Serving from March 10, 2016 to September 2017

Scripture

2 Nephi 31:20

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Farewell Talk

I’ve been called to the Argentina Buenos Aires South mission and I will be reporting March 10th to the Argentina MTC.
in 2 Nephi 31; 20, it says “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end. behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.”
In this scripture, the most important words used is hope and love. but What does the word hope and love mean? Hope is a,” a feeling of expectation, a desire for a certain thing to happen, a feeling of trust.”
Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness, it is a gift of the Spirit. It is a hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power of His Resurrection, we will return to him again.  As with all commandments, we have the responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and overcome the temptation to not lose hope. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness leads to peace, mercy, rejoicing, and gladness. The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet;  it is the foundation of our faith and an anchor to our souls.

The absence of hope happens when the desire in our heart is weak and it makes “the heart sick.” But why is there despair? there is opposition in all things. The feeling of doubt, despair and failure to care for all men leads to temptation and on bad path. these feelings and choices hurt us individually and the precious blessings to come. The adversary uses despair to bind our hearts and minds to suffocate in darkness. it drains the soul of joy and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be. Despair is like a staircase that leads only and forever downward. we all experience this at least once in our lives, and in this time you either have a choice to stay strong in faith and hope for something brighter or let go and fall in into temptation and sadness.
in middle school into the early years of high school, the age where you are confused with your feelings, everything changing constantly, and your faith being tested to the highest. this was the hardest time for me in my life during this trial. People used to ask me why i smile so much and why i am so happy and then those questions slowly faded away as i fell into temptation and i was in my own bubble in the world. Looking back now, i wish i relied on my heavenly father and my family. I am so thankful that i listened to my parents and for them believing in me and having hope and loving me to get me out of this despair i was experiencing. back then i never knew i would serve the lord or that it was even in my future. People now ask me again why i smile so much and i know that it is because of the Love of god and the blessings i have been given. Hope, on the other hand, is like a beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our wants and dreams. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of confusion, and of fear. Hope is not knowledge,  but rather the long lasting trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us. It is confidence that if we live according to God’s laws and the words of His prophets now, It is believing and expecting that our prayers will be answered. In the gospel, hope is sure, enduring, and constant. The prophets have spoke of having a“firm hope”. It is a hope glorifying God through good works. With hope comes joy and happiness. With hope, we can “have patience, and bear our own afflictions.

The love of god is something that can change one's faith extremely if they put their heart, mind and life into it. The savior revealed the way when asked to name the greatest commandment. Without hesitation he said,”Thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.” This is the first and great commandment. coupled with the second great commandment “to love our neighbor as ourselves.” We have a compass that provides direction for our lives. Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities, and nations. Love is the power that causes friendship and respect. Love is the fire that takes over our lives with happiness and hope. Love should be our walk and our talk. When we truly understand what it means to love as Jesus Christ loves us, Our walk as disciples of Christ becomes more joyful. Our lives take on new meaning. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father becomes more profound. If you ask people what it means to have a “love of god and all men”, like said in the scripture. Most people will say the primary answers like pray, read the scriptures and go to church. Praying with a love of God in your heart and wanting to seek him. Is not easy, but it is always there for us or he is always there. We should pray to him with an open heart, talking to him earnestly, about many things that have been on our mind. people may do it crying, or on your knees pleading, smiling with joy and thanks, or asking questions about why certain things have happened in your life. Trying to understand all of the craziness and temptations in the world. Loving ALL MEN is the same way. We have to talk to our neighbors, show them that we care and love them. Doing service is always an act of love that effects the person being served and especially the person serving. The love the Savior described is an active love. It is not manifested through large and heroic deeds but rather through simple acts of kindness and service.
There are many ways and circumstances in which we can serve and love others. In all of our service, we need to be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. The still, small voice will let us know who needs our help and what we can do to help them.
President Spencer W. Kimball said: “It is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom. … So often, our acts of service consist of simple encouragement or of giving … help with mundane tasks, but what glorious consequences can flow … from small but deliberate deeds!”
Loving ALL MEN is what we have to do to make people feel our love and that we care about them. Judgement happens everywhere, everyday and if we focus on the flaws in people and the actions they do that are not right choices, the last thing we should be doing is judging. No one is perfect and it really doesn't matter that they are sinning because the truth is everyone is human and not perfect. But knowing that everyone is human and taking the knowledge you know about that person and helping them grow or even just smiling and giving them a hug may change their life forever. People notice the light of Christ in others and want to be around it and around you when you always have the spirit. people are different, our neighbors our weird, and our peers may decide to live their life differently, but that doesn't matter. When you open your heart and realize that we are all sons and daughters of God trying to figure out how life works and what is the right decision to make. When talking to strangers, neighbors, new friends and children, you hear stories about their life or you may stare at what they're wearing, what they look like or even if someone is being disrespectful to you, still having a love for ALL MEN is very important. Because no one is perfect and no one know how that person feels or what they're going through. making Strangers feel loved even if it is just a simple smile, smiles can change someone's entire day. Dieter F. Uchtdorf stated,” No, God does not need us to love Him. But oh, how we need to love God! For what we love determines what we seek. What we seek determines what we think and do. What we think and do determines who we are—and who we will become.” We are created in the image of our heavenly parents; we are God’s spirit children. Therefore, we have a great capacity for love—it is part of our spiritual heritage and the way all men are born. What and how we love not only defines us as individuals; it also defines us as a church. Since the beginning of time, love has been the source of both the highest bliss and the heaviest burdens. At the heart of misery from the days of Adam until today, you will find the love of wrong things. And at the heart of joy, you will find the love of good things. And the greatest of all good things is God. If all that is not enough reason to love our Heavenly Father and all men,  we can learn from the words of the Apostle John, who said, “We love him, because he first loved us.”God does not look on the outward appearance. 8 I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely. The more we obey God, the more we desire to help others. The more we help others, the more we love God. As we lose love in God is the more we disobey God and the more selfish we are, the less love we feel. When I think of the Savior, I often picture Him with hands outstretched, reaching out to comfort, heal, bless, and love. And He always talked with, never down to, people. He loved the humble and the meek and walked among them, ministering to them and offering hope and salvation. Christ did not just speak about love; He showed it each day of His life. He did not remove Himself from the crowd. Being amidst the people, Jesus reached out to the one. He rescued the lost. He didn’t just teach a class about reaching out in love and then delegate the actual work to others. He not only taught but also showed us how to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.” Christ knows how to minister to others perfectly. When the Savior stretches out His hands, those He touches are uplifted and become greater, stronger, and better people as a result.
When thinking about the hymn “ Love one another”, the lyrics say, love one another as Jesus loves you. try to show kindness in all that you do. be gentle. and loving. in deed and in thought. for these are the things Jesus taught.
Id like to bear my testimony,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

1 comment:

  1. I wish I could of heard from your talk. I hope you now understand why I was so hard on you. I knew you would do great things. You are going to be a great tool in the Lords hand.

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