Discurso de Despedida

 Alrighty.  I didn't quite get the opportunity to post anything today.  But things are really wrapping up now- it's crazy!  Among other things, I finished my home teaching for the next couple years, Geronimo is now Elder Geronimo (former super awesome roommate :D) and I gave my farewell talk.  Speaking of my farewell talk, this is a good opportunity to post it, eh?  I might be able to post something else sometime during this week- my last day at work is Wednesday, so after that I should be left with a little more free time.  So anyways, here it is, not exactly word for word what I spoke, but you'll get the gist of things...

August 26^th, 2012

 Farewell Talk

As many of you know, I have been called to serve a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the New York New York North mission.  I was called in April, and at the time, my report day of September 5^th, seemed like an eternity away.  Now the wait is finally over and I’ll be on my way in one short week.

Being able to serve a full time mission is a wonderful opportunity, and I am humbled that the Lord trusts me with such an important responsibility.  Though full time missionary service is a great blessing, not all have the opportunity to participate in such service.  Even for those who do have the chance to serve, it lasts only a relatively short time.  The responsibility for all members of the church to share the Restored Gospel lasts throughout this life time, and from what I understand, the next life as well.

I base my address today on Elder David F. Evans conference address from April of this year.  He presents the idea that many within the sound of his voice have wondered, “what can I do to help build up the Lord’s church and see real growth where I live?”  Preceding that question is certainly a conviction of the truthfulness of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  After a person starts on the straight and narrow, then one begins to naturally ask these sorts of questions.  He or she desires to have those around know the truth and joy that they know.

Sharing the gospel can be a daunting task.  There are seven billion people out there, and only about fourteen million members of this church.  It’s easy to wish we could go out and have such power and conviction in preaching the word that we convince thousands of the truthfulness of our message, but that’s not how it generally works.  In Alma 37:6-7, we learn that “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.”  So where does this responsibility to share start?

The home provides a wonderful opportunity to have a good influence on those we love most through the truthfulness of the gospel.  Additionally, prophets and leaders of past and present have often emphasized the importance of teaching the gospel in the home.  In so doing, parents help to build and fortify a strong foundation in the gospel for each of their children.  These foundations will continue with them throughout the rest of their lives and will provide the means of happiness through the hard times.  Teaching the gospel in the home also naturally draws a family together, as the principles of the gospel lead individuals to have a greater love for others.

The means by which one should share the gospel in the home are fairly straightforward.  First of all, we share the gospel by taking opportunities to teach our family members.  We should always be on the lookout for teaching opportunities.  Aside from Family Home Evening lessons and other planned teaching opportunities, we should be on the lookout for opportunities to bring light to everyday situations through the gospel.  Such could include when one asks for advice, when a question comes up, when things go well, when things don’t go well, and so on.  As we “talk of Chirst, …rejoice in Christ, …preach of Christ, …our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” (2 Nephi 25:26).  Additionally, we learn from the scriptures that faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), and so as bare our testimonies, especially if we do so often, the faith of those in our homes will be strengthened.

As important as teaching is, however, setting a good example in the home is often more powerful than words.  Children are careful to observe the every move of adults, and over time that observation can easily turn into imitation.  Being consistent with good habits as opposed to bad habits is a lot more likely to lead a child to develop good habits.  Our good examples can also lead to teaching opportunities and opportunities to bare our testimonies.  Making sure to stick with the simple things like family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, going to church as a family and so on shows that we value the teachings of the prophets that the restored gospel has brought to our lives and in turn will bring them to value them as well.  Furthermore, Elder Evans points out that our examples can also help children build faith that there is a Heavenly Father that loves them.

Second to sharing the gospel within our home is sharing the gospel with all others.  Bringing others to Christ and the restored gospel is a duty we all have.  President Monson said, “Our missionary experiences have to be current.  It is not enough to sit back and ponder former experiences.  To be fulfilled, you have to continue to naturally and normally share the gospel.” 

Sharing the gospel seems easy enough, but often times we let our fear of man’s judgment get in the way.  God’s judgment is perfect and certainly more important than that of man’s, and with that in mind, we should strive to let our faith in Him replace any fear of man.

Sometimes we might doubt our influence and shrug off opportunities as we anticipate such as wasted efforts.  The only guarantee for a person to not accept the gospel and come to Christ is for them to not be exposed to it.  Results aren’t always readily seen.  A person very well could accept the gospel later on in life because of your words and good example.  I’ve heard from the stake mission prep class and from other sources that it takes about 7.2 or some other odd number of “touches” or moments of exposure to the church for a person to act on any sort of a prompting or invitation.  When our efforts are put down by an indifferent or negative response, we need to keep in mind that everybody has their agency, and that they, not us, will stand accountable for their refusal to accept the sweet message of the gospel.

One of the main ideas Elder Evans presents in his address is sharing the gospel in a natural manner.  This essentially means establishing environments, relationships and situations where you can naturally speak of the influence of the restored gospel and the church in your life.  Being consistent in living the Word of Wisdom can lead to a coworker about why you choose to not drink certain drinks.  Always striving to keep the Sabbath Day holy can lead to a friend asking why you choose not to spend Sunday on the lake.  Fulfilling the responsibilities of your church calling can lead to a neighbor asking you why anyone would ever devote so much volunteered time to a church.  All of these situations easily lead to life changing conversations.  We should all foster relationships that allow us to bare simple testimony when the opportunity presents itself.

