"Oh that I were an Angel"

Hello everybody! First off, I found out I'm staying in Ridgecrest with Elder Bennett for another six weeks! I've been here a pretty long time now... By the end of this transfer, it will have been seven and a half months. The mission President told me that this should be my last transfer here though. It looks like this transfer should be a fantastic one too! We set another baptismal date with a large Hispanic family for March the fifth, and we are so excited for them. We are also planning to set another one in the near future. Needless to say, things are going really well out here! We could potentially have three baptisms this transfer. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. Our next baptism should be on Feb. 12! I wanted to share with you all some verses in the Book of Mormon that have touched me lately. They are in Alma 29: 1-2. I'm sure you've heard these verses before. In them, Alma is talking about his desire to be a great missionary. He says: "Oh that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!" In this first verse, Alma talks about "Crying repentance" unto the people. When I used to read these words, I used to think, "Oh, if the people need to repent, it means they are wicked." I thought that missionaries need to tell people to repent because they are all wicked and doing wicked things. Alma then goes on and says: "Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God," So there he talks again about crying repentance, again I would think, "If people need to repent, they must be wicked." Then however, I read the last part of that verse. Alma says: "that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth." That is why we do missionary work. Not because the people are wicked and need to repent, but because we have important answers to life's questions. Every time somebody comes unto Christ, and makes that decision to follow Him, Satan's hold on the Earth gets a little weaker. Someday, there will be no more sorrow upon all the face of the Earth, because of Jesus Christ and His gospel. I am so honored and happy to be a part of that work, to remove sorrow from the Earth, one person at a time. I love you all!