PU'AI E FAATURA : May 21, 2010

Dear Family,

   I am still doing well. 2 weeks down 10 to go. I really love goldfish and they don't sell those here so feel free to send me some. Also I hate wearing a watch so I was thinking of going with a pocket watch so if you find a cool one let me know. 5 minutes. (Ed. note: He had only five minutes left to write). This last week I have learned alot. I've started the transition from studying French to studying the gospel in French and have found that that makes the learning go faster. I have become incredibly firmiliar with the inside of my classroom and have memorized the map of Tahiti that is in there. Everything is great. 

pu'ai e faatura (that is our district motto)

Faaitoito!

Elder Cosby

HERE WE ARE TOGETHER

                                          My Zone

  

   My friend from BYU-Hawaii and her friend.

GROWING UP AND BECOMING A MISSIONARY: May 14 2010

Dear Mom and Dad,

. . . the MTC is becoming kind of the same thing over and over again so I don't think I will have much to write about besides things like I sat in class for a very long time and memorized french words.  That is pretty much the only thing I do here besides eat and sleep.
      My first devotional was by Jeffrey R. Holland.  We heard from other Elders as well as leaders that after that devotional there is no reason to go any others because I will just be disappointed.  I think they were right, that is probably the greatest talk I have ever heard in my entire life.

    Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, The Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


      . . . some of the better points of the talk were when Elder Holland said, " I'll punch you in the nose . . . " and "This isn't Burger King you can't have it your way," in reference to preaching the gospel.  I wish I would've brought my notes but it was amazing.  He spoke about growing up and becoming a missionary and understanding what it is all about right here in the missionary training center as opposed to waiting until halfway through the mission like many do.  All this was said between great finger pointing and fist pounding.
      I'm very glad I heard this the first week in the MTC as opposed to later.  It has given me great motivation to work really hard.  I've never worked so hard and been so tired at the same time in my life as I have while here.  Also, it is difficult to stop calling people dudes.  Those are the hardest things about the MTC.
      In the two huge bags were materials I needed in French and Tahitian, since everyone else gets 9 or 12 weeks to learn their languages and we only get six weeks for each.  We have to teach a 35 minute first lesson to someone next Wednesday, but I have like 12 hours a day to study French so I'm not that worried.  That is all.

Love, Elder Cosby

". . . Jesus began to preach . . . and he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."  Matthew 4:17, 19

THE LILIES OF THE FIELD (MOM):

Dear Elder Cosby,

  . . . Wow, already preparing talks in French!  Remember what your mission president's letter to you said:   "You are one of a select few called to accept the challenge of learning two languages, both French and Tahitian.  Through your faith and diligence you will be blessed and will be able to learn both French and Tahitian so that you will be able to fulfill this special calling."

Last Conference, Elder Anderson said : "The stories of Jesus can be like a rushing wind across the embers of faith . . . "  as he referred to this song:  Tell Me the Stories of Jesus I love to hear: Scenes I would ask him to tell me if he were here.  Scenes by the wayside, tales of the Sea, stories of Jesus, tell them to me."   As you speak frequently about Jesus Christ, seek to know more about him, and open the scriptures to read of Him, your faith in Him will increase and you will have greater power to do the things you need to do and learn the things you need to learn.  As Jesus traveled with his disciples the "scenes by the wayside" they saw  were sheep and goats, vineyards, trees, and wildflowers like we see here in Texas in the spring after it rains.  Christ called the flowers that spring up from bulbs naturally in the Holy Land the "liles of the field." He spoke of  his days traveling as a missionary, referring to his disciples and companions as friends and calling up this imagery of the "lilies of the field" in the Doctrine and Covenants as He sent out missionaries of these latter-days:

Become even as my friends in days when I was with them, traveling to preach the gospel in my power . . . Behold, I send you out to prove the world, and the laborer is worthy of his hire.  And any man that shall go and preach this gospel of the kingdom, and fail not to continue faithful in all things, shall not be weary in mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb, nor joint; and a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed.  And they shall not go humgry, neither athirst.   For consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin, and the kingdoms of the world, in all their glory, are not arrayed like one of these.  For your Father, who is in heaven, knoweth that you have need of all these things.  Therefore, let the morrow take thought for the things of itself.  Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man . . . this commandment is unto all the faithful who are called of God in the church unto the ministry . . . that goeth forth to proclaim this gospel of the kingdom.  Behold, I send you out to reprove the world of all their unrighteous deeds and to teach them of a judgment which is to come.  And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face, I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up . . . "  Doctrine and Covenants 84:77-88

Our Heavenly Father will care for his children as they humbly exercise faith in him.    He will especially care for his missionaries that go out into the world to gather His children.  You will be given words in the very hour you need them that you have diligently treasured up. So now is a great time of "treasuring up" for you.   Remember the lilies of the field.  You are my beloved son.

 I love you . . .   Mom

ELDER, YOU ARE VERY LUCKY! May 7, 2010

Dear Mom and Dad,

I am doing great here!  It just so happens that my buddy Elder Kaulukukui from BYUH is my companion here at the MTC.  We are studying hard.  I feel like I've learned a lifetime of things and it has only been a few days.  It turns out that I am going to be here 11 weeks so my estimated departure date is July 20th, and that is only if my visa gets cleared so we will see . . .     When I first got to the MTC they were handing all the Elders their packets with Preach My Gospel and other gospel materials.  I walked past the English Elders who had these small packets and then past the foreign Elders who had slightly larger packets.  Then I got to my section and they said, "Elder, you are very lucky!" and handed me two huge bags that I had to have my host help me carry.  Supposedly my district is one of the first to be going through this new type of training at the MTC which is cool.  Our teachers are awesome and the rest of my district is awesome . . . Our Branch President told all of us to have talks in French prepared for tomorrow and he chooses randomly who will give the talk which was kind of overwhelming . . . It is cold here . . .

Love, Elder Cosby

 Romans 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth . . . 

GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD

Monday, March 1, 2010:  Seth opens up his mission call in the Hale 2 Lounge at BYU-Hawaii while student friends there gather round and his family at home watches by webcam.  Thank-you Ammon Mailo for videotaping this!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010:  The Dallas, Texas Temple.   Our Father's House.  The House of the Lord.    Holiness to the Lord.

Thursday, April 15, 2010:  Seth travels to the French Consulate in  San Francisco, California and meets  four other elders called to serve in the Tahiti Papeete Mission there to initiate the process for obtaining  visas. 

Sunday, May 2, 2010: Elder Cosby is set apart as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Stake President Gary M. Riding.  

Wednesday, May 5, 2010:   The big day! Elder Cosby boards a plane early in the morning in Dallas, Texas and after the flight lands in Salt Lake City, Utah takes a shuttle to Provo where entrance into the Missionary Training Center officially begins the mission!  Elder Cosby joins his band of brothers who will study the languages of French and Tahitian and the Gospel of Jesus Christ together!  The adventure begins.

 Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel . . ..  Mark 16:15

Send forth the elders of my church unto the nations which are afar off, unto the islands of the sea; send forth unto foreign lands, call upon all nations.  Doctrine and Covenants 133:5