Sharing the gospel is not limited to sharing with our friends of faiths.  A year ago, when I went out to one of the church schools, I found myself surrounded by fellow members of this church.  We still had a mission leader in our ward, however, and were expected to participate in missionary work.  This perplexed me until a good friend of mine pointed out that there are still plenty of missionary opportunities amongst our fellow saints.  We can help others to gain testimonies who don’t yet believe, and for those who do believe, we can help them strengthen and solidify their testimonies.  There is so much that we can’t see in other people’s lives, so we should always strive to be good examples and unconditionally love those around us.  A former mission prep teacher of mine once explained that he wasn’t always comfortable with the use of labels such as inactive or less active members.  He claims them to be members who need strengthening, and it’s very true.  Leaders, home teacher and visiting teachers are all a part of the work of strengthening these members through their efforts in sharing the gospel.

Being a part of the work is a great blessing.  In the Book of Mormon, the Lord explicitly states that He is “able to do [His] own work.” (2 Nephi 27:20).  Compared to Him, we bring very little to the table when it comes to doing missionary work, yet He allows us the privilege to be involved in the process.  Participating in missionary service helps us to learn and to grow and to progress towards perfection.  Additionally, it opens up the opportunity for God to fulfill His promises and pour out some of the sweetest blessings imaginable upon us.  Think of a returned missionary and how much he or she changed over the course of being fully involved in the work.  Such is the result of being involved in missionary work, and as we participate and share the gospel, it only seems natural that we put ourselves in positions to have similar changes occur within us.

Being involved in missionary work isn’t easy.  The adversary is not only “seeking to hurl away your soul down to everlasting misery and endless woe,” (Helamen 7:16), but is hoping to do the same with all who have come to this earth, and so any attempts to bring people further from him as they draw closer to God is certain to warrant action from him.  My mission prep teacher out at school talked about how the opposition of the adversary increases as a person’s good efforts increase.  Though this opposition can be tough, it’s just a testament that you’re doing what you need to be doing.  This summer, as time for my full time service has been getting closer, I’ve had a fair share of this opposition.  It hasn’t been easy by any means, and I speak of this particularly to be a warning voice to you young men whose calls are getting closer.  You really have to be committed because the adversary will stop at nothing to keep you from going because he knows what you can do against his kingdom.  Stand strong and be consistent with the little things, and through your obedience Heavenly Father will strengthen you and make you meet to fulfill the call to serve.  And to the majority of you who aren’t preparing for an official call to serve, I’d admonish you to do the same so that you too can be an instrument in God’s hands.

Once again, I would like to express how important it is to never lose motivation or become discouraged as we go about the Lord’s work.  Everybody in the world has hope.  Christ “suffered… for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent.” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:16).  Even if we don’t think a person can change or accept the gospel, Heavenly Father never gives up on anyone.  “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God,” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:10), so let us not hinder our efforts because of our impatience or lack of an eternal perspective.  Don’t ever doubt your influence as an example of the believer.

Even if your efforts only brings one person to the fullness of the gospel, not only with your joy be great, but you’ll have had a part in bringing eternal joy to another child of God.  Elder Evans tells a story of a young man who was of another faith that grew up with the good influence of church members.  Over time, and after many invitations, he finally accepted an invitation from a friend that Elder Evans explained as being “both natural and normal… in the context of their friendship and circumstances.”  This led him to meeting with the missionaries, gaining a testimony, being baptized, being married in the temple, and having a family.  Following these events, as this man bore his testimony he asked,

“So, was it worth it?  Was all the effort of friends and youth leaders and my bishop, over all the years, worth the effort to have just one boy be baptized?”  Pointing to [his wife] and five children, he said, “Well at least for my wife and our five children, the answer is yes.”

It’s very likely the gospel will continue to influence his family for generations to come.  We don’t often have the eternal perspective that our Father in Heaven does and so we generally have no idea how our efforts will affect others as the results trickle down, or up or even sideways.

Let us all “that embark in the service of God, see that [we] serve him with all [our] heart, might, mind and strength, that [we] may stand blameless before God at the last day.”  (Doctine and Covenants 4:2).  Let us, as President Monson often reminds us, “Never Delay a Prompting.”  We are all called to participate in the work of sharing the gospel, so let us thrust in our sickles and reap the reward, a reward for all.

Once again, I’m very grateful for the opportunity to serve a full time mission.  I know it’s what I’m supposed to be doing at this time in my life.  I’m grateful for all the leaders and examples that have been placed in my life that have gotten me to this point.  I know that God does place people in our lives to help guide us in our journey back to Him.  I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints does contain the fullness of the truth, and the Lord restored this fullness through the Prophet Joseph Smith.  I know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God and that it stands as another Testament of Christ in this day.  I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God who leads this church under the direction of Jesus Christ.  I know that God fulfills all of His promises.  I know that He does so in his own timing for our benefit as we learn patience.  I know that Jesus Christ lived and died for us, that He knows us better than everybody else and that He’s there to help us the very moment that we reach out to Him.  I know that we all have hope of living in eternal bliss thanks to a gracious Father in Heaven.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

La Expiación

Two weeks!  I'm being set apart on Sunday, September 2nd at 8:00 P.M.  Next week is my "farewell" address- 8:30 A.M. at the Lawrenceville building.  I'm not making a big deal about it, I didn't make a Facebook event or anything like that, partly because everybody is at school or on a mission, and more so just because it really isn't about me.  I just am hoping to share what I've been blessed to learn through my experiences and just help others to push through the hard times and become more like our Savior.  But yup, time is a flying...

In the meantime, I had a pretty lazy Sunday, and in turn I didn't leave myself much time to think about and write a good post.  So here's a toss back- I just so happened to feel impressed to write a talk I was assigned to give word for word, more essay style rather than outline style like I've done in the past, and that's pretty handy when you have a lazy Sunday and would still like to post something.  Here it is, given on April 8th, 2012 in the Provo YSA 51st Ward of the Provo YSA 4th Stake:

Nearly two thousand years ago, the unthinkable happened when Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, rose from the dead.  No event in history has brought more hope into the world than did the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and so on this day, we celebrate His victory in overcoming death.

