Week 8: One Transfer Down!

Oh my goodness! I can't believe I've already been out for a whole transfer! In case you didn't know, a transfer is 6 weeks and after each 6 week period is when you may or may not move to a new area or get a new companion. I am staying in Hanover with Sis. Turley! I'm really sad, because this is her last transfer before she goes home. :( But it's gonna be an awesome transfer!

So cool thing. On Tuesday we had some time before an appointment so we decided to go street contacting for a bit. We didn't have much success so we went back to the car. There were some construction workers in the parking lot and one of them called out to us, "Hey do you have any extra Bibles?" Sis. Turley said, "We have the Book of Mormon!" "The Mormon Bible?" "Yes!" "That'll work! Can I have one of those?" How cool is that? This guy's name is John and he said that he's read the Book of Mormon before and he really liked it. We're gonna try and find him this week so we can teach him more about the Book of Mormon!

Wednesday was Zone Conference! All of the missionaries in Vermont and northern New Hampshire were there and it was at the JSM. This Zone Conference we had Elder Larry Wilson of the Seventy and his wife there. They taught us about the Book of Mormon and how we need to use it more in finding and teaching. The Book of Mormon is so important. It is the keystone of our religion, because it is a witness of Christ, it has the fullness of Christ's gospel, and it is the foundation of our testimony. Elder and Sister Wilson talked about how we as missionaries need to read the Book of Mormon more with those that we teach, so that they can understand it and apply it to themselves. They also said that the more pages of the Book of Mormon you read with the people you teach, the more successful you will be as a missionary. Sis. Turley and I are definitely going to use the Book of Mormon a lot more! 

Another cool thing from Zone Conference was Sis. Wilson showed us that 1 Nephi 1 has all of the points we teach in the Restoration lesson. This chapter is also really similar to Joseph Smith and The First Vision. So when you read 1 Nephi 1, look for the similarities it has to the Restoration and First Vision! 

On Friday we went and visited a less active family. Normally lessons don't go well there, because the 4 boys (all under age 9) are all really rowdy and it feels like no one pays any attention. But we decided to have a quick visit and show them a Mormon Message. We got there and just the mom was there, so we talked to her for a bit. Then it took a while to pull up the Mormon Message on their iPad, and right after it started, two of the boys and the dad came home. Sis. Turley and I were so worried that the lesson would be ruined and the spirit would go away! But the boys came in, and they huddled around the iPad and watched the Mormon Message! And they were quiet! And then one of the boys was in the other room when we started to say the prayer, and when he came back in he joined us in the prayer and was quiet! Huge miracle for this family! Normally it takes them like 5 minutes to settle down before we can say a prayer. So we will be showing more Mormon Messages to this family! The one we showed the was Wrong Roads (http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2714780496001) and it's super good and all of you should watch it!

This week in my Book of Mormon study I was in the book of Jacob, which is like my favorite book! I especially love chapters 5 and 7. Chapter 5 is the parable of the vineyard and it's so good! The master of the vineyard is Heavenly Father and the parable tells how he works hard to help his plants grow. The plants are each of Heavenly Father's children, so us. And my favorite verse is 47 which says, "But what could I have done more for my vineyard? Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth nigh. And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard, and cast them into the fire that they should be burned. Who is it that has corrupted my vineyard?" I love this verse and this chapter, because it shows how much Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us, His children. His hand is constantly stretched out to us and He is doing all He can to love and care for all of us. I know that He is our Heavenly Father, we are His children and He loves us with an infinite love. 

Chapter 7 is about this guy, Sherem, who is an anti-Christ. Sherem tried really hard to lead people away from the gospel and he even tried to lead Jacob, the prophet, away. Then Jacob talks to Sherem about Christ and the scriptures and this is what he said.

8 But behold, the Lord God poured in his Spirit into my soul, insomuch that I did confound him in all his words. 9 And I said unto him: Deniest thou the Christ who shall come? And he said: If there should be a Christ, I would not deny him; but I know that there is no Christ, neither has been, nor ever will be. 10 And I said unto him: Believest thou the scriptures? And he said, Yea. 11 And I said unto him: Then ye do not understand them; for they truly testify of Christ. Behold, I say unto you that none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ. 12 And this is not all—it has been made manifest unto me, for I have heard and seen; and it also has been made manifest unto me by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, I know if there should be no atonement made all mankind must be lost.

