Hey everyone! This last week has been pretty crazy for us.
We were running around yesterday doing a bunch of things we had to get done as
assistants in preparation for our MLC today. And so we didn't get to time to
email. So our mission president gave us this little bit of time to write home.
So I am grateful for the chance to write home because this last week has been
so great! It has been filled with great things as well as its challenges. This
last week we had transfers. And it was my first week with my new companion
Elder Halterman! He is doing really well, but I was showing him some of the ropes
in regard to transfers.
Tuesday we had the chance to spend sometime with the
departing missionaries. And we were able to go through the temple with them
which was great. The temple has been closed down for the last month or so, so
it was nice to be able to go there again! I felt so blessed to be able to go
there with some questions that were weighing down on my mind and come out
feeling peace in the answer that I received. We had a great departing
testimony meeting with them also.
So overall things went over smoothly with transfers,
but unfortunately I got pretty sick this last week as well. This was probably
the sickest I have been on my whole mission, and probably the sickest I have
been since I was young. I woke up one of the mornings and just felt as if all
the energy I had was completely gone. We still went over to get the incoming
missionaries where they were staying to take them over to the mission home on
Thursday morning. So I got there and I new that in order for me to make it
through the meetings that day I would need a priesthood blessing.
So I asked my
companion to anoint, and my mission president to seal the anointing. And in the
blessing he blessed me that I would have relief from the pain and discomfort
and that I would have the strength to do the training that I needed to be a
part of. And I guess a bit of a back story 2 weeks ago our bishop called
us and asked us to give talks for this last Sunday. So they gave us the
topic 2 weeks ago so we could prepare. And my topic was hope.
And so during the
week previous I had the chance to really study about hope and gain a strong
understanding of what hope is. And it is the trust that God will bless you with
what he has promised you. And so during the blessing I had this on my mind as I
pondered. And I said I have a hope that God will give me the strength to
preform the labors that he needs me to preform. And after the blessing I
felt so much better. I still didn't feel 100 % But I knew God was going to give
me that time to feel better to have an effective training for these
missionaries. And he definitely blessed me!
It was kinda funny though
because as we were getting ready to close the meeting, we were singing the last
verse of the hymn we were singing. And I looked up the clock and thought well here
we go again. And sure enough once we closed the meeting and got the
missionaries on the way it hit me again! It was just a really really bad
cold. But it was great because it gave me the opportunity to really rely on the
atonement that much more fully! And I know it was Heavenly Father that blessed
me and helped me that morning! And he let me feel sick again so I could really
more fully rely on him, so I am so grateful for that.
Other than that the big highlight was being able to speak in
church. Elder Hillebrant was able to come back down and speak with me. And it
was such a great experience. I felt that we had a very strong sacrament
meeting! They had the sisters speak first, and then Elder Hillebrant, and then
they asked me to close off the meeting. And I was just so grateful to speak
with him! We spent alot of time together and we became close friends. I loved
the chance I had to speak because again I talked on having a hope in Christ.
And in today's world the word hope sometimes has a different meaning. It tends
it have a hint of uncertainty. For example, " I hope the weather changes,
I hope I passed my test, I hope that I can get this job or project
done." Now the Lord intended hope to be unwavering. Now because we do live
in a fallen world we are subject to death, sin, pain, sickness, and all manner
of affliction. This includes stress, or others things that may cause us worry
also. But they are needed because that is what helps us Grow. In 2nd nephi 2 we
learn that there needs to be an opposition in all things.
I love what Mormon councils us to have a hope in though. In
Moroni 7:41 We learn what we need to have a hope in.
41 And what is it that ye
shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall
have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his
resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your
faith in him according to the promise.
So if we have a hope in the atonement and resurrection then
we have no need to fear anything. For Jesus Christ truly suffered for
everything. Look at Alma 7: 11-13. He has suffered for all of our pains our
afflictions and even temptations. The words of modern day prophets and taught
us more about the atonement. We know Christ has suffered for everything thing
you are feeling, have felt and will ever feel! That is such a wonderful
thought. He knows how to help you because he has felt everything. And just
think. He did it just because he loves you. He did it so he could know you.
So
when you call upon him for strength he is there with his hand out stretched
ready to help you and lift you up. The answers may not always come right away,
but know that the Lord is holding on to you. He will not let you fall. And when
you come to feel that you are at the deepest moment of despair and you can't
hold on any longer, he will uplift and support you. He will raise you and you
will have a stronger relationship with the savior. You will have the hope that
he is there for you. And that hope will eventually lead to a knowledge that he
will support you in your trials or challenges.
I know this last week as I felt
like I was at the bottom, I showed my faith( for faith is absolutely necessary
to be able to obtain this hope.) by doing everything that I needed to. Even
asking for a blessing and petitioning for the Lords help. And thats when
I found strength. And I was able to be healed for that short amount of time.
And I continued to have a hope that the Lord would help me to recover quickly
and I did.
I know as we have a hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will
find support in anything that we do. We will know that we can live with our
Father in Heaven again because Christ overcame the bands of death and he
suffered for our sins. He is the ultimate source of peace in this life. So if
you are feeling like you are having struggles in your life. Pray for the hope
of Christ in your life. Know that the Lord will come through and answer your
prayers. It may not be in the way that you expect, but I promise the Lord will
answer. And you will be able to have the calm assurance that he will bless you
with the promised blessing! I know that to be true!
If you feel you need more hope in your life I would invite
you to ponder over the following scriptures and see what things you can do to
increase this hope in your life.
Alma 22:16
Moroni 8:16
Romans 15:4
Bible dictionary: Hope.
Well I hope y'all have a wonderful week!
Elder Joshua V. Christensen
(ps. Next week we are having a general authority come to the
mission so if I don't email on Monday it may be Tuesday depending on how the
schedule works. Just so y'all know.)
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