Missionary Panel

Missionary Panel

This week my companions and I had the unique opportunity to
participate in a missionary panel at Guildford college. They have a
course in Mormonism and this past week they were studying missionary
work. We were talked to a class of about fifteen people with the
Elders in our area and answered questions the students had about
missionary work. The questions were all mostly about our routine and
why we decided to serve missions. But we did get some weird ones like
"what sort of guidelines are there for women's safety?" We told them
we just follow the Spirit and we don't have any problems.

They were all really fascinated with the white handbook. Apparently
they read through it as a class. What?! They were all pretty curious
about if we follow all the rules and who enforced them. We told them
that no one makes us follow the rules but we keep them all because we
love God. I think every person in the room scribbled that down on
their notepads!

It was a great opportunity to bear testimony to a captive audience. I
made sure that I bore frequent testimony and explained the Holy Ghost.
If nothing else I wanted them to know that God answers our prayers
through the Spirit. Judging by the amount of notes that class took on
what we were saying I'm not to worried about that point being missed.

The teacher provided us a copy of the syllabus for the class and one
of the Elders noticed that the Book of Mormon is not part of the
required reading! None of them have a copy. We remedied that very
quickly. I have never seen anyone so excited to receive a copy of the
Book of Mormon as these college students! I wish everyone we talked to
had as much enthusiasm! We also distributed the pamphlets we use for
teaching. It was a great way to give out a lot of media.

The best part of the panel was that we found a new investigator. She
is so sweet and she is getting baptized next month! It just goes to
show that you will find people prepared to receive the gospel no
matter where you go! If we simply follow the promptings of the Holy
Ghost we will be given opportunities to share the gospel of Christ.

I invite you to make an effort to recognize the promptings of the Holy
Ghost. I testify that when we do follow the promptings God gives us He
will give us even more and we can come even closer to Him.

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Guildford college

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Trust in the Lord with all Your Heart

I've been struggling a little bit lately with trusting in the Lord's timing. I have been waiting on my visa to Brazil for 4 months now. I have absolutely loved my mission so far but I hit a point where I just wanted to go. I was really disappointed in myself for feeling this way so I decided to start studying faith and hope during my studies in the morning. I also focused my prayers on aligning my will with the will of my Heavenly Father. 

I learned so much over a the short period of time that I did this. The biggest thing was that I became much more aware of the love that my Heavenly Father has for me and His purpose. He does everything for the benefit of His children. Everything. Once I realized that I began to rethink what it meant to align my will with His. 

I testify that everything that our Heavenly Father has us go through is for our benefit. Our circumstances allow us to become the best person we can be and become like Him. He wants us to be happy like Him. I know that wherever God calls me to serve is the place where I will learn and grow the most. It is also where I will be the happiest. All I have to do is work hard and choose to experience the happiness the my Heavenly Father is offering me. 

I know that this principle is true in all of our lives. We always have the choice to be happy no matter our circumstances by shifting our perspective to that of our loving Heavenly Father. I promise that He knows you and loves you more than you can imagine.

I invite you all to take an inventory of your attitude right now. Are you choosing to accept happiness that God is offering you in its fullness? He will never force anything on you. It is your choice to be happy so do it! 

It becomes so easy in life to slip into a mind set of simply
completing activities. This is no different in activity in the church.
Going to meetings, serving others, reading scriptures, and praying
daily can become habits that we don't think twice about when we do
them. In order to grow from these things we must take an active role
in reflecting on them.

God gives us all things for our growth and benefit. However, it is our
choice whether we accept and act upon these things. In order for them
to truly change us we must have the right focus.

Are you focusing on completely theses activities or becoming more like
Christ and serving God's children continually? Consecration is when we
dedicate our thoughts, words, and deeds to the Lord.

We learn in Corinthians 3:16-17 that we are the temple of the Lord and
in D&C 109:12 that the temple is consecrated to the work of the Lord.
We should be striving every day to further God's work on the earth
like the temple. We should be in the world but remain unchanged by it.

I invite you to write down one thing that you will do differently this
week to become more consecrated to the Lord. I know that this will
bless you and you will see heaven's light more clearly on your life.

The LORD always provides a way!

This past week was a week of miracles. We were able to see a lot of
progress in the people that we had been working with. Unfortunately
because some of our plans fell through we were not going to be able to
meet out goal for lessons with a member-present. We weren't extremely
upset about this but we kept working hard to get two more lessons in
hope that we could meet our goal.

On Sunday we had accepted that we would not make our goal and we were
a little disappointed. However, during Sunday school one of the women
from the ward asked if we could stop by that night to teach her two
young nieces that were not members of the church. We were very excited
and quickly agreed to stop by later that night to share a message with
them.

