Feed My Sheep

   

Hola! I hope each and every one of you have been doing well this last week. I also hope each of you are finding the hand of the Lord in your daily lives. It is such a blessing to be nearing the season of gratitude. Our outlook on our trials and afflictions, successes, failures, and spiritual experiences affects what we get out of them. Look for things to be grateful for. 

     To start, I'm so cold. Since our house doesn't have heating, dropping below freezing at night has not made getting out of bed in the mornings very fun. Elder Stewert and I are doing our best to stay warm but we are not super excited for the coming months in terms of weather. In terms of the work of the Lord, we have been blessed beyond worthy measure. I feel as though I have seen more miracles with my companion in the last month than I have in my entire mission combined. I testify and stand witness of the fact that there are indeed people prepared for each and every one of us who are waiting to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed from our mouths. Name badge or not, old or young, experienced or novice, educated or not, individuals are being prepared to hear what YOU have to say. Not your neighbor, not your brother or sister, not your mom or dad, but you. There is NO message of greater importance on the face of the Earth today. There is nothing that carries greater eternal consequence than that of the message that the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored on the Earth today, and that through restored priesthood we have the chance to be sealed to our families for the eternities. I am going to return to that at the end. 

     This week our mission has been focusing on our personal studies. What they are, why they benefit us, and how to make them the greatest our of our day. As I have begun to implement some of the steps that we have come up with as a district, I have found that I have received more answers and revelation for myself, our people, and our companionship in more abundance. I urge each of you make time to study the Book of Mormon daily. There is no other greater source of truth and peace. If you tell you me you do not have time, I will tell you that our investigator from El Salvador, AFTER coming home from work at midnight, reads the book of mormon in his bed with a FLASHLIGHT on until 1am, only to leave his house at 5am to work again. And he isn't even a member of the church! 

     I love each and every one of you and I want you to know that the Savior of the world and our loving Heavenly Father love you too. I express my gratitude for the unwavering support each of you have offered me during these past 11 months. I assure you I would not have made it this far without it. Thank you 

     To conclude, I finish where I began. One of the greatest calls to action in all of written scripture is that of the resurrected Jesus Christ to Peter in John 21:1-22. After not knowing where to go or what to do after the death of Jesus Christ, the chief apostle leads the others back to what they know best: fishing. After a miracle and swimming back to the shore, the Lord begins to ask Peter over and over and over again: Do you love me? Thrice he asks him, and thrice Peter answers: Yes. I do love thee. And to that the Savior of the world says: then "FEED MY SHEEP." The comission of the Lord to Peter is the same to each and every one of us. And the question you need to ask yourself is "do you love Him?" Because if the answer is yes, feed my sheep. In the words of Elder Holland of the 12 Apostles, "And that was the day Peter strode into eternity." I close with a quote from Elder Eyring. "...For instance, at some moment in the world to come, everyone you will ever meet will know what you know now. They will know that the only way to live forever in association with our families and in the presence of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, was to choose to enter into the gate by baptism at the hands of those with authority from God. They will know that the only way families can be together forever is to accept and keep sacred covenants offered in the temples of God on this earth. And they will know that you knew. And they will remember whether you offered them what someone had offered you." They will all one day know that you knew.