As is stated in 1^st Corinthians 15:22, “…in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”  The obvious implication this verse sets forth is that all will gain resurrection because Jesus was resurrected.

Of great significance is it that all are included in this promise- Christ does not exclude this blessing to anyone.  Helaman 14:17 explains that “the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord.”  Out of all of the billions of people who have existed on this Earth, not one is excluded from the promise of being made alive, never to die again.  “…the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.”

Although the promise given to all to live again is wonderful, there is more to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  His resurrection symbolizes His victory and success in the mission that our Father in Heaven gave to Him in the premortal existence.  In celebrating His raising from the dead, we should also celebrate the manner in which He lived His life.

In order to conquer death, Christ lived the perfect life.  He withstood temptations from the devil, constant persecution and all manner of pain and affliction, never faltering so that He could balance the scales of justice for you and me.

As President Monson explained in his conference address in October 1981, the teachings and example of Christ in His mortal ministry live on, just as He does.  We need to remember Him at all times and follow in His footsteps.

Our Savior’s determination to do the will of the Lord in all things is just another wonderful aspect of His life that led to His victory over the grave.  The ultimate example was in the garden of Gethsemane.  As He was experiencing “suffering [that] caused [Him], even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain,” He desired that this burden be lifted.  Superseding that desire, however, was His desire to do the will of the Lord, and so He persevered and “partook and finished [His] preparations unto the children of men.”

These preparations not only show His desire to do the will of His Father, but they show how much He loves us, giving us even more reason to celebrate Him on this Easter Sunday.

Elder James E. Talmage explained in Jesus the Christ that “In some manner, actual and terribly real though to man incomprehensible, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world.”

In the 2005 October General Conference, Elder Merill J. Bateman gave a glimpse at this incomprehensible burden that Christ took upon Himself in the Atonement.  He said “Instead of an impersonal mass of sin, there was a long line of people, as Jesus felt ‘our infirmities’, ‘[bore] our griefs, … carried our sorrows … [and] was bruised for our iniquities.’”  He continued: “The Atonement was an intimate, personal experience in which Jesus came to know how to help each of us…. He learned about your weaknesses and mine. He experienced your pains and sufferings… He knows us. He understands the way in which we deal with temptations. He knows our weaknesses. But more than that, more than just knowing us, He knows how to help us…”

Jesus Christ took upon Himself all negative things in our lives.  Why?  Because He loves us.

Elder Holland helps us further get a taste of this love in his April 2009 address.  He explains that “It was required, indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind—us, all of us—would feel when we did commit such sins. For His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone. But Jesus held on. He pressed on. The goodness in Him allowed faith to triumph even in a state of complete anguish.”

President Monson said “At the last moment, the Master could have turned back. But He did not. He passed beneath all things that He might save all things.”

He came to know us on the night, better than we know ourselves now.  He didn’t give up and because of that He knows exactly how we feel at all times, in all places, and if we learn how to utilize the Atonement properly in our lives, it can work wonders in helping us to live like Christ.  We all have hope, every single one of us, because of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

As we continue to celebrate Easter and the Resurrection of our Savior, let us also remember the life He lived, the sacrifices that He made and what that means for us.  Because of how He lived, we can live again.  Because of His choice to suffer for every single one of us, we can turn to Him in the every day and be comforted.  Because of Him, all have hope.  And “…because [He] walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so.”

I’d like to close by quoting a song that puts things into perspective.

How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness?
He sent his Son, a newborn babe, with peace and holiness.
How could the Father show the world the pathway we should go?
He sent his Son to walk with men on earth, that we may know.
How could the Father tell the world of sacrifice, of death?
He sent his Son to die for us and rise with living breath.
What does the Father ask of us? What do the scriptures say?
Have faith, have hope, live like his Son, help others on their way.
What does he ask? Live like his Son.

I know that He lives and loves us, and because of this love, we all have hope of improving ourselves and being truly happy in this life and in the life to come.  This is my testimony.  This is why I've chosen to serve.  I hope YOU know how truly valuable you are to Him.

Sacraficios

I apologize for my lack of posts lately.  I started this post a few weeks ago, but just haven't made time to finish.  You've got to understand, I'm a huge fan of the Olympics, I always have.  I don't remember them actually being here in Atlanta (other than Izzy, the Olympic character thing- good stuff), but my mom says that whenever the Olympic theme would come on, I'd run from wherever I was in the house into the room with the T.V., humming along loudly.  So yeah, things haven't been terribly routine this past little while.  We pretty much always had the T.V on with some Olympic event or another playing, and if I stopped to watch, I would be guaranteed to be there watching for much more time than I should have been. And then when you throw in Domino's 50% off online order deal and the extra business we had at work, I ended up working like eight hours longer than I was scheduled (including a lovely thirteen hour shift on Friday.  But talk about $$$$ :D).  So like I said, I just haven't made time to sit down and write a good post.  But things are going well!  I finally got my shoes (such a painful process -___-), once all debts are paid off, and money is deposited in the bank, I should have enough money right now to pay for my part of the mission, and I'm just counting down the days.  In three weeks I'll officially have been set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Exciting stuff!

