Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Week 71: What I want you to know before I come home

Hello!! Each week goes by so fast, AH!

This week I was asked to give a class on what I want the mission to know before I go home, and I wanted to share with you guys some of what I taught.

As missionaries we invite the people we teach to make changes in their lives. What kinds of changes? Some examples are to stop doing drugs, to pray daily, to read the scriptures, to live the law of chastity by getting married, we made a nice list. Then, we made a list of things that we do on the mission that we didn´t do before- Maybe we don´t have to stop doing drugs, but we learn to do exercise 30 minutes every morning. Maybe we don´t get married to live the law of chastity, but we do learn to live with a companion and discipline our thoughts. Maybe we read the scriptures and prayed before the mission, but we weren´t outside teaching it from 9am-9pm. So we arrive to the question, how we can we expect the investigators (people we teach) to make changes in their lives if we aren´t willing to make these changes ourselves?

And what is my reward for making all these changes?

¨And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good...Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame.. The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh... And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness... These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges¨ (Alma 41)

So what does this mean? That according to our works and the DESIRES of our hearts, we will be rewarded. I then passed out a couple slips of paper that each had a question as follows:

Do I follow mission rules because I want people to know I am an ¨obedient till I die¨missionary, or because of my love for God?

Do I change my behavior for two years? Or I change my behavior for my life?

Do I aspire to be a good missionary? Or do I aspire to be a useful servant of God?

Each of these questions reveals two different kinds of desires- the desire to do good because other people are watching, or the desire to be good because it is what God wants. The next slips of paper read:

I get up everyday because I feel obligated to, or because I feel satisfaction in what I do?

Am I constantly counting the sacrifices I make for other people, or do I do it without counting the cost?

Do I feel happy when I see that other people are successful, or does it make me feel like less?

Do I measure my success comparing it with that of those around me, or do I compare myself to Jesus Christ?

Do I try to teach lessons that amaze people of how much doctrine I know, or do I teach for understanding?

Do I use my calling to help others, or to receive praise?

Am I sure that the way that I correct others, is how Jesus Christ would correct them if he were in my place?

According to what Alma said, each desire has it´s reward. So what reward are we hoping for? Are we searching for the recognition of men, or the recognition of God? Do we do things everyday because we have to, or because we want to?

The joy just doesn´t fit in my little 4 foot 9 inch body to be here for a little over 18 months. That´s all there is to it.

This week was Father´s day in Honduras, and we planned an activity, ¨Cerro Grande´s Strongest Dad¨. Enjoy the photos.


I LOVE YOU
Hermana Bernal​

 

  


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