This is the scripture that helped me to know that the Book of Mormon is true. I think I was like 12 or 13 when I first read this. Growing up in the church I heard everyone say that Christ lives and that the Book of Mormon was true, but I didn't know it for myself. And when I read these verses it hit me so hard. I knew that the reason I didn't have that knowledge for myself was because I didn't understand the scriptures and I didn't read and pray about them. But I have read the Book of Mormon many times. I have prayed about it and I know that it is true. It truly is another witness of Jesus Christ. This book is so powerful and life changing! Please read and study it everyday! I know that it will bless your life so much and you will be so much happier because of it! 

Oh super cool thing! For those of you that don't know, Jessica Craig (my best friend from high school) was called to this mission and she is on an airplane right now flying out to New Hampshire! I don't know when I'll get to see her but I'm so excited that she's coming to the greatest mission on earth! Hopefully we'll get to be companions at some point!

So a member gave us two big bags of potatoes and we don't want them to go to waste, so Sis. Turley and I are eating potatoes like almost every meal! Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, hash browns, fries, you name it! I never ate this many potatoes when I lived in Idaho haha!

Well that's it for this week! Thank you for all the emails! Love you all!

Love, Sister Harper

Week 5: One Month Down!

Hello everybody!

Hope everyone had a great week and is enjoying their holiday weekend! 

So this week was really crazy but it was so great!

Monday: We went to the Holy KFC for lunch. So the Holy KFC is is Lebanon, NH and it's location is where Joseph Smith had his leg surgery when he was little. So that's pretty neat! Then we drove down to Manchester for New Missionary Training. I got to see all of the sisters from the MTC and that was so much fun!

Tuesday: New Missionary Training. Most of the things they taught us were things that Sis. Turley had already trained me on. Way to go, Sis. Turley! Sis. Stoker (mission president's wife) gave a really great talk and talked about Abinidi. So Abinidi was a missionary and he preached the gospel to King Noah's court. No one listened and his investigators killed him! But Alma listened. And it says in the scriptures that Alma shared the gospel with 450 people. And then his son Alma the younger was a great missionary and brought even more people to the gospel. I really love this story, because a lot of times we may feel like Abinidi, that no one cares and no one is listening. But we really don't know the effect we have on others. Because of Abinidi, thousands of people were converted! It's truly amazing the effect that one person can have. 

Wednesday: Zone Interviews. We went to Plymouth, NH for meetings with our Zone and then for interviews with Pres. Stoker. Pres. Stoker is so great and I love having interviews with him! Then in zone meeting we talked about Christ-like attributes and obedience. It was such a good meeting! Then we went on exchanges and I was with Sis. Jensen. Exchanges are when we switch companionships for a day. 

Thursday: Exchanges. Sis. Jensen is awesome! I learned so much from her! During our companion study we read this talk (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/teaching-with-the-power-and-authority-of-god? lang=eng&query=teaching+with+the+power+and+authority+of+God) and it was super good and you all should read it! That morning we went and taught a less active about the priesthood and encouraged her to get her patriarchal blessing. Then we went to the Haven and that was awesome! Sis. Jensen loved the Haven! Then we went and taught a recent convert. She's going through a hard time right now, so we listened and did the best we could to comfort her. Then we exchanged back and Sis. Turley and I went to dinner at a member's house. For dessert we had vanilla ice cream with pure maple syrup! It was so good! I kinda felt like Buddy the Elf and how he puts syrup on everything! That's kinda how New Englanders are. They put syrup on almost everything!

Friday: Planning Day. So on Fridays we take about 4 hours or so to plan for the next week. We plan our schedule, plan lessons, set goals. It sounds really long and really boring but it's super helpful and we have a lot of fun during our planning sessions! Then we went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch with a recent convert and that was yummy! 