But anyways, the Olympics.  There's just a special spirit of unity about the games.  At the same time, the idea of an athlete competing as a representative of their home country and the people that live therein, not competing for a big pay check, but for the honor and respect of people worldwide just adds a wonderful depth to what would otherwise be simply another sports event.  And there are many other aspects that I love about the Olympics, and many things that I feel like I could relate to everyday living, but one thing that had really been pressing on my mind lately is sacrifice.  These athletes, no doubt, make many sacrifices, giving up the normal in hopes of obtaining the extraordinary.  Not everybody understands why a person would wake up so early everyday, devote so much time, eat nasty stuff, not eat good stuff, and so on and so forth.  So how is a person able to give up these in-the-moment comforts?

The dream of and belief in the possibility of a glorious end result is really the only means that I believe can drive an athlete, or any person, to have the discipline to consistently make sacrifices.  These sacrifices can be big or small, but if a person doubts themselves or doesn't want their dream bad enough, they won't have any reason to not resist the smallest temptation.  These gold medalists don't strive to be silver medalists, it's the top or bust because for one reason or another, they want to be the best, and they do all that they believe to be possible to get there.  While Olympics gold is en extraordinary achievement, everybody makes sacrifices, even on a daily basis, in hopes of getting to where they believe they need to be.

Right now I face the prospect of making many sacrifices as I prepare to leave everyone and nearly everything I know behind and devote my life to the Lord.  This prospect really hit me hard recently and the adversary really dug in and made me doubt my ability to make these sacrifices and serve the Lord.  As I'm saying goodbye to people and having to end familiar relationships in the shadow of inevitable change, it really is sad to let go of the good old days and the way things have been.  I love thinking about piling into my good friend Matt/Ben's truck and riding around, going to Cici's, having man time, developing the relationships that have help make me who I am today and so on and so forth.  Thinking about the strategy of the adversary in this particular case in trying to get me to not serve as I've been called to do really is silly because staying home would really just freeze me in a state of nostalgia, unable to move me on with the world around me.  But it did, in a complex way, sort of give me a taste of what I will be giving up, and I'm continuing to see it more clearly as time gets closer.  So will it be worth it?

The role that making sacrifices has played in my life leads me to know that it will indeed be worth it.  More than I can even imagine, I'm sure.  I've had to make many sacrifices throughout my life, and in every case, there had been either an eventual payout of sorts, or a special comfort that has made me able to endure and learn in my journey of sacrifice.  I'll give a couple examples.

I used to watch a popular T.V. show that was very funny, but often times had some questionable content.  At one point, I felt as though I'd be better off not watching it, which was a bummer because it really was funny and had a good story line and so forth.  But I was blessed with a will to follow through with that prompting, and I stopped watching it and I haven't watched it since.  Now that I'm on the other side, I know that the added measure of the Spirit that comes from not taking in that questionable content has blessed me in more ways than I can imagine.  Do I miss the show?  Not really.  It's just a T.V. show.  After making the sacrifices, it's easy to not want to go back and think that it was easy giving it up, but making that first step and getting to that point is kind of tough.  It's just about seeing a bigger perspective and not getting so caught up in the moment.

Probably one of the bigger sacrifices I've made is a pretty in depth story, but I'll give you the gists of things.  I've never been really one to feel the need to have a girlfriend or anything like that.  I guess I haven't really been one to look for love because it's just not something I needed or felt was practical in my life thus far.  At one point, however, it just happened- I found myself in a situation where a friendship was kind of heading in that direction.  If we would have pursued that kind of a relationship, in some aspects it probably would have been great, but we both knew that leaders of the True and Living Church, people who clearly know the will of God, had advised against doing such and so we decided to take steps necessary to make sure we weren't ever in any sort of a situation to go against that advice.  It wasn't easy for me by any means, but that experience led me to realize that if I had to give her up to put myself in a better position to serve the Lord that I would be willing to do that.  Following that, however, we enjoyed a great friendship and I can't say that I've ever been closer to anybody else (for whatever reason I just have a hard time really opening up to other people I guess) in more of a best friend than a boy friend sense of things.  That relationship has been a great blessing in my life- I've learned so many things about everything and I'm certain it's impact on me will last forever.  So blessings really do follow sacrifices if we have the faith to make that move and put ourselves in the momentary position of discomfort.

This story continues today and had played a big part of the adversary's recent attacks on me.  She's in a position where she can move on with her life now while I put things on hold for a couple years.  It very well could turn out that I come home and we're in a situation where it would be best for us to not communicate at all in order to prevent us from bringing back that friendship and harbor up old feelings and so on so forth.  Thinking about essentially giving her up forever has been hard- she's my best friend, pretty much the only person I feel completely comfortable talking to about whatever.  At first glance it's hard to see any hope of finding another person with which I will feel as comfortable and able to express myself as fully as I was with this friend.  Looking back at my past experiences, I know that it's tough thinking about it right now, but as I move forward, trying to do the will of God, He will provide means to fill the whole left behind in a way better than I could imagine, especially because I've been striving to be obedient to the laws upon which such blessings are predicated (Doctrine and Covenants 130:21).  That's not to take away from this friend and say that there's another person out there way better than she is, but if we aren't able to continue our friendship, new friendships will be formed with other people that will work out a lot better in God's wonderful plan for each of us.  This has been a tough sacrifice to come to terms with, but it's just one among many that I'll be facing sooner than I know.

I don't speak of sacrifices to glorify myself- I seek to share what's helped me out when I've faced these situations so that somebody else can face whatever sacrifices they face with some secondhand experience under their belt.  And these sacrifices are all made for the Lord, for His glory, not mine.  I'm not going on a mission to be able to claim credit for the salvation of any individuals I baptize- that all was made possibly by the Savior's Atonement.  I'm not seeking to add something to my resume- there are other, much more practical things that I could easily do without such a time and money commitment.  I'm not doing this out of any social pressure or expectations of others- once again, that would just be impractical and a huge waste of time and money.  I've chosen to leave all behind and serve because I love my Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ.  I know that they have blessed me with so much, have made me be able to live with real hope and real joy in this life and have given me a hope for eternal happiness in the life to come.  I've done nothing to deserve this.  Nothing.  Shoot, I've done a bunch of things to deserve the opposite, but through the indescribably wonderful grace of God, I can be made into a better person than I far deserve to be.  This reality is what drives me to serve.  I want to make what meager attempt I can to giving back to the Ones who have given me all.

