Dear Family and Friends,
I am in Yakima and I am loving it. I didn't think I'd be able to love any place as much as Royal City but I'm coming to realize that I can love these new places, because of people and experiences I have that help me grow and learn and change for the better.
This week we taught a lot of people and although not all are super interested it is still satisfying to know I'm doing all I can to spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am really coming to learn about and appreciate more the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His example. When we rely on the Atonement of Christ, change is real and possible but you really have to want it. That's what I think I've struggled with the most on my mission- finding people who have no desire. In the scriptures it even says that you don't have to have faith at first, just a desire to believe and then you can let that desire grow with in you... well there are too many people in this world who are just complacent with how they are and don't believe they can change. This morning we were at a members house doing laundry and there was a quote on her wall that said "If we did everything we were capable of, we would literally astonish ourselves." When I really think about this I believe it. I think we are capable of so much more than we realize but we let things like negativity, discouragement, pride, pessimism, and not believing in ourselves and so many other things get in the way of us accomplishing more. This is why its important to remember our divine potential and remember what grace is. I feel that part of it is that extra strength that comes to us when we feel like we can't go on. When we feel like there is too much being asked of us and just how are we supposed to do it all? I was reading in Believing Christ and I could really relate to an experience that the author's wife had. She just got so overwhelmed with all the demands of life and then trying to be righteous and perfect that she just wanted to give up. This is where the author then talks about Christ and His atonement and that it is because of Christ that we don't have to be perfect, that our shortcomings or failures can be overcome and made right. His perfection makes up for our imperfection. He then writes, "What matters is that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can receive, despite our unworthiness, what we desire, what we long for- but only if it
is what we really long for. So what do you want? What do you
really want?" Reading that really struck me and it made me really think about my desires and what I really want in my life. One of those things I know I want is understanding and a strong testimony of Christ and His gospel. The author also shared the scripture Matthew 5:6-
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. I now really have come to love this scripture because it has so much more meaning to me. I know it is true. There have been times where I really have struggled and truly spiritually speaking hungered and thirsted for understanding of the gospel. Because I have sought after righteousness and wanted to know truth, many times I have received understanding and answers through the scriptures and through the words spoken at church. I'm so grateful that there is always more I can learn and that God wants us to search after knowledge and He gives it to us, line upon line precept upon precept here a little and there a little.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week and that together we can continue to seek after righteousness and strive to align our will with God's will, make our desires what God desires for us.
