Bonjour bonjour! It was a busy week! As promised, I'm going to share what we learned last week at Zone Conference. Let me start with a verse from D&C 128:22. "Brethren and sisters, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren and sisters; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free." Now I'd like you to imagine the following: A missionary on the other side of the veil is vigorously working to teach souls about Christ's gospel. They pray, fast, and teach with all their heart, might, mind, and strength. They grow a deep, charitable love for those whom they teach. At last, after exhausting all their efforts, one of their dear friends decides to accept the message. They want to become a part of Christ's family. They want to obey Him so that they can live with Him again as an exalted being. This missionary must then look at their friend, eyes filled with tears of both joy and sadness. Because then they have to tell their friend, "I'm so happy you've chosen this, but there's nothing more I can do. All you can do is wait." Can you imagine the anguish and frustration that must attack the hearts of both the missionary and their friend? As a missionary here on this earth, I can tell you that there would be nothing that would tear at my heart strings more than not being able to help an ami progress when they so badly want to. We learned that this scenario is not a rare occurrence on the other side of the veil. Do you understand what this means? These missionaries and their friends are waiting for us to help them! They need us to go to the temple and perform by proxy these sacred ordinances of salvation. How could we be so selfish to make them wait? Why do we take this so lightly at times? God has constructed 144 of His holy houses around the world to allow His children both on this side of the veil and the other to have the opportunity of exaltation. Performing the work for our ancestors is vital, and that alone should cause us to have a sense of urgency to attend the temple. But there's so much more. These sacred houses of the Lord are the designated places on earth for us to be able to learn with the most fine-tuned spirit how to become more like Christ. If these holy buildings are fit to host Christ Himself, don't you think He will minister to you there through the Holy Spirit? We can learn so much more about ourselves there. As we recognize who we are, and who we have the potential to become into the eternities, we become a student of the Lord in His holy school. We learn to resist temptation with more ease. Peace can come to our troubled heart. Confusion can become clarity. Difficult decisions can become apparent. In the temple, we are able to realize just how great our purpose is here on this earth, and "with increased purpose comes increased motivation." The more often you attend the temple, eager to learn, the greater your motivation will be to live up to your potential every single day. That is how the temple helps us endure to the end. And it makes sense that the temple would be the key for us to endure to the end, because the temple is what also grants us our "end." The temple is what makes exaltation possible. We make the most holy of covenants with God there, and then we go back as frequently as possible to be able to stay true to those covenants. If we can do that, we get to live with our families forever, in a never-ending state of joy. I'm so grateful that God has revealed to our mission president that sharing this message is the way to hasten His work here in France and Switzerland. It just makes so much sense. The temple is why we're here. As I was told in the MTC, my work as a missionary is done when I am dwelling in the celestial kingdom and on one side of me is my family, and on my other side is all those whom I've had the opportunity to teach and baptize. That is possible thanks to the holy house of the Lord. PLEASE GO! Allez-y! Much love, Soeur Shields P.S. For more info on temples, go to temples.lds.org or beta.mormon.org
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November 2015
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