As weird as it sounds, having the opportunity to make sacrifices really is a wonderful thing.  It's tough to deal with in the moment, but gives us strength in the long run.  In making sacrifices, we have the opportunity to learn patience, learn of God's plan for us and how wonderful that is, learn about the greatest sacrifice of all, the Atonement, and learn about other attributes that help us to become better and eventually perfect beings.  Sacrifices are not easy to make, but with faith, good underlying motivation, persistence and an eternal perspective, they're certainly possible.  I know I'm where I am today, in what I would consider good standing with God and with man, because of the sacrifices I've made in the past, and I'm grateful to God for His trust in me in making such sacrifices.

"Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD."  -Psalm 4:5

Esperanza

Before I get down to business, I thought I'd throw in some fun little updates.  First of all, Wednesday will mark my one transfer away from going into the Missionary Training Center, so we're getting there :T  Yesterday I went shopping for missionary stuff with my mom at the Tanger Outlet shopping center up in Commerce and then at the mall of Georgia.  I got some socks, some shoes, a watch (I'm bummed I haven't been a watch wearer before now- they're pretty classy.  Especially since it seems like they're losing out to cell phones for time keeping nowadays.) and a couple of baseball caps (I've been wanting a good Braves hat for a few years now so I finally got one that I'm fairly well satisfied with.  And I got a Yankees hat- I guess this is my official announcement that I'm going to be a Yankees fan (post mission of course :I).  Yankee stadium is in my mission, the Met's stadium isn't, plus, being in the same league and even division as the Braves, I just don't think I could bring myself to liking the Mets.  So I'm sorry for all you haters out there, but Yankees all the way :D).  Woowee.  Job is still going well- it's looking like I'll have just enough to pay for as much as I set a goal to pay for my mission and to pay for at least a good part of clothes and all that.  I could go on and on about how much of a blessing it's been to be able to get that job...  But I guess I'll spare us both the time because I think I've talked about it before :I  I got a letter from my Mission President the other day, so that contained all sorts of goodies, stuff like the history of the mission, a general letter to all the incoming missionaries, requests for driving record information and so on.  And Spanish branch- that's going well.  I feel like I'm picking up more and more every week.  I've started studying Predicad Mi Evangelio and I'm continuing to read El Libro de Mormon, and that really helps, at the very least it seems to help bring the Spirit and help out with the gift of tongues.  So there you go, I think that's about all the news I have.  I'm just a-chugging along.

Now.  For the message, what I've been thinking about and stuff.  I'll try to be a little bit more concise- I feel like in my past posts I've been sort of all over the place.  But other than having my former roommates already know about the whole testimony in Spanish Branch thing, I haven't heard a single other person acknowledge this blog, so I have no idea how people are taking it.  Haha but I guess that's fine, I'm not trying to write to an audience.  I'm just trying to help others learn and grow through the means that Heavenly Father has lead me to learn and grow as I've gone along my life, particularly in the direction of serving a mission.  But yeah, thank you for reading and putting up with me when I'm ridiculous- I certainly hope I've been of some sort of help to you!  Anywhoo...

This week I went and saw the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, and then last night I went back and watched The Dark Knight just to remind myself of the details and be able to piece things together a bit better.  I like the series in the sense that it gets me thinking and that it's a little deeper than just having the bad guy want power and money and just being outwitted or overpowered by the good guy.  There are a lot of moral and emotional struggles and it's all done in a fairly well put together package.  There are things that don't always add up (like the idea of completely filling to big boats with tons of tanks of gasoline without anyone noticing -___- I guess stuff like that just adds to the scary factor of the villain), but the movies still draws me in and affect me in a way that most other movies don't.

In particular the underlying motives and actions of the Joker got me thinking last night.  He's a twisting monster, not set on money, but on "sending a message" as he so declares.  *Spoiler Alert*  He sets up scenarios that mess with people and break them down to their core values.  He does it all for the purpose of showing how the society "norm" for living life and going about things as individuals and a whole is to a degree meaningless in it's routine.  I'm sure it cuts a lot deeper than that, but the Joker's greatest success is when he corrupts the city hero, Harvey Dent, to go into a rage of fury, seeking revenge for the injustice brought upon him.  In this, the Joker believes that he's shown that even the best can be corrupted, and had this great hero been shown to the people of Gothem in that light, it would have been a crippling blow.  Hope for the forthcoming better tomorrow would have been lost.

So in a world that does seem to be facing an increasing amount of corruption and loss of moral conviction, is there any sort of hope?  Absolutely.

This is something that really drives me, the idea that there is hope for better in all aspects of living.  And I mention the Batman movie to turn that message from the Joker on its head.  There is indeed the possibility of people who seem as solid as it gets to crumble away to show a reality of a lack of support.  I've seen that happen twice this summer- people who I really looked up to and for whom I had a great deal of respect have in some way or another gone against the exact thing for I which I had respect.  I won't go into details, but it's been a hard blow watching that happen.  But as I study and pray, I know that just as much as the best of people have the possibility of losing all that makes them respectable, any ordinary person has the potential to becoming an inspiring and incredible person.

