I have an hour left--actually, 45 minutes left of preparation day. I
thought I would just wait until the last moment to write a briefly--and poorly,
mind you--written e-mail to the group. Again, I'm not sure how many people read
these things. It also would probably help if I was consistent in sending these
to the same people every week, but due to my hastiness, I have often forgotten
to add anyone aside from my parents and grandpa to the receivers. Please don't
be offended. I hope that this e-mail can help me summarize a bit of why I am
grateful for my mission as the curtains approach a close on the stage. And
actually, I want to take a bit more time, so it won't be as poorly written as
anticipated.
Before I start, however, I am thrilled to report that Tony was baptized on
the 19th of June! All went well with the confirmation on the following day. It
was phenomenal to be able to conclude my mission with a convert baptism. He has
made such great progress, and his conversion has shown me how a true convert to
the church acts and thinks. I've been incredibly impressed, and have felt
tremendously blessed, by his willingness to keep the commandments and make
changes to his life in order to live as God would have it.
I've applied principles of goal-setting and diligence in the past three
transfers more than I ever have on my mission, and we've seen the fruits of it.
The zone conference we had this past week actually centered on proper
goal-setting and planning, and there are plenty of important, new principles I
have felt I've learned in preparation.
One thing I thought about was what a goal is, and to explain the importance
and potential of goals, I would ask a question to you:
Why do we pray?
God knows what we want, what we need, and he knows it regardless of whether
or not we think or say the words. He knows us perfectly, including our desires,
character, past, future, and present situations. It is not as though he will
learn anything new at all as a result of seeing us pray. That cannot be the
reason why we pray, if at least we believe in a God who truly is omnipotent and
omniscient, as we involve God with our prayers.
The reason why we pray--and this will be clear to you--is so that we can
grow in faith and humility. God has blessings ready for us, but he will wait to
give them to us until we, often times, ask for them. When we request things
from God, and acknowledge our dependence on Him, as well as love, by praying, He
is often more than willing to grant us what we desire as long as it is righteous
and remains within His will for us.
Well, replace the words 'pray' and 'prayer' above with 'set goals' and
'goals' respectively, and you will see that they fit in nearly the exact same
way. As we set inspired goals and make inspired plans with God,
as guided through the Holy Ghost, we acknowledge equally our dependence on
His mercy and love, as well as His power. Setting goals ultimately shows that we
do have faith, but only if done within the borders of God's will for us. Setting
goals in contradiction or opposition to God's plan for us shows the opposite.
Prayer
stems from a Latin word that doubly means 'prayer' and 'request', and our goals
can indeed be requests as we present them to God and obtain His
approval.
"Well, Elder Wallentine, I hope you didn't just waste your time typing
this! I, you know, am no missionary. What can I learn from this if I'm not
actively doing God's work in an assigned field?"
I don't think I did waste my time typing this! The fact of the matter is
that we have been assigned by God. We are to labor where we stand,
and exert our labors on the earth. That, cheesy as it potentially may
sound, is our calling, and it doesn't only even apply to the church. In our
families, studies, work, and other righteous endeavors, do we not think and feel
that God actively cheers us on? Do we not feel that He is wanting our success,
or wanting our pursuit of that which we currently seek to obtain or improve? If
not, we may have to concentrate a bit more on His character, and if we still
can't feel that, we might want to then change what we are doing so it is in
accordance to His will.
I promise you that as you seek to align everything in your life with
God's will, your effectiveness will increase in ways you yourself cannot
increase it. I promise you than your efforts will be consecrated to your
benefit, as well as the benefit of your families and communities. On top of it
all, your faith will be strengthened as you see the great hand of God work in
your life.
This is one of the principles I've learned on my mission that I will apply
as I return.
Here's the other key:
The Atonement of Jesus Christ is infinite in its expanse and capability
to heal. We can all help others to access it regardless of our history or the
history of the helped.
People who have been in dark places in their lives may feel that there is
nobody else that can help them. Perhaps they feel they are entirely alone, and
that anybody who tries to help them does not understand what they know or have
experienced.
It should first be noted that we should seldom act as though we do
know what those people experience who are in the middle of or are recovering
from hard experiences. Even if one mother consults another mother, both of which
are people who have lost a child, the one who is comforting does not know where
the levels of faith or resilience of the other lie. Perhaps it was, though
excruciatingly painful for both at many points, harder in some aspects for one
than with the other.
On the other hand, the goal of the healers and comforters in and out of the
church should be to guide these people to the Ultimate Healer and
companion-comforter, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost respectively. We can relate
better to such if our experiences are similar, but we are not to be their
primary anchors. Rather, it is the Savior. That is why we as missionaries, very
few from the collective worldwide of which have ever smoked or drunk alcohol,
are still able to help those with such problems. We guide people to Christ, as
we ought to, and He is the True Healer. Our main goal should be that. I've
spoken to a few people who say: "You can't expect me to stop. You don't have the
same experience as I have had." That may be true, but that is why my goal has
only been to point people to One who has experienced all of that in a very
personal degree.
I am a firm witness of the fact that Jesus will take our weaknesses upon
Him as we repent and grow in faith. I have absolutely no doubt in any part of
my mind that He has done what He has done. Some think that is mad, but
people must experience His grace personally before being able to come to a full
understanding of His reality and gospel.
I've spent way longer on this than planned. This will be fun for me to read
again in the future. If you bother to, you're welcome to read it all as well. If
you're reading this right now, you probably read it all anyways, hahahaha.
I love you all!
Elder Wallentine
Pictures: You can tell I was stressed out the entire day because of the
MASSIVE vein in my forehead. I'm glad it went well!
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