Letter to My Younger Self
Good day, if you are reading this, then I managed to get my model replica of a delorean with the miniature flux capacitor up to 88 miles per hour and it was able to deliver this letter to the nearest mailbox in 1999. My name is Todd Bruce. I am you in 20 years. Those 20 years have been mostly glorious. You will make many mistakes and very few things will go as you planned. I’m hesitant to give specifics because anything you change could change where we end up now. But I will do my best to help you navigate the rest of your teenage years, young adulthood and even married life.
The first thing I want you to know is that you are awesome just the way you are, but that doesn’t mean you are perfect. You have been given an outstanding family, you are in an ideal situation in life to learn and grow. Help your friends to grow, not by stressing them out, but by feeding them and helping them to be better. “Everyone has a special assignment. No one else has your talent; no one else will be in your place at your time. Our Father in Heaven has given you a special touch, so you can succeed where others fail.” (Norma J. Ashton)
Don’t be afraid to push yourself. Your talents will allow you to accomplish much, but simply using your own talents is not enough. There are people who will listen to you and you can act as a guide in bringing them to the Saviour. Listen to the Holy Spirit. It will be easy to avoid these difficult tasks, but as you strive to listen, you will learn how to hear the Holy Ghost in your life, and that will help you greatly through life. When life gets frustrating and distractions mount, “remember your eternal identity as a child of God. Be aware that Satan will try to deceive you about who you are and wants you to compare yourself to others.” (Gary E. Stevenson)
Play fewer video games. They are fun, but your mastery of Mario Kart and Goldeneye will only help you to embarrass your brothers. Spend more time in the scriptures. They will be a strength for you, so much so that you will miss the days you do not read. Knowing the scriptures will help you to deepen your ‘well of knowledge’ and allow you to feel more comfortable in sharing the gospel. Remember, “we can’t watch TV for 3 hours then read the Bible for 3 Minutes and expect to grow spiritually.” (Anonymous)
Prayer will become a balm of Gilead in your life. Learn how to talk to your Father in Heaven. Don’t just say your prayers. Actually get in there and tell Heavenly Father about why life is tough and why you’re unsure about things that are happening in life. Talk to Him about your anxieties, your frustrations and your ponderings. He listens and will bless you immeasurably with peace and a feeling of His love for you. This will be very important to you as you grow. My second thought on prayer is to act when you receive an answer (and you will receive answers). Those answers will startle you, because it will prove to you that He is listening and He is there always. Don’t forget to pray. Ask yourself, “Have you prayed about it, as much as you have talked about it?” (Anonymous)
Sincere prayer and studying the scriptures will also help you build up a resistance against Satan. He will push and pry and do whatever he can to derail your life. But it is through the scriptures and prayer that you will be able to stand tall and withstand the whirlwinds of the devil. As you study and come to know the scriptures, you will also come to know the voice of the Lord. “Get close to the scriptures. Do anything you can. God is in there.” (Adam S. Miller)
Even more important than reminding you of where your priorities should be, the most important lessons I could teach you is this: you are a beloved Child of God and Jesus Christ knows you and your pains and trials. He suffered for all of them and because He did, Jesus Christ is uniquely qualified to understand you and despite those shortcomings, He still loves you, in fact “since He could not bear the thought of eternity without you, He chose the nails.” (Max Lucado)
Now, you will mess up. It’s in our nature. We’re curious like a cat, that’s why our friends used to call us whiskers. That curiosity will get us into plenty of mischief but we will also learn from it and you know what, that’s what life is about. I’m not suggesting you should intentionally go out and make mistakes. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to realize that if you play with fire long enough, eventually you will get burned, so feel free to learn from others mistakes. But, when you do make mistakes, and you will, I want you to remember this page from Jesus the Christ:
“We are not to understand that God would ever lead a man into temptation except, perhaps, by way of wise permission, to test and prove him, thereby affording him opportunity of overcoming and so of gaining spiritual strength, which is the only true advancement in man’s eternal course of progress. The one purpose of providing bodies for the pre-existent spirits of the race, and of advancing them to the mortal state, was to ‘prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.’ The plan of mortality involved the certainty of temptation. The intent of the supplication appears to be that we be preserved from temptation beyond our weak powers to withstand; that we be not abandoned to temptation without the divine support that shall be as full a measure of protection as to our exercise of choice will allow.
How inconsistent then to go, as many do, into places where the temptations to which we are most susceptible are strongest; for the man beset with a passion for strong drink to so pray and then resort to the dramshop; for the man whose desires are lustful to voice such a prayer then go where lust is kindled; for the dishonest man, though he say the prayer, to then place himself where he knows the opportunity to steal will be found! Can such as these be other than hypocrites in asking God to deliver them from the evils they have sought? Temptation will fall in our way without our seeking, and evil will present itself even when we desire most to do right; for deliverance from such we may pray with righteous expectation and assurance. – James E. Talmage
Please do not go out seeking trials. Feel free to go and make mistakes, but when you do, do yourself a favour and learn from them as quickly as you can and move on. Do not revisit those trials or they will severely slow down your spiritual progress.
Now, I bet you’re thinking to yourself, is this whole letter actually from Future Todd? Or from my parents trying to convince me to choose the right? I will tell you to listen to your parents, because like our Heavenly Father, they’ve lived life and have some experience, even though they seem old and out of touch and sometimes embarrassing. But, to prove it to you, I’ll remind you about that certain special girl that you’ve always liked and always desperately wanted to date but were severely ‘friend-zoned’. I won’t name names but you know who we’re talking about. At the risk of ruining the suspense, nothing happens. We are still friends with her and you are ok with that and will have moved on by the time you graduate. You will go on lots of dates and you probably already have, depending on when this letter reaches you, after all, you are already 16, but the one piece of advice I could give you that won’t change how we dated was to look for a best friend while you date. The girls you date will help you to identify traits you want in a wife and the girlfriends you will have will be outstanding people. I’m not going to spoil any of that, but I will let you know that the woman you marry is the best person you’ve ever met and she will be your best friend and you’ll often look at her in awe that she chose you. You will struggle together, but remember to always act together. It will no longer be you and her, but us. Remember the Quaker Proverb, “Thee Lift me and I’ll lift thee and we’ll ascend together.” It will serve you well in your life.
Oh, your children love you! Remember when we were in 3rd grade and Mrs. McGale asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up and your answer was, “a Dad.” It’s everything you dreamed it would be and you look forward to spending time with them every day. They will also drive you bonkers, but that’s mostly cause they will inherit many of your personality quirks, but they will amaze you. They are strong and funny and caring and absolute characters. You love them and want the best for them. Because you want the best for them, you change, and become the person you were meant to be. But I beg you, make the decision now to be better. I’m not asking you to be perfect, just better.
In closing, I want you to know that you are a Child of God and He loves you. The scriptures and prayer will be a huge support to you. You’ve been blessed far more than you deserve but not because you aren’t worth it, but because you are kind a chuckle-head at times. But you know what, I wouldn’t change you for the world. I love you. Don’t change a thing. Keep up the great work and enjoy the next 20 years.
PS – Don’t worry about Y2K, but maybe think about buying some stock in Google or Amazon or heck, even Marvel. And you don’t even want to know how the Maple Leafs have done.
Love
Yourself
~Todd Bruce
Recent Comments