¡Buenas Tardes, todos!
What an interesting week! Working in the office has been a blast, and getting to know the ward and the area has been even more interesting. I gave my first talk in Chile on Sunday, with about 5 minutes of warning. What a blessing to have the Spirit and the gift of tongues! Without a formal assignment, I said a quick prayer and opened to the first scripture that came to mind (my mission scripture, coincidentally, which I hadn´t thought of in at least two months). The spirit bore witness that that was the one I needed to read, along with another scripture referenced underneath, and so I trusted and kept praying while listening to the sister just before me give a short talk. What do you know, the Spirit was right on- and the topic that she talked about led perfectly into what I wanted to read. I still had no clue what to say, but when I stood up to speak words suddenly started to flow into my mind, and I was able to be vessel to a powerful lesson and testimony about the blessings that we can begin to experience now as we choose to work in faith instead of waiting. I can still bear testimony to that principle, and I invite you all to work with those spiritual promptings to bless your lives.
The following day we set up an appointment to go and meet the Bishop of our ward. The ward we are in is full of good people, many of whom have been strong in the church for many years, but for various reasons the attendance has dropped over the last 3-4 years and we have had to work much harder to maintain within the ward, much less bring new members in. We met with him and talked about his vision for the ward and for us, and what his goals were to achieve it. Elder Prunty and I bore testimony of the value of righteous leadership, and as touched by the Spirit we were able to ask some very key questions that have lead us to begin to see progress and feel a change within the Bishop and certain key members within the ward.
One of the very strong impressions that I had received when I first arrived here in the office was that we needed to work with the ward to strengthen the members and use that as our focus first before we focus on bringing new members into the ward. That is something that is very radical for a mission that has traditionally been one of the top missions in terms of baptisms in the world, and especially to some of the older, more experienced missionaries. Nevertheless, one of the other Elders felt the same way and we backed each other up, and today we got to have a special meeting with Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve who backed up what we had expressed exactly. He talked to us about certain areas in how we as missionaries need to change, including the focus in baptisms. The key, he said, was not to focus on baptisms so much as blessing lives and strengthening the church. It was a blessing to see that faith rewarded, and to watch as eyes were opened to the greater purpose of missionary work.
Why do I tell all of these stories? Not to try to put myself up, nor anything like it- rather, I want to encourage you all to see a common theme. God loves us, and He wants us to succeed. Because He wants us to succeed, He has provided a way for us to receive guidance. Whether it be immediate, short term, or long-term He wants to help us be the best that we can and receive the most blessings possible- and so He asks us to do our part to be worthy to have a member of the Godhead with us at all times. When we do our part, He has promised to guide us and care for us in ways that we don´t even comprehend. If we "Take no thought for scrip or purse" and put the laws of God first, He will "be on your right hand and your left" guiding us in EVERY aspect of our lives.
The Spirit of God is a necessary component of our lives. This is something that has taken a lot of time for me to realize, and every day I realize a little bit more how much we deny ourselves if we do not have that divine intervention in our lives. I invite all of you to turn to the scriptures and prayer- MAKE TIME TODAY- to study your lives and prioritize in such a way that the laws of God will always be put first. If you will take that time today, regardless of where you think you are, I promise that you will receive a witness that God is your Father, Heavenly not because of where He is but Who He Is, and that He loves you personally. You will also see that He wants your success, and that He has not asked anything of you that you cannot do. I cannot promise that there won´t be something difficult or two in between where you are and where you know you ought to be, but I can promise that with the Strength and Love of God at your back it can and WILL be overcome.
I love you all. Remember to pray, with real intent.
-Elder Wheelhouse
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment