Hello family!! I probably had one of the most emotionally intense weeks of my entire mission this week (if not the most emotionally intense), but that's not a bad thing! In fact, it's a great thing! And I'm excited to write about what I learned this week.
SO a little background is necessary. I've been talking a little bit about the nature of humility and the importance of not beating yourself up in these past letters, but I wasn't practicing it very well. In fact, I was really stuck. I remember thinking about all my weaknesses individually and how I try so flipping hard to overcome them one at a time but I just never manage to do it, and my hope kind of failed. I wondered if the rest of my life would be a cycle of beating myself up and not going forward. But awesome letters from my family (especially a life changing letter from my elder sister) and Moroni 7 and Ether 12 helped me realize that I was totally backwards. And have been totally backwards for a long time.
The lesson I learned has to do with charity! Charity, love, and selflessness. And Ether 12:27. And how they're related. In John we learn that he who seeketh his life shall lose it, but he who loseth his life for Christ's sake shall find it. Around there. I've always known the meaning of this scripture, but I think I've always felt a little iffy about it. We pray to find out how we can improve, and we're here to improve, we're told all our lives that we need to keep progressing, yet we can't actually think about ourselves at all! I don't think I understood how that worked out, so I ignored it! But I learned in my study that when we have true faith, that naturally leads to true hope, which naturally leads to having true charity, which is another word for having a perfect love, for God and for all men. It's a natural progression. When our faith is sincere, we develop a love for God and for all mankind naturally. And if we continue on this selfless path and do things out of love for God and for all men, Ether 12:27 promises us that God will show unto us our weaknesses and that if we're humble God will make weak things become strong unto us. So, in the end, we don't have to worry about ourselves at all. When we seek to serve God and serve others and forget ourselves, our weaknesses naturally become strengths. 1 Corinthians 13 also teaches us that charity is the key to everything ever, but you'll have to ask Chelise more about that one.
Sadly the time is running out, and that doesn't describe half the things I learned this week, but it's the main principle! And it changed everything for me in a moment. I realized that I've been being prepared for weeks to learn this principle this week.
Real quick! Changes came, I'm going to a place called Pichidegua with a newer gringo called Elder Peterson. I won't be district leader anymore, and I'm honestly not sure why, but I know that the changes are God's will and that God has another assignment that he wants me to accomplish right now. And I'll fulfill that assignment with all my heart! Saying goodbye was heartwrenching this weekend, and I'll probably have to tell you more about it next week. There are a lot of amazing people in Hospital, and being here has changed me forever.
I love you all! Have a great week!
Love
Elder Fox
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