Where does this hope come from?  Our Savior, Jesus Christ, and His willingness to give up His life in living and in death.  Because of His devotion to doing the will of the Father and His love for us, He succeeded in living the perfect life and was able to take on the burden of our sins, infirmities and so forth.  His sacrifice allows us to progress, rid ourselves of the mark of sin, and in some shape or form, become perfect in the life to come.  Knowing that all the suffering we face in this life will end if we make good choices through it all is a driving force to help a person endure to the end.  That's one aspect of hope that I think of when the topic is brought up.

Another more immediate aspect of hope that I think of comes into play in a less eternal perspective, the hope of change.  I believe this is a big stumbling block, people develop in certain ways and think they're stuck like that forever, or other people convince them that such is true.  Some issues take more effort to resolve than others, but if handled in a proper manner, I believe that all problems can be resolved or at the very least controlled.  Once again, this changing power comes from the Atonement of Christ.  He suffered all things to be able to understand us and to be able to counsel with us and help us get through literally anything and everything (Alma 7:11-12).  Of course it takes faith on our part, and faith requires action, but if we desire to change, it's certainly possible.

So what qualifies a person to this wonderful gift, the ability to be succored by Christ and His experience?  Just existing, that's about all there is to it.  Jesus Christ suffered for the sins of everyone.  Not a single person is excluded from the great sacrifice.  Knowing this, that Christ suffered all that all mankind has suffered, not only potentially deepens ones appreciate for such an incomprehensible act, but it also leads to the point that every one has hope.  Hope for change, hope for eventual perfection and hope for eternal life.  From the lowly drunkard to the pompous billionaire, all are covered.

There's a line from "The One," a song on the 2011 EFY CD, that goes a little something like this...
"He sees me for what I can become"
When I hear that in the right mindset, the Spirit runs through every fiber of my being testifying the truthfulness of that line.  Thinking about the manner in which our Father in Heaven sees us really is incredible.  He doesn't look at us and see us in our faults, in all of the negatives that we just naturally have.  He looks inside and sees our potential and is willing to help us unlock that potential and become who He, who truly wants the best for us, wants us to become.  Can you imagine how different the world would be if we could see like this?  I believe that if we were to take a person that we perceive as being the lowest of the low and look at them under this light, we would be so struck with awe and regret for casting our judgments on them that we would want to forever hide ourselves from the face of the Lord.  And yet we all cast judgments and compare others, fellow sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven to standards of which we often fall short ourselves.  It's quite the predicament, but having a taste of the hope that everyone has can help us to build each other up rather than tear each other down.  As a missionary, I hope to share the message of the Restored Gospel, this message of hope with all, doubting not the transforming power of the Atonement.  I'm grateful that I've had this taste of hope for myself and hope for others, and I hope to bring this message to the people of New York.

Another line that really gets me going is from the song "We Believe" on the same CD:
"See there's hope for a bright tomorrow/Knowing we are the ones today."
Hope.  Even in a world that seems to be getting more dark and dreary, the light of truth keeps growing brighter and brighter.  This, however, isn't a passive thing- it takes action as a part of having faith in all of God's promises.  So to anyone that's made it this far, always seek to try harder and to be a better person.  Seek to inspire those around you by example and by sharing the truths you know when the opportunities come.  Share you're hope with the world, don't keep it to yourself.  The only way to run out is to not act or share.  I'm definitely not perfect in this, but I'm trying and I've seen the blessings of my efforts.  This world is so full of hope, but nobody seems to know it, so let's get the message out!

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God" -Ether 12:4

Trabajo, Trabajo, Trabajo...

I think I might have mentioned in my last post that I've been working a lot, trying to earn some money to be able to pay what it costs to serve a mission.  And so yeah that's really consumed a lot of my time this past little while.  I've been working between thirty five and forty hours a week at Domino's and then it seems like I fill in my off time there working on the cow fence for the Gregerson's (I guess I'd best describe them as a family of friends of mine.  Something like that... haha).  At the end of the week, I usually end up working a little over fifty hours, and it can be pretty exhausting, especially when I don't have a lot of free time to do other things to wind down and stuff.

All this work just brings to mind the role that working hard has played in my life and how that will play a role while serving a mission.  Good parenting and various experiences through my life thus far have blessed me with an attitude of diligence in most of the things in which I become involved.  Back when I was training seriously for swimming, I would pretty much always try my hardest at practice, and there was nothing that felt better than having a good workout where I was able to stay on top of the intervals and be consistent with any timed sets.  Going through school, especially since about half way through my junior year in high school, I just haven't minded taking the time to do the work and most of the time I tried to do a good job with everything.  And now, being employed, I'm just grateful to have a job and so I try to be the best asset to my employers that I can be by working hard.  Out of the things which Heavenly Father has blessed me with, I believe that this attitude of diligence has taken more of a part in what successes I've had thus far than anything else.


Being persistent in the work helps a lot too.  I'm sure there are a lot of big, successful businesses out there that have faced crises at various points in their existences, and had they just given up on their efforts, there would have been no progression or moving forward in the least.  Same thing with athletes, if they were to just quit when they didn't get the results they wanted, then we likely wouldn't have any of the big names that everybody knows.  I went through that a couple times with swimming, the first time being when I was pretty young, and pretty shortly after deciding to stick out the tough times, I had some great successes wherein my hard work had finally paid off (of course the same sort of deal happened when I did quit training seriously, but that was a little more complicated and turned out to be more of God telling me that swimming had played its role in my life and that it was time to move on to other things.  So yep :T).  Persistence is just as essential to success as is hard work.  It's what keeps pushing you forward when everything else is pushing you back.  It's the make or brake factor, what really determines where you end up.  A persistent person is one who disregards the easy way because they know that in the end all of suffering and pain will give way to the triumph of victory.