Saturday: I hit my one month mark! It's so weird to think that I've been on my mission for a month! It feels like I went into the MTC yesterday and also that I've been here forever! On Saturday we tried to contact some less actives, but we only talked to one of them. Everyone else wasn't home. :( But the one we talked to said he was "all set" and that's the New England was of saying, "Go away, missionaries!" Super annoying! But then we went to see a referral we got a couple weeks ago. Her name is Brandy and she's a media referral, which means that she went onto mormon.org and requested a visit from the missionaries. We called her a bunch and stopped by her place a couple times after we got her information, but she didn't answer and was never home. But then we on Thursday we stopped by her house and she was outside with her kids! She said that we could come back on Saturday so that is what we did. And when we saw her she was outside with her kids again! We were hoping to get to know her more and to teach her, but she wasn't feeling too well, so we left her with The Book of Mormon and said we'd come back another day. And then as we were leaving we turned around and saw that she was reading The Book of Mormon! I'm so excited to go back and teach her! 

Sunday: I love Sundays! We had church in the morning and that was really good. Then we went to a member's house for lunch and we had lobster! I mean lobstah haha! That was mine and Sis. Turley's first time having lobster. I'll be honest, it's not my favorite seafood, but it was still really good! Then we went to institute, and it's kinda like seminary, but for the college age kids. There's a couple that lives on Dartmouth campus and they have institute at their house every Sunday night. We watched a talk by Elder Bednar called "That Thou Might Not Shrink." It was so good! He talked about how even though life can be really difficult and frustrating at times, Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. It may not be what we had in mind, but it is what's best for us. He's our Father and He knows us personally. And He will be there to lead and guide us along the way. Here's the link if you would like to read it. https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/ces-devotionals/2013/01/that-we-might-not-shrink-d-c-19-18?lang=eng

Monday (today): We went the Dartmouth to do emails there, but the library was closed, so now we're at the church doing emails in the family history center. While we were at Dartmouth we went into this really cute store and while we were looking around, we heard the song "As Sisters in Zion" start playing. It was a medley so it also had "We'll Bring the World His Truth" in it. Sis. Turley and I looked at each other and were like oh my gosh this is so cool! Then Sis. Turley asked the lady that worked there about the music and she said that she heard it and really liked it, so she put it on the playlist to play at work. We started talking and she didn't seem super interested, but she said that we could come back. And she said that she knew the Grampp's in our ward (the same couple who does institute) so that's awesome! So we're definitely going to see her again, but that was such a blessing to be able to talk to her! 

So here's an analogy that I heard this week that I thought was really cool. Heavenly Father has all of these blessings that He wants to give us and these blessings are like the gumballs in a gumball machine. He's not going to give us all of them at once. We have to do a little bit of work before we can receive the promised blessing. Like we have to pay tithing to receive those blessings. We have to put the quarter in, and turn the handle and then Heavenly Father gives us the blessings. Anyways, I thought that was a really cool analogy.

Okay here are a couple more New England quirks. People here have front doors but they never use them. They have a door in the back or the side of the house that they use. I thought that was super weird. And everyone says wicked all the time! Like that was wicked good haha! 

Oh so cool thing! This next Friday (12th) we're going to the Boston Temple! A lady that Sis. Turley taught in her last area is going to the temple for her endowments and we get to go with her! I'm so excited! So Friday the 12th will be our Pday next week. If we have time to email, you'll get an email from me on Friday, not Monday of next week. But then it'll be back to normal the next Monday, so in 2 weeks. 

Well I think that's about it for this week! Hope you're all doing great! Love you all!

Love, Sister Harper

Week 4: When Life Gets You Down, Just Eat a Fluffernutter!

Hello everyone!

               

Hope you're all doing well! So one thing from the MTC that I forgot to tell you is that Sister Dastrup and I were Sister Training Leaders. It's basically like being a Zone Leader and helping out your district and the new districts that come in a week after you. So yeah that was fun. 

This week was pretty good at the beginning and then kinda crummy but then really good again! We had Panera for lunch last Monday and Panera is seriously so good! Then Tuesday we taught a less active couple about tithing. The wife didn't want to pay, because she didn't think she had enough faith to pay. But we talked about how we have to exercise our faith and then The Lord will bless us. So now they're on board with paying tithing! We also taught one of our recent converts, Maria. She is just the cutest ever! We talked about having faith and enduring with patience. We showed her this Mormon Message (http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=911104781001). It's so cute and you all should watch it!

Wednesday and Thursday we did service at the Haven (the food shelf) and that was super fun! On Thursday we went tracting in Hanover by Dartmouth and it was raining so that wasn't super fun, but I gave away my first Book of Momon! I was so excited! We gave it to this cute little Asian family and they said they would read it. We hope they'll call us soon with questions, but we're gonna go back in a couple weeks and check up on them!

Then Thursday-Saturday pretty much all of our appointments cancelled on us. And one of our potential investigators dumped us! She texted a few hours before we were going to meet with her and she said that she didn't want to meet with us and didn't want to be Mormon anymore. So heartbreaking! She doesn't even know what she's missing out on! The past couple days have been so frustrating! Satan is working so hard on the people in our area and I don't like it! But Sis. Turley and I are determined to find new investigators this week! We can do it!

So yesterday I had an amazing personal study! It helped me so much, especially after a couple discouraging days. I just turned to where I had left off the day before in The Book of Mormon and started reading. I read in 3 Nephi 21-22. Chapter 21 talks about the Restoration and Joseph Smith. And then I read verse 10 and it spoke to me to strongly! Its says, "But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil." Wow! Heavenly Father looks out for his missionaries so much! I love the part about His wisdom being great than Satan's. Like I said, Satan has been working hard on this area, but Heavenly Father has a much greater plan for us. 

Then I read chapter 22:4 which says, "Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame..." So powerful! And then verse 7 says, "For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee." And verses 10-11 say, "For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted! Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay the foundations with sapphires." These scriptures were exactly what I needed! It helped me so much and has lifted my spirits! Yes missionary work is super hard! But it's so rewarding! And yes Sis. Turley and I are serving in a difficult area, but I know that Heavenly Father will help us in finding those that are ready for the gospel.

So New England has a really weird accent. They add r's to words that don't need them (arear, idear, Utahr, Almer=Alma) and they drop r's from words that need them (cah=car, Concud=Concord). So in my very first lesson last week the lady was asking me my name and I said Sis. Harper, and she said, "Oh Sis. Hahpuh!" So yeah that's fun. And then everyone says "all set" all the time. Instead of saying I'm good, they say I'm all set. And I started saying all set like day 2 in the mission! Crazy! Also New England has this great sandwich called a Fluffernutter. It's peanut butter and marshmallow fluff and it's oh so good! And if you want to make it even better, you do peanut butter, fluff, and nutella! (I mean nuteller haha!) Oh my lanta! So good!

Well that's about it for this week! I hope all of you are doing well and loving life! Good luck to everyone going back to school! Watch the Mormon Message and read 3 Nephi! It's awesome! I love you all!

Love, Sister Harper

Week 1: The MTC (otherwise known as the new Disneyland)

Hello everyone!

Wow! Where to even begin? First of I love the MTC so much! Everyone is so nice and helpful and it's just so great! Whoever said that Disneyland was the happiest place on Earth lied. It's really the MTC! I don't think I've ever smiled as much as I do here. There is such an amazing spirit here and it totally changes you. I love being a missionary!

Ok so I'll tell you a little about my district. They're the ones we spend all day everyday with in the classroom. First is my amazing companion, Sis. Dastrup. She's from Provo and she's also going to NH-MAN. She is just so amazing! We compliment each other so well! Heavenly Father knew what He was doing when He put us together. I learn so much from her everyday. The other sisters in our district are also going to NH-MAN. They are Sis. Eddington (from Broken Arrow, OK) and Sis. Tucker (from Snowflake, AZ). We have four Elders in our district and they are Elder Craig (from Gilbert, AZ), Elder Taylor (from British Columbia, Canada), Elder King (from Murray, UT) and Elder O'Brien (from Alberta, Canada). I'm so sad, because the Elders are all going to the Canada Halifax Mission, so I won't see them after the MTC. :(  But I love my district so much! We have some amazing discussions in class, and we are super close! It's such a blessings to have a district that gets along so well, and I'm so grateful for them and the amazing examples they are to me!

