"The Standard of Truth Has Been Erected!"

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY: Isaiah 11:11-12

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt . . . and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah, from the four corners of the earth."

"That ensign was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was established for the last time, never again to be destroyed or given to other people. . . . Following the raising of this ensign, the Lord sent forth his elders clothed with the priesthood and with power and authority, among the nations of the earth, bearing witness unto all peoples of the restoration of his Church, and calling upon all the children of men to repent and receive the gospel . . . and they are still preaching the gospel and gathering out from the nations the seed of Israel unto whom the promise was made" (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 3, p. 254-255). It is a comfort to me during my hardest days to know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will never be taken from the earth again. As my sons preach the gospel on separate ends of the earth I feel such a deep sense of gratitude and love for our Savior for all He has done for us. It inspires me to strive to do much good while I am here. It is the same for my sons. The following is a letter from Elder Otis in CA. Tomorrow I'll post the follow up letter from Elder Otis in Russia. Keep religious freedom alive in California everyone! If you don't live there, speak to someone who does. The family unit and religious freedom are under attack in that state. Pray hard for our brothers and sisters who have had their cars keyed and their homes violated while standing up for what is right! Our Weekly Letter From Elder Otis in Los Angeles: "Talk about a spiritual smack in the face! You know I don't think there is a thing that I can write to compare with everything you guys have written this week. The miracles never end it seems. I guess I'll just write how my week is going as I usually do ; ) I got a new companion! His name is Elder Brantly and he's straight from the MTC. So on top of being a district leader I get to train as well. Life is good. Elder Brantly is from Murray, Utah which is about 10 minutes south of Salt Lake City. If there ever was a stereotypical greenie he is it. hehehehe Talk about greenie fire! He's got a lot of really good ideas and I'm doing my best to direct them and point him in the right direction. I'm grateful for the chance to train a new missionary. My trainer wasn't all that great so I know I need to do the best I can. President Blackburn has stressed the importance of this calling. He said "Right now you 5 missionaries (the trainers) have the most important calling in this mission. You are the ones to show these missionaries how to act and how to work. What you teach them will affect this mission for a long time to come. You're the best this mission has got and I expect only the best from you." NO PRESSURE MAN! Yikes! So mom, when you say to keep working hard to the end of our missions you don't have to worry. I won't have the chance to slack off even if I wanted to. President has a funny way of making sure of things like that. I just have to say how absolutely amazing it is that the Lord has taken care of our family the way He has. Everyone always says that the Lord has blessed them for serving a mission. I know I can say the same and list the examples. I also know that we will be blessed far into the future for serving the Lord. I know the gospel is true and I know the Lord is watching out for us. As long as we stay faithful we won't ever have to worry. There will be hard times to come but we will always be able to get through. I think we are at something of a turning point. I know that I have a greater desire to serve the Lord and I think the rest of you do as well. Because of that our lives have changed. We are all going to have opportunities to serve the Lord well after our missions are over. I remember a blessing that you once received mom. Something about your sons having great callings in the church. I know the Lord has qualified me thus far so I don't think I need to worry much. I'll just serve Him the best I can and He'll take care of the rest. Things are heating up in politics around here as I'm sure they are around the country. Right now we're all praying that Proposition 8 will pass. Thousands of hours have been put into it by the members of the church here. The prophet has asked us all to pray today. It's getting down to the wire and everyone is working hard. The opposition hasn't been kind. People have had their houses graffitied and their cars keyed for having prop 8 signs up. Along with all of their signs being stolen. You can actually see a lot of it on Youtube apparently. It just shows you what kind of people are on the other side of this. And somehow they call us the bigots. These really are the latter days. Anyway, I'm so glad to hear about that check coming in. And dad I'm praying for you to get better soon. I really hope you get the settlement that you're working toward. Whatever happens, the Lord will take care of us as you've said. You're all in my prayers. I'll keep working hard so the Lord will bless us. THE STANDARD OF TRUTH HAS BEEN ERECTED! I love you all. Have a wonderful week. Elder Jason E. Otis"