I opened my mission call on April 29, 2017. I could not be more excited to go serve the people of Argentina and help them discover God's love for them.
For those of you who don't know, I have been assigned to
labor in the Argentina Bahia Blanca Mission. I always get questions about where
this is so let me explain. It is in the center of Argentina, a few hours below
Buenos Aires and it is along the East Coast.
A missionaries purpose is to invite others to come unto
Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel, through faith in Jesus
Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy
Ghost, and enduring to the end.. basically I will just be trying to serve
everyone I can and teach them about our Savior Jesus Christ and his church
I recently had the
experience of meeting Elder Bragg from the first quorum of the 70, whose area
is the South America South region which covers my mission in Argentina. While
he was down here on vacation, he came to our ward and spoke. I was attending
another ward that week so I wasn't able to see him, but my family talked to him
and told him i was going to bahia blanca on my mission. He wanted to meet me,
so a few days later he came to my mission prep class in Costa Mesa. He gave an
amazing lesson that made me so excited to get out and serve. I would like to
share the 3 main things he talked about that will help us become better
missionaries.
The first one is to Study Preach my Gospel every day, and
when you study, study with someone else in mind. Study for the purpose of being
able to teach and help others. As we do this, we will have more love for them
and be able to help them understand concepts better. He then told us about an
experience he had when he was in a meeting with Elder Holland. He asked Elder
Holland what he can do to become a better General Authority. Elder Holland told
him that he needs to study preach my gospel every day. There is so much good
stuff that can be learned and it's not just for full time missionaries.
Everyone can learn and receive blessings from studying it.
The Second one is Love. Not only to love people you teach,
but to also love your companions as well. We will have companions that we don't
always get along with. But we need to try to see them through the eyes of the
Savior.
The last one is Obedience. We need to strive to be exactly
obedient and also make sure our companions are being obedient as well. If we
aren't being obedient we will not have the spirit with us, rendering us as
ineffective missionaries.
He then held up the missionary manual that has all the rules
we are to follow as missionaries. He said "as a missionary you will have
more rules and commandments you have to obey than anyone else on the planet.
But when we keep commandments the Lord promises us blessings. So you guys can
potentially receive more blessings than anyone else if you are obedient”
That was really cool to me and I have already promised
myself to strive to be exactly obedient because I know I will be blessed.
I know if i am not obedient then I won't be able to feel the
spirit. Without the spirit it is really tough to be a missionary. As
Missionaries we don't convert anyone. The spirit is who converts. It is my job
to invite the spirit and be a tool for people to feel the spirit through me. I
have to be an instrument for the spirit, and in order to do so I have to learn,
study, and be obedient so I can be as sharp as a tool as possible.
Today i'd like to speak about how standing in holy places
has prepared me for my mission. I want to share some of the many examples and
experiences that have helped with this.
I have been so blessed to grow up in a home where the gospel
has been really strong. Our faith has always been the first priority in our
household. My parents have always tried to have family scripture and prayer
every single night. Even every family vacation we go on we make the effort to
attend church on Sunday and also visit the nearest temples and do temple work.
My parents taught me to be proud of my beliefs and stick up
for them, especially when at school. Everyone at school knows that I am Mormon.
Probably because of the countless BYU shirts i wear all the time. This has
provided me with the opportunity to answer any questions my friends have about
our church. Throughout my senior year I got tons of questions of what i doing
after high school. And because I had my my mission call I got to respond that i
was serving a 2 year church mission in Argentina. They would then ask me what I
would be doing. I was able explain to them that we are there to serve people
and teach them about Jesus Christ. I loved these missionary opportunities and
it was awesome to see that pretty much everyone I told thought it was really
cool that I was going.
I did not have a zero period my senior year, meaning i
didn't have to start school as early as most people. However i still had early
morning seminary so there was about 2 hours in between seminary and school. I
would use the first hour and a half of that to take a nap and get ready. And
then i would leave for school 30 minutes early and read the scriptures in the
car. I read through the whole Book of Mormon and most of the doctrine and
covenants. Doing this every morning strengthened my testimony of the Book of
Mormon soooo much. It always got my day started off right. Feeling the spirit
from reading helped me against any hardships or trials I had that day. It even
helped my stress over big tests go away.
A few months ago I had the chance to go through the temple
and receive my endowments with my sister Olivia because she was getting married
soon. While talking to the temple president after the endowment session, he
asked if i would be interested in becoming an ordinance worker before I left.
So of course i said yes and later that week i got set apart started working.
Being a temple worker is such an amazing blessing. Everyone working there is
super nice and has so much knowledge to give. (They also bring really good food
to the break room). I have been able to learn so much from them. The whole time
i am there, the spirit is so strong. It's my spiritual springboard to carry me
throughout my week. One of my favorite
things is seeing the patrons that are going through becoming so filled with
joy. I truly look forward to serving in the temple each week.