At the MTC I thought that I would be learning how to be a better teacher and teaching techniques, but that is not why we're here. As a missionary, my 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." Right from the very first day at the MTC we learned that our purpose it to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them. Everyone has specific needs that need to be met, and everyone needs to hear the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. But it's up to us as missionaries to find that need and tailor the lessons to fit their personal needs.

Here we do lots of role playing to practice teaching. Right now Sis. Dastrup and I are teaching Paul (he's really our teacher, Bro. Barton, but he takes on the role of Paul (someone he met on his mission, as we teach him. Hope that makes sense!). We first visited with Paul on Thursday to get to know him and we taught our first lesson on Friday. We felt strongly to teach him the message of The Restoration (the first discussion) and it went really well. Then yesterday we taught him and we had a "member" present (just another on of the teachers, Bro. Christensen). Bro. Christensen asked so many great questions to figure out exactly what Paul needs. Sis. Dastrup and I planned on teaching The Gospel of Jesus Christ. But as we asked him more questions we found that he's trying to quit smoking and the message he really needed to hear was the Atonement. We testified that Christ can help us with whatever we're going through and He wants us to ask Him for help. The spirit was so strong and it was such an amazing lesson! That's the tricky part about missionary work is finding that need and then letting the spirit be the teacher.

Sis. Dastrup and I have another investigator at the TRC (teaching resource center). Her name is Devon and we tried to get to know her last night to figure out what message she needed to hear. Only problem is Sis. Dastrup and I forgot to pray as a companionship before the lesson and we forgot to say an opening prayer! So we didn't have the spirit at all with us in the lesson and it was not good. We just lectured rather than taught. Bro. Christensen told us earlier yesterday that if we keep asking the investigator questions, they will tell us what they need to be taught. It's so true! And the spirit is the one who helps so much with that! So we learned a valuable lesson last night that 1) pray always! You'd think we'd remember since we say like 20 prayers every day! D&C 42:14 says, "And the spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the spirit ye shall not teach." 2) Don't just find someting you think you can teach and run with it. If you plow right through a lesson, all you do is push the investigator to the side. As missionaries we are called to be representatives of Christ and to be their friend. But we have to rely on the spirit when we teach. 

We had an amazing devotional on Sunday night from Pres. and Sis. Worthen (the new BYU president and his wife). Pres. Worthen talked about being a missionary with power and authority. We get our authority because we are called of God, and we get power when we keep our covenants, are faithful, and obedient. Heavenly Father did not call us to be successful and he will not let us fail. As long as we are faithful and obedient we will be blessed. 

Another great thing we've done as a district is read from The Book of Mormon together. One of the fundamentals of teaching is being able to receive revelation from The Book of Mormon. We started at the very beginning (a very good place to start!) and read as a district. I have learned so much from the few chapters that we have read. It's amazing the things you can learn when you really "feast upon the words of Christ" (2 Nephi 32:3). I challenge all of you to apply this to your study of the scriptures, especially The Book of Mormon. Take time to really ponder the things you read and apply them to your own life (1 Nephi 19:23). I can promise you that there is a certain spirit you will feel when you study The Book of Mormon. It is life changing and it's the greatest feeling ever!

This afternoon we have the opportunity to go to the Provo temple, and Elder Taylor is receiving his endowments! (I don't think there's a temple close to him in Canada, so he's going here!) Our district is so excited to be there with him! I love going to the temple! Please go to the temple as often as you can. It will bless your life so much!

Ok well sorry for writing like the great American novel, but the MTC is just so amazing! I have learned so much and I wish I could tell you everything! I love all of you and pray for you every day! I feel so blessed to be here. I love being a missionary! This is The Lord's work and it is the greatest work there is. I love you and hope you have an amazing week!

