I'm sorry for skipping out on emails, but here are some highlights from the last week:
1. I got peed on by a little 3 year old boy named Sky.
2. MY FAMILY SENT ME SOME LOVE & "SAM JOSE" (and rat traps)!!!
3. My pet rat, Mouse, has gotten EVEN smarter (and pushed aside the home-sent rat traps)
4. We had a brown out and had to heat up our chicken nuggets over a candle
I cannot tell you how loved I felt this week, and I hope this week has been equally as wonderful for you.
So yesterday was Sunday, and Sundays are always really full of anxiousness, because we get to see if our hard work all week inspired anyone enough to come to church. Having no one show up is always really discouraging...because all you want for those people you teach is for them to be happy and gain happiness through a stronger relationship with God...but the adversary's influence is very persuasive, and gives people TONS of reasons to forget God. When 9:00 rolled around, and none of our investigators had shown up, my heart sank...but we didn't give up hope. My companion and I prayed earnestly together, and continued to do so during sacrament, that Heavenly Father would somehow inspire our investigators to come. And, to my amazement, at the end of sacrament meeting, nearly ALL of the investigators we'd been praying for showed up!
I know, for those of you back at home, this happening might not seem like much...but to me, it was a miracle. And I know that Our God is a God of Miracles. This experience was a powerful testimony builder to me of the importance of hope. The connotation of "hope" in the modern world is equivalent to "maybe something will happen" with a strong sense of uncertainty. But "hope" in the scriptures is FIRM. It is not doubting, but expecting that if we do our part, Heavenly Father will do His.
Hope is meant to conquer discouragement.
I have hope that we can all have faith in Heavenly Father and in His son, Jesus Christ. I have hope that with Their divine help and our best efforts, we can be better and become more of the people They'd want us to be. For those without hope, I offer this as encouragement: We are all sons and daughters of The Most High. We have divine worth and divine capabilities. Have hope and trust in God. Our situations may not always seem good, but if we trust in Them, it will ALWAYS work out for our good.
In the first verse of the Book of Mormon begins a story of a boy named Nephi. This verse goes on to explain that despite having seen "many afflictions" in his days, he was highly favored of the Lord. What makes Nephi so special? In 1 Nephi 3:6 it says "Therefore go, my son, and thou shalt be favored of the Lord because thou hast not murmured"
As I read this verse, it dawned on me how big of a difference something as little as not complaining could make. We'll do the right things, sure. We'll follow what our parents have asked us to do and do what's expected of us...but how many of us do it without muttering under our breath?
But then we think of Christ as He was giving His life for us...and instead of complaining of the pain and hurt He was going though as people scorned and spat at him, He asked His Father to forgive His brothers and sisters of their sins because he loved us and His Heavenly Father more than he loved himself. Murmuring is selfish. We're more focused on what we want than what God wants.
A secret to life: we'll never be happy, we'll never be satisfied, unless we learn to count our blessings. We have so many. The commandments God has given are blessings as well, and as soon as we learn to obey because we LOVE Heavenly Father and not because it's our duty, we'll see our lives change.
I invite you all to have hope, and trust God without murmuring.
I send with you my most genuine prayers and love,
No comments:
Post a Comment