"Commitment is doing the thing you said you would do, long after the mood you said it in has left you." George R. Zalucki
Somebody's Counting on You
Here's a letter I received from a missionary who is a recent convert himself. He's been on his mission almost a year, and has been a member for almost 2 years. He shared his conversion story at a missionary fireside Sunday. He has a powerful testimony and is a living, walking example of how the restored gospel of Jesus Christ can change and bless lives. His work here is helping to change the lives of families all around him, and from this email-hopefully the family he cares most about, his own:
"I saw a miracle today. A member of my parent's bishopric emailed me and said that my parents, since talking to me on Christmas have thought about taking the lessons. That's so awesome!!!"
That makes my heart so happy. We have so many missionaries that are here blessing other people's families. They work so hard. They are so obedient. They understand that obedience is the way to stay close to the Lord and that's how they can have the companionship of the Holy Ghost to assist them as they teach others. They know their own personal obedience has a direct effect on how they can bring knowledge of the restored gospel to others. They understand those people are counting on them. And I know, that as they diligently take care of others for these 2 years, the Lord will take care of their families in ways they can't. It may not always be obvious and led directly to the temple, but one day they will understand and see what a difference it really did make.
_____
*January 19th
I received news from the missionary that his sister wants to attend BYU-I
When I was 14 or 15, I had a teacher that prided himself on being a thinker. We had some enlightening discussions in his classroom. He helped me ask some great questions that led to tremendous answers that still guide me today. We agreed on many things, but were at odds on a few. One of them was religion. I had a lot of respect for this man, but it amazed me that someone who claimed to be open minded was blind to just how closed minded he was when it came to God. He was always challenging my faith. He considered my beliefs to be a sign of my weakness. His claim was that unless it could be acknowledged by the 5 senses, there was no proof that God existed. I struggled as a young person to help him understand that he was limiting his understanding to what he had personally experienced, cutting himself off from other possibilities. The best that I could do was to try and help him understand how I knew; that things of the spirit could only be understood and perceived by the spirit. Years later, I still don't have a better answer to this one fundamental question, but I face the same dilemma. This blog is dedicated to preserving stories and experiences of missionaries in the Arizona Mesa Mission both during and after their formal missions. Some stories are fun and light hearted, but others are of a spiritual nature. The blog forum is so convenient, yet the format is limiting. There is more to these words than letters on a page. To truly understand the messages requires not only an open mind, but a soft heart.
After all, "A man's reach should exceed his grasp, else what's a Heaven for?- Robert Browning"
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