Skip to main content

Week 70...The Atonement is Real

February 26, 2017

 This week was probably one of the more spiritual weeks that I have had and I just want to express my appreciation to my Father in Heaven for His eternal love and patience. It has been quite the change from the beginning of my mission until now, and I know that there will be another big change from this present time to the end of my mission. Something that I enjoy doing here on my mission is the opportunity to promise blessings to those that we share the Gospel with. One principle that I have learned which I have found is true in every situation is that when we do what God has commanded us to do, we receive a blessing in return.

Doctrine and Covenants 130

20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

Obey the Commandments. In doing so there safety and peace. 

I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real, it works, and there is a power and a strength contained that cannot be described using words. These past couple of days, I have felt the Saviors saving grace more powerfully than ever before. Throughout my mission I realized that I have been teaching the principles of repentance for months now but I simply did not feel that it had impacted my life yet. I knew that I intellectually understood it but I simply couldn't fully understand it to the degree that so many people bear testimony of. I sought for myself a testimony of the Atonement of Christ because I knew that if I were to acquire that knowledge for myself than I would be a much more influential teacher in helping investigators and members understand it as well. Throughout the week, I think I faced more problems and trials than previous weeks. After some time I found myself starting to get more and more frustrated and upset at so many different things. I was just irritated with everything going on and I couldn't focus and didn't feel the Spirit. I decided that I needed a break for a moment and went to a closet, got down on my knees and with tears in my eyes I pleaded with my Heavenly Father for help. After a moment of praying as sincerely as I could, there was this silence that enveloped me and everything was still. There then began to be a growing warmth in my heart that continued to surge throughout my whole body. I knew at that moment without a doubt, that God does listen and that He loves us. The atonement of Christ is real. It has both a cleansing effect and a enabling effect. 

Mosiah 3

19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

The Lord seeks to bless us and lift us up to higher places. The only thing that would stop Him from doing so would be our own choice not to reach to him for help. I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ can help and edify. I love the Savior and I am grateful for His eternal love for me.

This week we had 5 of our investigators at church! They all enjoyed it and had a really good time! We taught A**** after church was over and read out of 1 Nephi chapter 8 which talked about the tree of life and she just starts to piece it all together on her own. She is progressing very quickly and we are excited to continue working with her. Another way awesome miracle was that we didn't have enough time to teach a new investigator lesson to a person that we had found through English class, so we had the sister missionaries take her instead. Our other investigator L***** sat in on their lesson while we taught A*****. Shortly after the lesson, I asked the sister missionaries how the lesson went and they were just like L***** is awesome! She gave an amazing testimony of prayer and the Book of Mormon! Although we have only taught her twice, she is already sharing her testimony and being awesome! I have learned that there is power in teaching the plan of Salvation and more in drawing it out in lessons! I found that people understand the plan of Salvation in much more detail when they are able to visually see it for themselves.

As we have taught it, the Spirit has definitely been present and in great abundance. I know that the message of the Restoration of the Gospel is true and because of it, we have so much more that helps enrich our lives.

We have some good dinner and lunch appointments set up which I am super excited for! The members continue to be amazing! I have found that knowing members by name really does help! The ward has seriously become my family and I am so grateful for their love and support. This week, our focus will be with meeting the members and helping them to know who specifically that they know is ready to hear and accept the message of the Gospel. We feel that this will encourage missionary work in the ward and that the missionary work will go up and bring in some heavy duty blessings!

I just want to share my testimony that I know that this church is absolutely true. The Gospel is the plan that will allow us to be happy and continue to press forward. I am grateful to be a missionary and a representative of the Savior Jesus Christ! I share my testimony in the sacred name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,
Elder Shirley

Zone Conference









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 76..."This past week has been one of faith and might!"

This week, I had the opportunity to watch conference which was an absolute blast! I love hearing from the prophets and apostles speak and offer counsel to those that are seeking it. How grateful I am that our Heavenly Father in this period of time has a prophet upon the earth. I have a testimony that as we heed the words of the prophet and those that are called alongside him, that we will never go astray. This past week has been one of faith and might! I am grateful for the opportunity to come and serve the people of Singapore. It hasn't always been easy but I can honestly say it has been all worth it! A simple principle of faith that I learned from General Conference was what Elder Choi had said saying, "Don't look around, Look up!" I have learned that if all that I do is look around, I can never progress, however, as I continue to steadfastly look up toward heaven, then I find myself changing in so many ways. Axxxxx is awesome! She is something else...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 75...Experiences that have increased my faith and built my testimony up this week.

The things you get to learn on a mission are just awesome! I am so glad that I decided to serve the Lord for two years. I would be nowhere close to where I am at right now. I am indeed grateful for the experiences that I have been able to have on my mission and for what they have taught me personally. I know that the Lord, Jesus Christ is very well aware of what I go through and is continuing to lift me up every hour of the day. I know that He lives. His love is real and extends to all who seek it. I wish to share with you some of the experiences that I have had this week that have increased my faith and built my testimony up. Trust in the Lord.  I have really felt the need to say that after the many challenges and trials that seem to be never ending, that I simply can not do it on my own. If I continue to try and do something on my own and just push forward, then I have already failed. I cannot do it on my own. It is sometimes painful to admit that because I feel that in orde...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 71...The Sound of Rejoicing

March 5, 2016 Hello! I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It is honestly the best thing ever. I know that sometimes it feels like the Gospel can only apply to those that we teach and share with but first and foremost it is to strengthen yourself and give you the confidence and boost of energy that you need throughout the week. I love the Savior Jesus Christ. He is my teacher and exemplar and I look to Him as one of my closest friends and for that I am eternally grateful. This week I have been thinking to myself how I could better help those people that I have been working with feel the power of the Spirit and to continue to be excited to meet again and learn. It was also something that I have been thinking about as we contact other people in Singapore. We do strive to talk with everyone and look for opportunities to serve those around us, however, I have felt that we weren't yielding the same success as weeks prior. Then everything changed!  D&C 28:16 "And thou m...
Post a Comment
Read more