Goal setting is another aspect of this conversation that really should play a role in daily living.  I guess people don't always sit down and officially set goals, but I think that whatever you call it, it is important to have some sort of driving factor, some reason for putting in work and being persistent.  Setting goals is definitely one of the biggest driving factors for my willingness to put in effort into the things I do.  For instance, school- I work hard because I set goals to get good grades.  But then I believe that goals go far beyond what you see at the surface and really give way to sort of a foundation of what makes you tick.  So yeah lets jump back to school.  I work hard because I want good grades.  I want good grades so that I can get into a top notch grad school program.  I'd like to get into a top notch grad school program so that I can get a good job.  I'd like a good job so that I can make good money.  I'd like to make good money so that money isn't a worry and so that I can take my family on nice vacations and so that I can have a good home to entertain.  I'd like to be able to do all that to bring people together to have good relationships of love and genuine care.  And I'd like to do that so that my family and I and as many people as possible can have the influence of the gospel in our lives and be able to essentially live together forever in joy.  I guess that's kind of a long string of things and I don't know if other people think things out like that- maybe I'm just weird...  But when I'm able to break things down and relate it to bigger, even eternal perspectives, then that helps me to continue to work at whatever it is with even more diligence than before.  So goal setting = good stuff.

Now.  How does this all play into missionary work?  I haven't ever been a missionary before, but from what I've seen and learned, this all plays in as an essential part of the work.  First off finding the motivation for becoming involved in the work leads to putting in the effort.  I could go on for page after page describing why I've decided to serve a mission, but it essentially boils down to me having the desire to help pay back what I can to a gracious Father in Heaven who has blessed me with so much.  Because of that, I want to share what's made me happy with other people, and I'm willing to work hard and get out of my comfort zone to so.  And I know that even when I am willing to work hard, things are not going to just work out well and fall nicely into place.  There are going to be many trials and hardships along the way, but the only way to get past and come out on top is to not give up, but to realize that Heavenly Father is behind you all the way, and that when you choose to rely wholly on Him, He'll give you the strength to keep chugging along.  From what I've been taught and from what I've experienced, this pattern ultimately leads to success.  It might not be five thousand baptisms, but you'll never know the fruits of your labor without the labor.  I'd rather come home after two years with not terribly impressive numbers but knowing that I did all I could rather than knowing that there was more I could have done.

I hope I haven't sounded too prideful or boastful in any sort of way as I've described what I believe.  I definitely don't consider myself all knowing or even particularly knowledgeable in any subject really.  The things I write are just things that I feel like God has blessed me to be able to see, and I just hope to pass those on to anyone that's interested.  God has been gracious to get me where I am today, and though I've worked hard, He's provided me with everything I've needed to get here, and I know that I would be nowhere if I were left to my own means.  I think Ammon said it best when he explained, "I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.  Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things..." (Alma 26:11-12).

I guess my ending message that to be successful, you need to find good motivation, work hard and then be persistent.  And when you do all that for the purpose of glorifying God, you'll just come out way on top :D

"For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;" -Doctrine and Covenants 4:4

"Y Ahora Jeffrey Compartirá Su Testimonio..."

There is a Spanish branch (o rama español; congregation for spanish speakers) at the building at which I attend church, and so to try to get used to hearing el Evangelio en español, I've been going and sitting in on the Sacrament meeting (just the general meeting with everybody where we partake of bread and water in similitude of the last supper and listen to people from the congregation speak on various subjects as assigned by church leaders).  I've come a long way from the first time I sat in on their meeting, but I usually only have a general idea of what exactly is going on, and that's only if I'm really concentrating on the person and what they're saying.  I really enjoy going- it's giving me a good taste of what's to come, and I just enjoy situations where I get to have a jab at using what little bit of Spanish I know (delivering pizzas a las personas que hablan español es muy bueno :D).

Anywhoo today was a pretty normal day at church and so following my gringo meetings, I went and took my seat towards the back, ready to just get out of it what I could.  I was pretty sleepy from staying out a little later socializing (and such socializing opportunities have been somewhat seldom throughout this summer, so I was game for a little loss of sleep.  Sorry about that unintentional alliteration :T), and so I wasn't as focused as I could've been and so consequently, when President Samuels (the leader of the congregation) stood after the two members of the branch gave their talks (or sermons, whatever you'd like to call them) I didn't quite follow all that he was saying.  I knew that he commended the speakers for their words, but from there I just kind of went on to thinking about some of my plans for this upcoming week and about getting home and eating and possibly sleeping and all that hooplah.  And then I kind of noticed him looking at me and then he said my name and I could tell he was saying some things about me serving a mission and how I was going to be going to New York and speaking Spanish and I then I pretty much got out of it that I was to come forward and share my testimony of the truths that I had come to know throughout my life.  I've heard and experienced just a little bit that one of the hardest parts of learning a language is gaining confidence in speaking that language to president others, and so as you can imagine, I felt under qualified for such a task, to say the least.  When I got up to the stand, President Samuels said something along the lines of "You probably have no idea what I asked you to do, huh?"  And so I at least said, "You want me to bear my testimony, right?"  After he gave the affirmative I started in.  It wasn't elaborate of course.  I kind of wasn't sure of what to say, so I kind of stopped for a little while after which President Samuels told me I could say some stuff in English and have him translate, so I did, but I still just was not sure what to say.  I kind of wrapped up what few things I did say and then ended it with a "yo digo estas palabras en el nombre de Jesucristo, amen." and then took my seat again.

