Hey Everyone!!!
So first off, I'm staying in Midlothian. We had transfer calls last night and I'm staying but Elder Quiambao is leaving. I'm getting Elder Orr as my companion and he's gonna be the district leader here and President Perry wants me to help him with that. It's gonna be fun!
So this past week, the two biggest things I learned are:
1 - The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak; and
2 - Make sure to get the right allergy medicine or else you're gonna have problems
So I'll start with number 2 first. Yes, I got an allergy medicine that was the generic for Benedryl (or however you spell it) and it knocked me out for a bit. Which is really weird because when I was younger taking Benedryl would have made me really hyper. But not anymore I guess. I finally got the right kind of allergy medicine that I normally take (Loratadine), so I'm doing great now.
Now, number 1. "The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak". We've all heard that saying before at one time or another. Well I've gained a testimony that it is so true. This past week I have had a great desire to go do the work and I've pushed myself when my body didn't want to go that much. I felt like I was at wits end and that I was at my limit. Then fast sunday came. As I was fasting, actually right when I started fasting, my body gained energy and strength and I felt so much better. My mind was clear and I was able to concentrate more and now I'm readying to go again.
Fasting is awesome. I love fasting because, like Elder Oaks talked about last April in General Conference, we show our desire to grow and overcome the natural man and to not let our natural tendencies dictate what we do. There is a poem that my zone leader here in the Midlothian zone gave to all the missionaries in this zone.
It's called Invictus
Out of the night that covers me
Black as the pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced, nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid
It matters not how straight the gate
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul
I can't remember off the top of my head who wrote it but I'll let you know next week. (William Ernest Henley 1849–1903 British Author) But this poem is helping me a lot because of the last two lines, "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul". That means, I'm the one who decides what to do with my life. Yes, life does throw curveballs at you, but YOU still decide wat to do when they come at you. That is one of the biggest things I've learned out here on my mission. That, and that the gospel is not a one time thing. It needs to be applied everyday because everyday is different than the one before and that means there is a new way to use the gospel in your life.
I know that by fasting and by studying the gospel, we can learn how to take the helm in our lives and direct our sails to where we truly want to go. By not doing this, we're just letting the wind and the current takes us wherever they want.
I'm going to make you all a promise.
I promise you, by the authority given to me as a representative of Jesus Christ, that if you make time to read the Book of Mormon everyday, and go to church on Sunday to learn the Gospel, I promise you will know exactly what to do at this time of your life to achieve the goals you are working on, and you will become the master of your fate, and the captain of your soul.
Now, the promise has been made and God will bless you with that. You have to do your part because of what the Lord said: "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise".
I'm going to check up on you to see if you have taken this promise and used it.
I love you all and hope and pray you are doing well and that you will take the promise.
Love ya,
-Elder Ricky-dude
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P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God
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