The Perfect Missionary

"Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments."

This scripture is from Helaman 10:4. And I absolutely love it. I love it so much because when I read this scripture I think of the kind of missionary I want to be. And how I want to be the best I can possibly be. 

While I am on my mission I hope to preach the gospel with much vigor and excitement. I love going to my mission prep class because I always get so excited to some day preach the gospel of happiness to the people that need it. I also hope that I will teach and not get weary. I hope to convey the message of joy that this gospel is and even on the 18th month of my mission never grow tired of it. I also hope to never grow tired of teaching the same lesson. Because I know each time I teach I will learn something just as the investigators will. 

I hope that even after my mission I will still want to share the gospel with others. I wish that from now on and forever I will not fear the people and what they may think but fear God instead. Instead of fearing people, I hope I can learn to love them and want to make them happy just as I am as I live this gospel.

I hope to forever serve the Lord and have the courage to accept His will, to always listen and obey. 

Don't Worry, Be Happy

We as humans are such sensitive creatures both emotionally and physically. If our internal body temperature drops or rises only a couple of degrees then we cough, ache, throw up, and feel awful. And when somebody says a few words that strum our heart the wrong way then we feel offended. We live in a world of extremes where things are either  right or wrong; where we feel bad or good; happy or sad. In this world of extremes it is important to dwell on the things that make us feel good and let go of the things that don't. If we remember to not get wrapped up in unpleasant feelings and to remain happy then life will be more fulfilling. 

In Alma 60, Moroni writes a letter to Pahoran laying out clearly the hardships his army is having to go through. And then he lays out in a very clear concise way what the government (mainly Pahoran) is doing wrong. Now Moroni had no idea that the government was at that time being overthrown by some awful people. So while Moroni was fighting a physical war Pahoran was fighting a war of power. One of the things Moroni wasn't being provided with was proper supplies such as weapons and food. He blames Pahoran for this without any prior knowledge of what was going on with the government.

Alma 61 is Pahoran's reply to Moroni's letter. And he surprisingly is very calm, and understanding of Moroni. Pahoran understood that there was no way that Moroni could have known what the government was going through. And instead of being offended by having the finger pointed at him, he simply says, "I am not angry..." 

There is a lesson to be learned here. If we are more understanding of each other and understand that everyone is going through some sort of trial then relationships and friendships will bond. And lots of people would get much less offended.