Hola!!
So first off, my travel plans changed like 2 days ago, if
not yesterday, I can't remember, time here is basically non-existant. Anywho,
our plane leaves from SLC now at 8:40 am, so I wont be calling before I leave
because we now have a layover in LAX for a couple hours. We will arrive in Cali
at 9:39 am, and then our plane doesn't leave until 1:30 pm, and then we will
arrive in MEXICO at 7:10! I am sooooo stoked!!!! Like you have no idea!! So I
would be expecting a call from me ( I will probably just call mom's cell unless
you tell me other wise) around 1030ish, I expect that is when I will finially
be able to call. Well, on to how this week went.
This weeks seriously flew by way too fast. I can't believe
that in a week from now I am going to be in Mexico.....and I'm not freaked out
yet haha. I have been prepared so well not only by everyone at home, namely
Mom, dad, and grandparents, but also here by my teachers. Even though we have
kinda been the "foster" district because we were handed around to
different teachers for different circumstances more times than I can count, I
was able to learn lessons from all of them. Something cool that happened last
week was we got our pretty much favorite teacher back from her honeymoon. She
really did bring our district so much closer, taught us so much, and really had
a profound impact on how I not only view others but how I view myself.
So there were two really cool talks this week, one an older
one from Elder Oaks and one on tuesday by Anthony Perkins of the Seventy. Elder
Oaks talked about three things challenges that we have in life; 1 Change our
actions (aka repentance), 2 achieve, 3 become. What got me the most was the
become part. He said to become something we must have something happen within
us (kinda sounds like a "mighty change of heart" huh?) He said to
accomplish all three of these things, we need to have desire. Our desire shapes
our thoughts, are thoughts shape our actions, and our actions shape our
character. How we can obtain righteous desires is found in the story of Lamoni,
in Alma 22:16 (I'll let you search the scriptures and listen for what the
spirit tells you what you need to do to have righteous desires ;))
The other talk was about the steps of devoloping faith/steps
of faith, 1 Belief, 2 Action, 3 witness, and 4 power. Again, what I loved is
the last part. To have power through faith, we must not have ANY doubts!!! The
key to not having any doubts is to stay positive 100% of the time. I feel like
I have really understood the importance of being positive here. The first week
I was called district leader was the worst week for me here because I was so
caught up in the worries of what other people were doing, not how they were
doing, I forgot to stay positive my self. I usually didn't have a problem with
staying positive at home, but I have really noticed how important it is to stay
positive here on the misison, people really can tell if you are happy or not, plus,
I'm sharing a message of happiness, how could I not be happy now?!? :D
I love this work more than anything else I can remember in
my life. I look forward waking up everyday now to go read my scriptures, trying
to learn something that can help someone else in my life, and just plain out be
with these amazing elders in my district. I am so excited to finally put all of
this work into action every second of every day in Mexico, thank you all for
what you hve done and for supporting me!! LOVE You!!
Love,
Elder Noel
No comments:
Post a Comment