Mission prep is also a holy place for me throughout my week.
Attending mission prep and making it a priority over anything else on a weekly
basis has made me feel so much more prepared to leave. Brother Andre is my
mission prep teacher and he has so much knowledge and so much love for us. I
never walked out at the end of mission prep without learning something new and
without feeling the spirit. I encourage
all the youth to attend mission prep because it has truly changed me. Without
it I would not nearly feel as prepared to leave.
The most important thing I got out of going to mission prep
is to love. Brother Andre taught us that you can start any lesson in preach my
gospel with God loves us. For example, God loves us so he gave us the book of
mormon, God loves us so he gave us prophets, God loves us so he gave us the
gift of eternal families. Everything in
this Gospel relates back to love and God's love for us. Love is really the only
reason why I'm serving a mission. Love for my Heavenly Father, love for this
church, and love for my fellow brothers and sisters. We need to love and teach
everyone as if they were our brothers and sisters, because they are. Heavenly Father wants all his children to
return back to him and it is my job to share His message with them. I know the
people of Argentina are waiting to hear my message and i have been assigned
there through divine revelation.
John chapter 13 verses 34-35 read.
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one
another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if
ye have love one to another.
It is only when we have love for our fellow men that we are
true disciples of Jesus Christ
I have been looking for a scripture to put on my plaque and
3rd Nephi chapter 5 verse 13 really stuck out to me. It reads….
13 Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might
have everlasting life.
I know that I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I will be
wearing His name on my name tag along with mine. I have been praying to be able
love the people and my future companions and I have already started to feel
it.
I know that I am not 100 percent prepared. But I also know
that no missionary is 100 percent prepared.
I know that people might ask me questions that I don't always have the
answers to. But I will try my best to get them those answers. I know that if I
have faith in the Lord, that he will compensate in the ways I am not prepared.
I also know that being a missionary is not easy. In 2001
Elder Holland gave an amazing talk about the hardships of missionary work. He
says,
Missionaries you will have many occasions to ask, Why is
this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid?
Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in
angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why
isn’t the only risk in the mission field that of pneumonia from being soaking
wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?
You will have occasion to ask those questions. They Are
questions that i've asked. I offer this as my personal feeling, not doctrine
per say just my feeling.
I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because
salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation was never easy. We are The
Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head.
How could we believe how could we think it would be easy for us when it was
never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders
have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission
leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.
Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about
anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and
frankly sacrilegious. But I believe that missionaries and investigators, to
come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that
has been paid, will have to pay a token of that same price. It will only be a
token.
For that reason I don’t believe missionary work has ever
been easy, nor that conversion is, nor that retention is, nor that continued
faithfulness is. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something
from the depths of our soul.
If He could come forward in the night, kneel down, fall on
His face, bleed from every pore, and cry, “Abba, Father (Papa), remove this cup
from me,” then little wonder that salvation is not a whimsical or easy thing
for us. If you wonder if there isn’t an easier way, you should remember you are
not the first one to ask that. Someone a lot greater and a lot better asked it
a long time ago if there wasn’t a less excruciating way.
The Atonement will carry the missionaries perhaps even more
importantly than it will carry the investigators. When you struggle, when you
are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword,
you are standing shoulder to shoulder with the best life this world has ever
known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall
and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your
sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on
to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the
Life
Give Testimony…..
Ideas
I know that we have a
Literal father in heaven who loves us wants us to return back to him.
He sent his son Jesus Christ to set up the church while on
the earth and die and atone for our sins
I have a firm testimony of prayer. And that if we ever have
questions or need help or need comfort we can always talk to our Heavenly
Father. Tell him your concerns and fears and wishes because he wants to help.
He is on our side!
I know that whenever the church is lost on the earth,
Heavenly Father always brings it back. And he did that yet again with the
Prophet Joseph Smith.
Because I know Joseph smith is a true prophet I know the
Book of Mormon is true as well. Every time I read it it makes my day that much
better. Reading this book affects my day in every aspect. It makes my thoughts
more virtuous. It makes my actions kinder. it strengthens my relationship with
my friends and my family. And most importantly it strengthens my relationship
with my Heavenly Father.
I know that prophets and apostles are on the earth today and
that Thomas S Monson is a prophet of God. Those of you who witnessed Elder
Holland speak in our stake a few months ago can relate that the spirit that is
felt when those men walk in the room is undeniable..
I know families can be together forever and i am eternally
grateful for my wonderful family and the amazing examples they have been for me
and for all the love and support they have shown me. I know i will miss them so
much but I also know that the Lord has called me at the time to love and serve
the people of Argentina.
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