Mi Familia,
Samuel Johnson
once said “Hell is paved with good intentions.” How many of us have good
intentions each and every day? Do we intend to read our scriptures, say our
prayers, serve our family, love our neighbor, forgive our friends and so on.
But how many of us actually do it? How many of us actually put forth the effort
to fulfill our good intentions? As a missionary every day I intend to do a lot
of good things. I intend to study effectively, to exercise, to serve and love
my companion, to fulfill all my leadership responsibilities, to find new
investigators, and to invite all to come unto Christ. But it’s not everyday
that I actually get to achieve all those things. This week I learned the
difference between intent vs. action.
We had ZTM this
week and one of our Zone Leaders’ trained us on fear. We talked about the
various things we fear as missionaries and why we fear those things. He then
had us read into the story of Adam and Eve. One of the first effects of the
fall was fear. That is the first reaction they had when they were in the
presence of God and they realized their own nakedness. We realize our own
nothingness/nakedness before the glory of God. And if we put ourselves in their
shoes, imagine not knowing how you could overcome that. It certainly would
instill fear into our hearts, which is exactly what Satan wants. In 2 Timothy
1:7 we read.
God did not give us the spirit of fear
and He didn’t give it to Adam and Eve either. The Lord paved the way for us to
overcome our fear and that is through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
9 And
in that day the aHoly Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth
record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the bOnly Begotten of the Father from the
beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast cfallen thou mayest be dredeemed, and all mankind, even as many as
will.
10 And in that day Adam blessed God
and was afilled, and began to bprophesy concerning all the families of the
earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my ctransgression my deyes are opened, and in this life I shall
have ejoy, and again in the fflesh I shall see God.
11 And Eve, his wife, heard all
these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never
should have had aseed, and never should have bknown good and evil, and the joy of our redemption,
and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.
They learned that they could be forgiven
of their transgression. They learned that through the Lord’s help they could
become exactly as He is. In our lives we have many good intentions, but our
fears get in the way because we don’t believe that we will receive the help
from Heavenly Father and we rely on ourselves. And that of course instills fear
because we think we have to do it all on our own. Then is where the real power
of faith comes in. Every morning we must humbly ask the Lord to help us to
fulfill all our good intentions, and then turn it over to him, whilst still
doing all in our power to accomplish the things we intended to do.
My Core experience with God this week was
realizing how much more faith I need to have. I needed to realize that through
him, I am who I am. That I can become as He is, as I follow Him in all that I
do. Then my good intentions are bridged to good actions which eventuate to a
true disciple of Christ. But of course everyday is not perfect and it isn’t
everyday that we can do all the things we intend to do. That is part of the
test of life, but there in lies why we need the faith in the Savior and the
Atonement to carry us through each and every day. We must be patient with
ourselves and do all that we can and the Lord will make up the rest.
In that meeting we also discussed keeping
the Atonement at the center of our lives. It has been said that men get what
they focus on. When we focus on the Savior and His atonement, we then
grow closer to him. We are enabled by His grace. We then arrive at the point
where we can only speak of Him with sacred reverence. We had a lesson
with a wonderful group of people, some active, less-active, and
in-active. We shared the Mormon message None were with Him, by Elder
Holland. As we spoke of the Savior, the spirit was undeniable. The spirit bore
witness not only to my heart, but to theirs as well. The sacrifice that Jesus Christ
performed for all of us, is not one that can be spoken of lightly, and I felt
very strongly the powerful gift that He gave to me. I felt any fear or problem,
lifted from my shoulders. I truly felt the gift of the Savior. I know that He
lives, that He died for me and suffered beyond all belief so that I could be
healed of any weakness that I possess. I am so grateful to have a living Savior
that I can look to as an Example.
Something else that really stuck out to
me this week, was in fast and testimony meeting yesterday. One family in the
ward has a daughter who suffers from epilepsy. She had surgery on her brain
about three weeks ago and she has made a full and grand recovery. Her family
was very nervous about the surgery because she had had the surgery before but
she didn’t recovery quickly or very well at all. She struggled a lot, having to
re learn how to speak and even think for herself. But this time it was
different. This time through the power of their faith, their fast, their
prayers, and the power of the priesthood, she was able to make a full recovery.
It was empowering to me, because her Dad, who doesn’t say much at all, got up
and bore his testimony about the Love that Heavenly Father had for His
daughter. He was crying and you couldn’t help but cry with him. He said that
the first thing she said when she woke up is that she is grateful to be a
member of this Church, that no matter what happens she knows she will be able
to be with her family again. I am so grateful to know of the doctrine of eternal
families, that I can live with my family forever.
Something I learned in my personal study
this week really has struck me this week. I was reading in the Book of Mormon
and I came across a scripture in 2 Nephi 10:20.
20 And now, my beloved brethren, seeing
that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things,
let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for
we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been adriven out of the land of our inheritance;
but we have been led to a bbetter land, for the Lord has made the sea
our cpath, and we are upon an disle of the sea.
But as I read
this I wasn’t thinking about the literal meaning I was thinking of the
application to missionaries, and missionary work. As I read it again I felt the
great mercy of my Heavenly Father who has given me much knowledge on my mission
and through out my life. He wants me to lay aside all problems and be of good
cheer. He has literally taken me out of the world and led me to a better place,
a place of refuge where I can learn the Gospel in a Spirit filled environment.
I can’t thank Heavenly Father enough for allowing me to come and to serve a
mission. I am so grateful for this gift He gave to me. I don’t know where I
would have ended up without it. I know that through my Savior Jesus Christ all
things can and are overcome. I know without of a shadow of a doubt that this
Church is true, I know that my Savior lives and loves me. I know that Joseph
Smith is prophet of God and I am grateful to be a witness of this at this
time.
Love you Heaps
and Heaps
Sister Benjamin
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