So, it's strange to be in the situation I'm in. I have 5 weeks left tomorrow..... I never thought the day would come. But just like everything else, it comes way to fast. It always comes to fast. I'm not sad though. It's part of life. Things come and go and they change. It's what you do with the time that you have that matters.
So, with the time I have left I'm going to be focused on missionary work. I'm going to work my hardest. A mission is not for the faint of heart.
There are three parts to a mission, I just realized. There are three parts of everything really. They are: Survive, Ride, and Thrive.
Let's talk about Surviving. For the first part of you mission (the length of that varies for each individual), you're just surviving because you've had very little experience with the things you're about to do. I know that most missionaries (and I say most because some may have had these experiences) haven't had an experience where the eternal salvation of someone else's soul is in their hands. or had an experience where they had to go completely by the Spirit to know how to help someone through a trial they're going through. So, the first part of the mission you're Surviving with your trainers help. This is completely normal and expected. Now-a-days missionaries are very prepared before they come out so this part of the mission is now a smaller part for some.
Okay, Riding. Riding is the part where you're starting to understand things and get the hang of how to be a missionary. You start recognizing the Spirit a little more and you are starting to be able to tell what to do. You know the technical things about being a missionary and things like that. You know how to not crash on your bike trying to stop and talk to someone. You get the routine down to where you start to look more into the spiritual side of things.
Then we go to Thriving. To Thrive on you mission means you do everything you were taught at the beginning of you mission (all the filling out the forms and things like that), and you start seeing how the Gospel plays a part in it. For instance, you realize that the reason you write down potential investigators names and the names of those you teach is so that not a soul will be lost and that God will be able to continually help them through the missionaries. He could do it himself, He could just show people a sign, but at the same time He's not only helping them, He's helping the missionary. When you're Thriving on your mission you're seeing everything in a new way. The Gospel fits into everything. Miracles of God are seen in small things that people take for granted. Like you reading this email. Isn't that amazing? God's power is unlimited. He literally can do whatever He wants. He could give you everything you've ever wanted in life, but............ how will that help you? You won't learn anything if He just gives it to you and you don't work for it.
That's what Thriving does. It helps you understand the reason for everything. Once you reach that point in the Gospel, the next step is to Endure to the End and constantly Thrive in it. When you do that, you are doing exactly as Jesus Christ commanded: Be ye therefore perfect, even as I, or your Father in heaven is perfect.
I know that this is true. I know for a fact that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ came to Joseph Smith and brought the fullness of the Gospel back to the earth through restoring the Priesthood through John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John. I know that God lives, that Christ lives, and that the Holy Ghost is there because he has borne testimony of this to me multiple times. God is there, and He loves you more than you know. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I love you all and hope and pray you're doing well.
-Elder Ricky-dude
--
P.S. The Church is true!
P.P.S. FROG - Fully Rely On God
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
