Monday, June 23, 2014

SERVICE!!!

May 27, 2014

Holy cow, I've never done so much service in one week before. Surprisingly enough, We actually used the machetes that I bought for birthday multiple times for service. They were a God-send this week. We continued building a house, mowing lawns, shoveling mulch weed eating, chopping a burning black berry bushes, moving tables, moving families, and much more. It's cool because most of the service is for the less active members or nonmembers. It helps us get to know the people a little bit more so that they know that we're not just missionary robots. It's been good. Sweating a lot, showering a lot, eating a lot.
We're going to have a burger eating competition with the priests in the ward for mutual this week. It should be good to develop some trust with the Priests. We want to take them out with us as much as we can to go teaching to prep them for their missions. Not very many missionaries have taken them out in the past and they love coming with us. 

There was another night this week that I couldn't fall asleep till like 3 AM so I got up and was reading in my mission journal. I read the whole thing in one go, and that's over 250 pages in the most recent one. As I reflected back I could see the hand of God in my life over the course of my mission. I gave me great confidence in my future and the things that God is preparing me for even now. There were hard times that tore me down and built me up. There was one particular entry that helped me to learn something about relationships and how to resolve conflict. Often times people will voice their concerns and then the two parties will change their behavior to adjust to the needs of the other. But in a lot of cases sometimes merely changing the behavior is not enough. what is truly needed is repentance. it needs to come with a change in heart because of the love of the other person, not just stemming from the desire to keep the peace. When you love the person for who they truly are and desire their progression you can knit your hearts together. It also takes a lot of love not to have your pride to stand in the way of the desire to be right. The more you love them, the more you are willing to take responsibility of yourself, the other person and the space in which you life. Also, a positive and non stressful attitude always helps.

I'm trying to dig deeper in my studies about the nature of God and his attributes and how it all ties together with the Atonement. I'm fascinated.  

I love you guys. I hope you all are doing well

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