After church we went to the home of another member for dinner. We are
really spoiled here and we get fed by the ward nearly every night
during the week. We planned to talk to them about incorporating Preach
my Gospel into their family studies and to commit them to invite some
of their nonmember friends over for dinner the next time we come. We
had started eating when the daughter told us that she was expecting
some of her friends to come over to eat and hear a message! She had
invited them earlier that day. We quickly changed our lesson plan and
were able to teach another member-present lesson!

We had two member-present lessons handed to us today and we're able to
meet our goal! That just goes to show that when you work hard to
achieve a goal God will help you. I testify that He is mindful of us
and when we set goals He helps us achieve them. When we set goals
faithfully we invite divine assistance.

I invite you all to set a goal this week to become a little bit better
in some aspect of your life. It can be big or small. Then pray for
help and guidance that you will be able to achieve it. I know that our
Heavenly Father will help you because He loves you. He rejoices when
we set righteous goals that help us draw near to Him.

1 Nephi 3:7
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and
do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord
giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare
a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth
them.

Preach my Gospel: a guide for YOU

My ward here in Kannapolis is starting a new program where they teach out of Preach my Gospel every first Sunday. For some people this may seem a little strange because PMG is widely recognized as a manual for missionaries. I agree that it is a guide for missionaries. However, this isn't a tool that is limited to the use of the full-time missionaries. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has and always will be a missionary church. 

As missionaries, we are counseled to study out of PMG every single day. It is a tool that is not for the conversion of investigators, but for the conversion of the missionary. It is a guide. It is a guide for us all to increase our commitment to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Isn't that something that we all desire? Don't we all want to be a little bit more like our perfect elder brother? I know that I do!

PMG has many different tools within it that will enrich your personal study of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I testify that it was written through revelation by modern prophets, seers, and revelators. I know that as we include this guide in our personal study we will become better disciples of Jesus Christ. I know this because I have experienced this change in myself. 

I invite you all to get a Preach my Gospel in your home if you don't already have one. Start out by reading the introduction. Learn how this guide is set up so that you can take full advantage of it. Once you have done this start using it! Use it every single day, even if you only read a paragraph. I also invite you to start and end your personal study with a pray. I know that when we invite the Spirit we enable ourselves to receive personal revelation and you will learn more than you would have otherwise. I also strongly suggest that you begin a study journal. When you use a study journal your study becomes much more meaningful. You show God that you value the things that He teaches you through the Spirit and He will pour even more knowledge upon your head. 

I promise as you use this guide you will improve the quality of your life. As you use it you will have an increased desire to become more like our Savior. You will want to serve others more and share this glad message of the restored gospel with others. That's what it's all about. Loving others enough to help them return to our Heavenly Father! I love you all and am excited for you to start using this fantastic tool that our Father in Heaven has given us!

Focus on the Present!

My companion and I talked a little bit about how there are many
different things that Satan uses to distract us. One of those things
is focusing on the future and the past. She struggles with dwelling on
the past and I'm one who dreams about the future. It is not a bad
thing to think about good times past or ahead but when these thoughts
hinder us in the present there is a problem.

We have our memories to reflect on so that we can become better now.
We also set goals for the future so we know what to work toward.
However, both of these are tools to use in the present time.

The only place we can act is in the present. The only time we can
change and improve ourselves is now. You can only apply the Atonement
of Christ today.

This life is a time for men to perform their labors. You have the
choice of what to do right now. Don't waste your time that you have
now worrying about yesterday or tomorrow. Be where your feet are and
do what our Savior would do.

I invite you all to analyze what you have done, make a plan to
improve, set goals, and then go to work!

When you know who you are, you act differently

What do your actions, words, thoughts, and desires say about you? Are
they in harmony with those of our Savior, Jesus Christ? If they
aren't, then what changes do you need to make in your life to align
them?

I know that Christ was the ultimate example for us in this life and
that our goal is to become like Him so that we can live with Him, our
Heavenly Father, and our families forever. I know that that is much
easier to say than to put into practice. Fortunately, our Father in
Heaven hasn't left us alone. We are given guides to help us become
better, the scriptures and a modern day prophet. He also gives us
strength as we pray for aid.

I invite you all to make one goal this week that will help you become
more like Jesus Christ. Write it down and make a plan of how you are
going to achieve it. Then try your hardest every day to achieve it.
Reflect on your progress every night. What did you do well and what
could you have improved on? Repent, pray for help, and study in the
the scriptures about how people overcame adversity in their lives. I
know that you will see progress as you do these things because I have
seen this process change me into a more faithful disciple of Christ!