Hello my stupendous family,
I love you all. I hope I don't sound at all like a broken record when I say that. I work night and day for the Lord but I know that the work I do also leads to blessings for each of your lives. I work not only for God, but also for you. That is how much I love you. It is incredible being on a mission. We just had another message with Sage , Schuyler's Brother, and we invited him to be baptized on February 11th 2012. He has accepted the day as a time to prepare himself for and we will be meeting with him on Thursday in order to help us set up a schedule which will help him see how to accomplish his goal of Baptism. This is a big step for him, at least it seems that way, because Derrick said that he has trouble making commitments. I am very excited for him to progress down the path that will eventually bring him eternal life. It will be fun to see his progression.
I am loving my mission. As I was sitting in our YSA Ward Council this week the Executive Secretary (a man who graduated from MIT) shared with us an idea of creating a vision of what we as leaders desire to do with our callings. As I thought of it I remembered that our mission had made a vision statement a little while back and I felt that it really inspired me to move forward in my work as a missionary. I decided that I would ponder about a vision statement that I could make with my companion for our area. I thought about it all throughout church that day. I couldn't really keep my mind off of it. At the end of priesthood my brain hurt from my straining to think. But what I was able to write really excited me. I thought of ways in which we as missionaries could help the active members to increase in their desire for missionary work, how we could help Less-active members grow in their desire to come to church and obey the commandments, and how to help investigators strengthen their faith and grow in their desire to attend our regular meetings. I shared this information with Elder Thackeray and we decided that we will be discussing the ideas with our Ward Mission Leader this Wednesday. Hopefully from there we will be able to build excitement in the ward for missionary work and helping the members see how feasible it really is to invite others unto Christ.
There are a few other ideas that have come to mind such as a motto for us to say and a theme scripture. Our motto could be one of two things
1) Be the light or
2) Do it yourself, meaning that we need to be examples of the things we teach first before others will choose to follow.
As I talk about this I get excited! Why? Because I know this is what I truly want. I want to be able to be the person I invite others to be and do the things I invite them to do. A little while ago there was an area seventy who came to our stake and shared 5 ways in which we could be better missionaries. I hope that we will be weighing heavily on these points to help the members better include the Lord in the work they do. But, of course, it all starts with us doing them first. Everything that you want to get done starts with you. There is nothing holding us back but our own procrastination. Do you want to be happy? Start now. Choose to be happy and make that a vision. Then set goals to accomplish that vision. Sing a song that brings joy to your life each day, eat your favorite food, get good exercise, look yourself in the mirror and point out all the good that you see... As you do these things and work to set goals with Heavenly Father, He will bless you to be happy. You will be happier day by day. Do you want to build the strength of your family? Create a vision statement and set goals upon it. For example:
I am loving my mission. As I was sitting in our YSA Ward Council this week the Executive Secretary (a man who graduated from MIT) shared with us an idea of creating a vision of what we as leaders desire to do with our callings. As I thought of it I remembered that our mission had made a vision statement a little while back and I felt that it really inspired me to move forward in my work as a missionary. I decided that I would ponder about a vision statement that I could make with my companion for our area. I thought about it all throughout church that day. I couldn't really keep my mind off of it. At the end of priesthood my brain hurt from my straining to think. But what I was able to write really excited me. I thought of ways in which we as missionaries could help the active members to increase in their desire for missionary work, how we could help Less-active members grow in their desire to come to church and obey the commandments, and how to help investigators strengthen their faith and grow in their desire to attend our regular meetings. I shared this information with Elder Thackeray and we decided that we will be discussing the ideas with our Ward Mission Leader this Wednesday. Hopefully from there we will be able to build excitement in the ward for missionary work and helping the members see how feasible it really is to invite others unto Christ.
There are a few other ideas that have come to mind such as a motto for us to say and a theme scripture. Our motto could be one of two things
1) Be the light or
2) Do it yourself, meaning that we need to be examples of the things we teach first before others will choose to follow.
As I talk about this I get excited! Why? Because I know this is what I truly want. I want to be able to be the person I invite others to be and do the things I invite them to do. A little while ago there was an area seventy who came to our stake and shared 5 ways in which we could be better missionaries. I hope that we will be weighing heavily on these points to help the members better include the Lord in the work they do. But, of course, it all starts with us doing them first. Everything that you want to get done starts with you. There is nothing holding us back but our own procrastination. Do you want to be happy? Start now. Choose to be happy and make that a vision. Then set goals to accomplish that vision. Sing a song that brings joy to your life each day, eat your favorite food, get good exercise, look yourself in the mirror and point out all the good that you see... As you do these things and work to set goals with Heavenly Father, He will bless you to be happy. You will be happier day by day. Do you want to build the strength of your family? Create a vision statement and set goals upon it. For example:
Vision:
Our Family is strong in the gospel, we know that we are all children of God and we love each other. We help each other through trials. We praise one another and celebrate the accomplishments we make. We love our Father in Heaven and understand His plan for us. We have faith in Jesus Christ and will never falter. We are a family!
Goals:
1) We will read the scriptures each day to increase our understanding of God and Jesus Christ.
2) We will have Family Home Evening once a week to grow in love for one another.
3) We will eat dinner together every night in order to help us understand each others' needs.
4) We will go to the temple once a week (or month) to help our children understand it's importance.
This is just a quick example, but as we are able to accomplish these tasks and use the guidance of the Holy Ghost in creating goals for us to achieve, we will be able to attain our vision and become what we desire to become. As time goes on we can read over and alter our goals and vision according to circumstances but through this process we will find true progression. I know that goal setting is important. I love to set goals and see myself accomplishing tasks I give myself. I know that Heavenly Father lives. His vision statement is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. His goals for that are to give us families where we can learn of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to give us prophets who will teach us how to fully receive the gospel in our lives, to send us His Son as a redeeming sacrifice for all, and work night and day to build our understanding through giving us personal revelation, angels, friends, etc. to help us along the way. God is perfect. God's plan is perfect. I know this to be true and I know that as we make plans for ourselves He can help us accomplish those plans and enable us to find joy therein. I testify that the gospel is true. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. As we serve Him with all our hearts, mights, minds, and strength we will find true and lasting joy. Endure to the End and you will find the pearl of great price. I love you all.
Sincerely,
Elder Christensen