I still have no idea what motivated President Samuels call on me like that (my best guess would be that he noticed me dosing during the first speakers remarks -___-), or how exactly I fit into the rest of the meeting.  Whatever the case may be, it was an interesting experience, one that kind of left me excited to get to the work, but one that kind of knocked me upside the head and made me realize how much I have to learn and how it is going to be quite the undertaking to learn an entirely new language and sort of a general culture that goes behind it.  It brought to mind the promise that when you open your mouth it will be filled (Doctrine and Covenants 33:8-11).  I've heard various stories from different people about such a promise being true in regards to languages, and although I didn't open my mouth and bare the most beautiful testimony the world had ever heard, I still have faith that such will happen.  Thinking about it, it was miraculous in and of itself that I had received the preparation necessary to at least introduce myself, explain my situation and share a simple testimony of the things that are so deeply rooted in me.  It's a start.  And what's better is that I know that as I put my faith in God, Spanish will come and I will eventually be able to speak my mind perfectly, and with the guidance of the Holy Ghost, I'll be able to come up with the words that the truth deserves.

Essentially, this experience just led back to a topic that I've thought about more and more frequently- that Heavenly Father ALWAYS fulfills His promises that He makes with His children.  I've been gaining a stronger testimony of this fact, and as a missionary, having a testimony of God being beyond dependable on every aspect of His being seems like it'd be very important.  I might even say essential.  There are so many promises made to missionaries, from blessings for sacrifice to success in the work to receiving direction in all matters from the Holy Ghost, and it seems like if you don't have faith in any of those promises, you really don't have the right mindset or motivation for serving.  In my most recent reading of the Book of Mormon, I was able to see the promises of the Lord fulfilled and phrases such as "...according to his word..." really stuck out to me.  In addition, reading in the Old Testament about the promises that God makes with His servants and in the deliverance of the Hebrew people from the land of Egypt, it's extremely clear that God does follow through, every single time.  That's just one of the many aspects that makes Him whole and perfect.
 
Along with that, though, comes the necessity of patience in waiting for fulfillment of His promises and realizing that waiting is only for your benefit.  I believe that one of the most common reasons of individuals falling away from truth is from demanding on gratification on a personal time scale, not on God's time scale.  This all ties in to the fact that a lot of people either don't realize or don't want to face the fact that suffering in all sorts of trial and affliction is not from any sort of apathy from God, but actually stems from His love for us and for His desire for us to learn and grow.  It might seem counterintuitive that such a loving God would let His children suffer, but after some deeper thinking, it all kind of fits together.  Can an athlete honestly build muscle and become better without suffering the pain of a rigorous workout?  Or if a parent were able to shield a child from every pain or negative experience, would that child be able to survive even a minute in the real work?  We don't always understand the pain in the moment, and often times it doesn't become any clearer after the fact.  What's important to understand is that God transcends all understanding at times, and that in the end His whole purpose is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39)  He doesn't put anything in our path that's not to help us get back to Him.

I've found that as I've had learned to trust in Him and in His greater planning abilities and have had faith in the promises He makes, I've been able to develop an attitude that helps me to get through all the challenges that have come up in my life and help me to come out on top.  I am not at all suggesting that I know how to handle things perfectly.  I still lose this eternal perspective from time to time and get caught up in the moment and mess up.  But I get back up after I fall and I keep trying.  I'll share an ongoing story that kind of ties things together nicely.

As I went about the school year, I had planned to just come home over the summer, get a job easily (I had stuff planned out and back ups for that plan and back ups for the back up and so on and so forth) and then just work my booty to be able to pay for the opportunity to serve a mission.  Well things didn't work out that smoothly- I sent out probably like fifteen emails to people from church asking about work opportunities, I probably turned in twenty plus applications, I even had three interviews, but I went for well over a month without a single job offer.  In the meantime, I had the opportunity to go through the temple, and in the Celestial Room, the room where you really do feel closer to God, I expressed in prayer my pains and frustrations in not being able to find a job.  I then got an impression, certainly through the Holy Ghost, that I was indeed going to get a job and that things would work out well because of the righteous desires of my heart (to save up all of the money made on the job for a mission).  I trusted in that promise and continued in my efforts of finding a job.  It wasn't until the beginning of June that I actually got my job at Domino's.  So why did it take so long?  I'm not entirely sure, but I think during my search for a job I learned a lot about how to self discipline myself on nearly a month and a half of completely unstructured days, I learned a lot of valuable skills pertaining to job hunting and I was able to get some good language and Gospel studying in.  I'm sure I'll continue to see the fruits that came out of that period of time as I keep living life.  On top of that, when tips aren't the best and my schedule isn't what I'd prefer, Heavenly Father lets me know that it'll get better.  And on top of that, I've been blessed to help out with a project at the house of my friends that has brought me up to working about fifty hours a week, and so I've been able to make enough money to get me where I need to be.  And just the whole timing of things has worked out perfectly in that my stinky work schedule allowed me to put in a lot of time into this other project right when it needed it, and now that the rush is over for that project, I really like my work schedule for Domino's.  I could just keep on going with all the little tender mercies, but I feel like I've blabbered on for far too long now...

In the end it all just works out too nicely to be just coincidence.  God has a plan and and makes promises all along the way.  He fulfills our righteous desires in His own ways, often times requiring patience on out part and understanding the fact that His means of doing things are often not understandable in the moment.  I know that serving a mission isn't going to be a pain free, super easy experience.  It's going to be almost a constant struggle, but I've learned that just being consistent with the little things- prayer, scripture study, etc.- with faith and understanding that God's promises will be fulfilled, things work out just as their supposed to.  From being able to speak from the pulpit in Spanish to gaining eternal life, it's all possible because God loves us and is providing the best for us.  I know that to be true.  So keep on chugging along!

"For I will fulfill my promises which I have made unto the children of men, that I will do unto them while they are in the flesh-"  2 Nephi 10:17