WEEK 61 "Seeketh Not Her Own"
HOLA
As I reflect on all the many things I learned during Miracle March Grace, Humility, and Charity stand out to me.
I only have time to go in depth on my thoughts of charity. Jesus Christ is the perfect example and in Ether 12:33 says "thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world." True charity is putting others first, loving without expecting anything in return. True charity is sacrificing time, talents, gifts, and own desires to build, serve, give and love others. Charity is simply removing pride, envy, selfishness and loving without end. My cute new companion Sister Pacheco, who is my first native Spanish speaking companion woot woot, from Mexico is super wise and she is actually on her last transfer. She told me this week that sometimes people are willing to accept your love and help but others might need to work it out on their own before they're willing to let you in. I immediately thought of my Savior when she told me this. It is the exact same with Him, Some people either will accept Him and His grace and perfect love or will choose to struggle on their own for a while. However, I believe everyone at some point or another will need to learn to accept and let Him into their lives.
Right now all that Christ can do is stand with His arms wide open ready to receive us. This is what we need to do as well, keep loving and serving and fighting for the Cause of Christ. In my life I have learned that sometimes it is hard to develop charity but if we dont have charity we cannot dwell with God again. I will be honest, sometimes it is hard to love companions who will not accept your love and service but I can promise that as we follow Paul's advice we will find that we can develop Charity for everyone. Ephesians 4: 32 says, "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." 1 Corinthians 13:13 "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." I believe that when we truly develop charity we have a change of heart, our very beings change. It is not solely performing acts of kindness but we truly see ourselves as less than the dust of the earth like King Benjamin said. The underlining theme of Charity is that when we "seeketh not ourselves" and leave behind the person we once were, we are changed through the Grace of God to truly become the children of Christ.
Highlights:
-We cashed in a penny jar that had been sitting around our house!! if any of you have served missions you know that you run out of money at the end of each month. It was a straight miracle that the coin machine at Walmart wasn't full (like it always is) and so we managed to scratch up $26.98 to be able to ride the bus and not starve jaja
-We rode the bus all day on friday and I met my soul sister named Mercedes!! When she hopped on she was straight glowing and so I immediately ran over to her. It felt like we were long lost friends and she instantly started crying when I told her our purpose as missionaries and how the gospel has been restored on the earth again. We have high hopes for her!
- I had the amazing privilege of going on an exchange with my old comp sister Holbrook! We literally had a riot and it was so fun being back with her. We taught the sweetest grandpa Julio who is 87 years old and surprisingly might have just as much energy as the prophet. He works two jobs and doesn't have a day off and loves to still work out. We were going to close the lesson with a prayer and he said he was going to offer it. However, we all were waiting for 3 solid minutes with our eyes closed and then we all peak up at the same time and Julio gets so embarrassed that he immediately starts bursting out laughing and closes his eyes again.
-Also on our exchange we were in a huge apartment building and we smelled the most amazing dinner so we followed the smell and it led us to a door that was wide open. We started to ask if anyone was there and then the cutest blond, blue-eyed family from Cuba let us in. We seriously could not have hit it off better. I swear they could have been my mom and Jenn. They were crazy and so full of love and faith. I loved every second of the cooking lesson to our spiritual message. They told us that they wanted to "devolver sus corazones a cristo" and so they are committed to come to church and continue hearing about our messages. It is in moments like these that I just cant thank God enough for letting me serve a mission and hang out with my crazy, fun-loving, Cubans.