Well
everybody, I have officially decided that the best two days of my mission so
far have been when Elder Nelson came in November, and Saturday when Elder Oaks
was here.
Haha, Ok, maybe not,
buuuuuuuuuuuuut there are up there! Listening to an Apostle speak (especially
when it is directed right to you) is the coolest experience EVER.
I started out the day
just on cloud nine, because the whole mission was together and I got to see all
my favorite people and friends, and old zone, and just, so many people that I
love. Hermana Schroader was like, Hermana Shelton, your eyes are glowing! and I
just told her, its cause I am just so happy to be here, with so many people I
love!
And then it just got
even better. Elder Oaks is SO COOL. I have about a bajillion things I want to
tell you that he said, and I hope it all makes sense cause I don´t have a lot
of time, but here we go.
His wife spoke before
him, and finished by telling us all to say a prayer in our hearts and ask for
guidance that we needed, or a question that we wanted answered, and that we
would receive an answer through the words of Elder Oaks. So I did. And then
Elder Oaks got up, and told us about an experience he had where the spirit
taught HIM while he was the one giving a talk. He said that as he was talking
to an audience (I don´t remember where) He shared something that he told them
wasn´t Church doctrine, but was more of his personal opinion. He said in that moment
he received a very strong spiritual impression that he wrote down as soon as he
finished talking. And that impression was, ¨Never share your personal opinion.
As an Apostle of the Lord you are not entitled to that anymore¨ It was cool to
hear him say that because it affirmed my testimony that everything we hear from
him (and the other apostles) are words directly from God. They are words that
we can trust. He then told us that in meetings like this he never prepares a
written talk, his only way to prepare is by reading the scriptures and prayer.
Because every audience is different and needs different guidance. Even the Peru
Cusco mission that he spoke too on Friday needs a different message then the
Lima North mission needed on Saturday.
So, before I tell you
the next part. I´ll tell you what my question was. It was along the lines of,
¨what can I do to be a better missionary? How can I make these next six months
even better than this last year? How can I be more diligent, more obedient,
more focused, etc....¨ It’s something I have had on my mind for a while because
I felt a little stuck, and frustrated, because there are so many things I want
to do, but sometimes the natural man gets in the way. And I get frustrated with
myself and get down, which is something that never helps. So I asked for help
with that.
Well, after he finished
telling us a funny story (Elder Oaks is really funny, he told us some funny
stories and jokes and we were all just laughing, and laughing. he told us that
God gave us a sense of humor to get us through the hard times. :)) He paused
for a moment, looked upward, and then told us this.
There are a lot of
missionaries that when they talk about their mission refer to it as ¨My
Mission¨ and that isn´t necessarily bad. He said he wouldn´t necessarily
correct someone if they said that. But, he said that if saying that impacts our
point of view, then we shouldn´t refer to it that way. For example, if we are
thinking more about what WE get out of the mission (learning a new language, living
in a different country, etc...) then we aren´t allowed to say My Mission.
Because the truth is that this isn´t our mission. This is HIS mission. It
doesn´t matter what we gain because we are here to do the Lords work. Knowing
that and focusing not on what we can gain, but what we can gain for the Lord,
helps us to be more obedient, more diligent, continue on when we are tired,
etc...
Like it says in
Alma 17:9 we are instruments in the hands of the Lord. He used the example of a
pen. A pen doesn´t say to the hand he´s in, ¨I don´t feel like writing for you
today, or, I´m too tired to write right now¨ A pen writes(shares) the message
of the hand it’s in.
And he said so much more
that I don´t have time to share! Ah! As he was talking I was trying to write as
fast as I could to write it all down when he blessed us with the memory of this
day for the rest of our lives, and the strength to keep our commitments
according to our desires and faith.
This helped me so much.
Every time I feel tired, or discouraged, or whatever other feeling that impedes
the work, I just think ( and will think) This isn´t MY mission. This is HIS
mission. I have done that the past two days and have already seen a difference.
After the meeting I was
like, man, I must have been the only one who asked a question because he was
talking directly to me! But during lunch Elder Rosa, one of the missionaries in
my ward, said that he felt that same. That he answered exactly the question
that he had asked. It was so cool to be in that room and feel the Spirit, and
power, and authority and see the Spirit work through him to teach us all what
we needed to hear in that moment.
I know this Church is
true and is led by a Prophet and Apostles called of God.
Ugh. They are kicking me
off. Sorry I don´t have time to respond to anyone individually. Happy Father’s
day dad! I love you! Thank you for everything you do for me! Also, Jess I loved
all your girls camp cheers. They are super clever. I loved reading about your
adventure with Grandma. We need to do one just like that when I get back. :)
Ok! Love you all so
much! Have a wonderful, wonderful week at Girls camp!
Hermana Shelton
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