Love, Sister Harper

Farewell Talk

In ancient times, Heavenly Father commanded his covenant people to offer sacrifices. This was to symbolize the sacrifice of the Savior and showed their faith and devotion to God. The Savior’s Atonement, which was an infinite and eternal sacrifice, was the end to all animal sacrifice. Christ introduced the new sacrifice when he visited the Nephites after His resurrection. 3 Nephi 9:19-20 says, “19 And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings. 20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.” It may sound very simple to come unto Christ with a broken heart and a contrite spirit and live the gospel. But we, as members of the church, know that this is sometimes easier said than done. It can be challenging to live the gospel, but that’s why it’s a sacrifice. It’s not supposed to be easy. But because of the Savior’s sacrifice, we have the opportunity to gain eternal life and exaltation. This is obtained through our faithfulness and obedience in living the gospel. And I can promise you that the blessings of eternal life and exaltation are definitely worth the hard work that we put forth in this life.

To have a broken heart and a contrite spirit means to be humble and receptive to the will of God and His counsel. To do this we must sacrifice our pride, our wants and our desires. The greatest example of this kind of sacrifice is of our Savior. Christ had the power to save himself from suffering during the Atonement. He even asked His Father in Heaven to make it stop. In Luke 22:42 he said, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me.” But Christ knew what Heavenly Father’s plan was for him, and for all of us. He knew that without His Atoning sacrifice, none of us could attain eternal life and exaltation. And then Christ said, “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” Christ showed us that the will of God is always greater than our will. It may be difficult or not what we wanted to do. But He is our Eternal Father, and He knows what is best for all of us. We just need to trust in His plan and follow with faith and obedience.

I decided to serve a mission when the mission age was lowered. My testimony grew very weak in the months leading up to General Conference. I was also trying to make big life decisions, like where to go to college, what to major in, and what to do with my life. I tried figuring this out all on my own, but I was unsuccessful. After a few months of my failed efforts I realized that I couldn’t do it without Heavenly Father’s help and I had to trust in His plan. I decided that I needed to humble myself and ask Him for help. I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help me. I said that I would do whatever He needed me to do, but I needed Him to tell me. My answer was to serve a mission and I knew that it was the right thing to do. 

At that point in my life, I had no desire to serve a mission. I thought why would Heavenly Father ask someone with basically no testimony to go and preach the gospel? I still don’t exactly know why Heavenly Father needs me to serve a mission. I just know that I need to, and that is enough for me. Throughout the past almost two years since the age change, I have gained a strong testimony as I’ve been preparing to serve a mission. But there were a few times during that time where I started to let my fear overpower my faith. I started thinking about how difficult a mission would be, whether or not I would be a good missionary, and all the worldly things I would have to sacrifice when I left. I was most worried that I wasn’t qualified to serve a mission because of my lack of testimony. As I started to doubt, a quote kept running through my head, and it was “God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.” This brought so much peace to me. Anytime I started to doubt I remembered Heavenly Father’s love for me and the things he had blessed me with, especially the answer to my prayer. I thought that the least I could do to show my love for and devotion to Heavenly Father was to do His will and serve a mission. I knew that as long as I was faithful and obedient, Heavenly Father would magnify my efforts and make me an instrument in His hands. Elder Neal A. Maxwell said it perfectly, “God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we prove our dependability, he will increase our capability.” As we sacrifice our time to the building up of the kingdom of God, He will improve our abilities and bestow the blessings of Heaven upon us. I have recognized the Lord’s hand in my life as I have prepared to serve. I have gained a strong testimony, the desire to serve, and a love for the people I will be teaching and serving with. Heavenly Father has blessed my family and me so much and I know that this is only a preview for things to come.

