Hiii! 3/4ths of the way done with MTC! Crazy to think about! I hope you all are doing fabulous. The fall leaves have started to change in the MTC and they just planted new flowers, life is good.
Spiritual Thought:
This week I have been thinking about hard things
In Genesis 22:1-14 (please go read right now… it is short) Abraham is told to do probably the hardest thing a father could do, sacrifice his son Isaac.
As the story goes, Abraham has complete trust in the Lord. There are many moments where it is said “Here am I”, which is translated to “Hineni”. Abraham and Isaac both have Hineni moments as they prepare to do God's will. They both put themselves out into the complete unknown for the Lord.
Then in verse 14 everything changes. Abraham has a Jehovah Jireh moment. If you go look at the foot-note it means “The Lord will see or provide” or I see you. The Lord saw Abraham's faith and he was greatly blessed because of it.
I know that when we put ourselves in hard situations, our “hineni” moments, where we say, "Here I am” Lord, we will in time, see the pay off “Jehovah Jireh” moments where we realize the Lord could see us all along.
We might not know where we are going but the Lord knows where we need to end up. That is the marvel of his perfect plan.
Kristen M. Yee said, “God puts us in places where we are sufficiently overwhelmed that we sufficiently rely on him instead of relying on ourselves.”
I really do believe that the most growth we will ever experience happens in hard places because we learn to depend on God. We make his ways… our ways.
It is my testimony that as we turn over what we love most to the Lord he will see us and lead us to places and people we never would have thought. His plan is perfect!
Short Version of Email: Still at the MTC. I love hearing from all of you! I love it here. Trust in the Lord! Lots of sports. Learning how the spirit works in unusual ways. Musical Number.
5 Amazing Things of the Week:
1: Update on last week's musical shenanigans/spiritual opportunities. We got chosen to play from our audition. So we played at another MTC devotional which was fun. The Calderwood’s (MTC Pres) now know me by name because I have been playing so much. It is terrifying but also cool.
2: General Conference was so awesome! So many good talks. As I am writing this the talks just came out on gospel library so go check them out! I loved “God’s Favourite” by Karl D Hurst!
3: There was another MTC concert this week! Emma Nisson came and played for us. She plays piano and sings. It was really good! And the best part was we were front row seats (like I could not have been closer to her if I tried). I got to meet her BF. He was also a cool dude! Some cool videos of that on google photos
4: P day means we get to go to the temple again. Feeling extra grateful for it this week. It is such a blessing to have been able to go each week here! (Along with my Costa Vida afterwards) Only one more week of getting to go into the Lord's house until Finland.
5: Finnish has been starting to make sense! A little. We can start to say small sentences and actually express the things we are trying to say which feels so rewarding because man is it so hard.
Miracle of the Week: As we were coming back from the temple we met this guy who started talking to us about missions and missionary work. He served in Guatemala and we had a great conversation with him. He testified that what we were doing was the right thing to do, to the point of tears, and gave us some good advice. The advice was exactly what I had been thinking about all week. I know God puts people in our lives to help us grow and feel comfort. That was just one example.
Where I am Right Now: Right now I am in the Provo MTC (This section is mainly for my mom and is boring until I get to Finland)
Scripture of the Week: Helman 10:5
My thoughts: This scripture really stood out to me this week. I like the end of the verse when it says, “thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.”
It is so cool that the Lord promises Nephi that he will have power to do all things because he trusts him. We trust God to come to know him and as we do, we can often come to understand Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and align our will with theirs.
Talk of the Week: A Summer with Great-Aunt Rose By Dieter F. Uchtdorf OCT 2015
My Thoughts: This was such a great talk. I invite you to read it and take your own message from it. I know that I will always remember Great Aunt Rose.
However my favorite quote is, “There is enough that doesn’t go right in life, so anyone can work themselves into a puddle of pessimism and a mess of melancholy. But I know people who, even when things don’t work out, focus on the wonders and miracles of life. These folks are the happiest people I know.”
Enjoy the little things in life. Missions and life are hard, that's for sure, but if we focus on the good like our Prophet has said then we will find the joy in life, because it is there.
I hope your week is spectacular! Email me if you want! Give your families a big hug and tell people you love them! Always remember what matters most!
-Elder Balls
No comments:
Post a Comment