past couple days and I never thought he would be a support like that. I bring him up because after I had prayed and asked God for some comfort and peace, he walked up and was whispering to me and giving me comfort, counsel, advice, and guidance. It was an answer to my prayers. The temple yesterday was just so amazing.

I don’t think much else happened this week. Oh yeah, we had a huge storm. The clouds rolled in and it was sprinkling a little bit, but we didn’t expect the storm to hit. I had our intern pull up the radar and the storms looked like it was going to pass over us. Suddenly, after we had gone home for dinner, it starts pouring rain, so we go outside to look at it and it’s hailing. Well, if you know me then you know I love the rain and running in it. I decided to go running through the rain and hail and got soaked. My companion decided to come running too and we were going to night zone while still a little wet. It was awesome though. Apparently, we were on flood watch all night, but the storm kind of stopped in Salt Lake and it was only raining to the north and east of us. I think Provo got a ton of rain too.

More of a spiritual thought: I know I did quite a bit above but here’s a spiritual thought. I want to just bear my testimony of the atonement. I love the fact that Jesus bled in the Garden of Gethsemane for us and atoned for our sins. I know that he had to bear all our pain, trials, illnesses, afflictions, etc. so that we can repent and be saved. I know that we must do our part. We must repent and constantly strive to be a better person, but Christ will forgive us. If he wasn’t willing to forgive us, then he wouldn’t have gone through the atonement. The whole purpose of the atonement was that our pain and sins could be washed away but only through our faithfulness and through our works. It is a two-way street and one that we must actively go down to receive the blessings of the atonement. I know that Jesus loves us and wants us to return to him and our Heavenly Father. This is why he went through all that pain for us. He was a perfect man and could have said no. He could have given up and decided that it wasn’t worth it if we weren’t going to appreciate what he did, but he saw the goodness of this. He understood that it had to be done and he had to do it out of love.

This love is what I was talking about earlier. There are multiple elders in this mission who have gone out of their way to be my advocate, my friend, my “therapist”, my supporter, my mentor, my leader, and most importantly, a brother that I can rely on forever. They have shown me this love and I am extremely grateful for what they have done for me. I know that they have done this out of selfless love and compassion towards someone in need. I hope that everyone can go out of their way to be a supporter and a friend to those that may need a lifting up. These elders have blessed me these past few weeks and I know they were not placed in my life by accident.

You guys are all awesome. I love the support and love you all show. It helps me get through the day knowing that there are many people out there looking out for me and praying for me. I hope you guys know that it isn’t going by unappreciated. I appreciate everyone more than you all think. Keep on emailing and sending me letters. I always love getting letters and emails. It’s a blessing to receive stuff from people.

You are all amazing people and I love you all,

Elder Skaggs

15 E. South Temple

JSMB 3 East

Salt Lake City, Utah 84150