I can’t speak from experience, yet, but I know that serving a mission will be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and that it will also be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “You will come to know that what appears today to be a sacrifice will prove instead to be the greatest investment that you will ever make.” I had the opportunity to spend the day with the sister missionaries this past week. Most of the day was very hard and frustrating. Almost all of the people we visited weren’t home and it we were super hot and tired. But we had an appointment at the end of the day with someone who was very seriously investigating the church. We taught the first missionary discussion, which is The Restoration. This was my first time teaching so I was really nervous. But the Spirit was so strong that night. Our investigator prayed for the very first time to ask Heavenly Father if The Book of Mormon was true. It was such a powerful and heartfelt prayer. I realized that that one lesson made the whole day worth it. We were able to bring someone closer to Christ, and it was such a great feeling. I felt the joy that’s spoken of in D&C 18:15: “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!” I was able to glimpse at how difficult and wonderful missionary work is. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, “I am convinced that missionary work is not easy, because salvation is not a cheap experience.” As missionaries, we sacrifice lots of our time, energy, wants and other worldly things, because The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important thing that there is.

Brothers and sisters, I realize that not all of you have or will serve full-time missions. But there are simple sacrifices that we can make to help build up the kingdom of God, like paying tithing, serving in callings, going to the temple, etc. When I was younger, all of these things seemed like big sacrifices. President Spencer W. Kimball said, “As we give, we find that ‘sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven.’ And in the end we learn it was no sacrifice at all.” As I’ve done these things over the past few years, I have learned to find joy in them. And as President Kimball said, they don’t feel like sacrifices anymore, because I know that what I’m doing is for a greater purpose. I know that as we make sacrifices towards building up the kingdom of God, our efforts will be magnified and they will truly bring forth the blessings of Heaven.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

This last semester at BYU I took a New Testament class that was focused on the four gospels. We learned a lot about the life of the Savior and his teachings. Romans 1:16 defines the gospel as “the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” The gospel of Jesus Christ in its simplest form, I believe, is what we need to do and how we need to act so we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and gain eternal life.

My purpose as a missionary will be 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.” These principles and ordinances are the foundation of the gospel. Everything builds upon these things to help bless our lives and achieve perfection. Going to the temple and partaking of the ordinances and blessings there is required for exaltation. But to go to the temple we must first have been baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. And in order to get baptized we must have faith and repent of all our sins. Everything builds on our faith and it is up to us to endure to the end.

            During Christ’s mortal ministry, he showed us the way of how to live the gospel, both in word and deed. He was baptized, he had faith in Heavenly Father’s plan, and he endured to the end while accomplishing the Atonement. Christ served others, was merciful, compassionate, and humble. We need to follow His example and continue in faithfulness so that we can receive all of the blessings our Heavenly Father has in store for us.

            Exaltation is possible through obedience and faithfully living the gospel. Living the gospel is simple, but it is not always easy. I know that Heavenly Father will grant unto us a portion of His power so that we can be successful as we exercise our faith. Faith is truly powerful and it can lead us to eternal life and exaltation. 

He Lives

Today in class we talked about the crucifixion and of Christ. Christ suffered many hours on the cross, and he was hung next to two thieves. As Christ hung there, many people mocked him saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he be the Christ, the chosen of God” (Luke 23:35). One of the thieves also railed on him and said, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us” (Luke 23:39). This is similar to earlier in Christ’s life where Satan tempted him and told him to prove that he was the Son of God by performing a miracle. These people wanted a miracle. The thieves wanted to be saved. But what is an even more impressive miracle is that he stayed on the cross.

Many people say that they are grateful that Christ died for them. This is true and I am also grateful for this. But if Christ had not suffered just a little bit longer the Atonement would not have been complete, infinite, and eternal. I am grateful that Christ chose to live a little bit longer. Because of this He was able to save and redeem all of mankind. He could then be resurrected and live for eternity. And because He lives we all can live too.

Another interesting thing I thought I’d is from one of my missionary friends. She told a story that one of the elders in her mission shared. He said that in his anatomy class he learned that there is a film of a water-like substance around the heart. When the heart ruptures this film runs down the left side of the body. After Christ had died one of the soldiers pierced Christ’s side and blood and water spilled out of his body (John 19:34). Christ’s heart ruptured due to all of his suffering. He is the only one to truly die of a broken heart. He went through so much because he loves us so much.