Bonjour à tous! I hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July! I sure did. Allez le bleu, allez la blanche, allez la rouge! This week was really cool as we got to welcome our new President into the mission. The Browns are incredible! I don't know if I've ever met 2 people who are more sincere, compassionate, and really emulate the light of Christ. We miss the Roneys dearly, but I know that when the Lord called me to this mission, He knew I would need to serve with both of these families. There are innumerable lessons that I will carry with me from the rest of my life from the Roneys, but I know there are new lessons I need to learn from the Browns for the end of my mission. One of those that I really took away from President Brown already is about the priesthood power. I have realized on my mission just how real this power is. God has given His actual, tangible, miracle-working authority and power to the worthy holders of it here on earth. I'm speaking directly to the men out there who hold this sacred power--do you ever stop and think about what it is that you actually are entitled to and given the responsibility to do as a priesthood holder? Jesus Christ, the greatest of any person to ever walk this earth, devoted His entire life learning about the gospel, serving others, and blessing other's lives. How was He able to spend an entire earthly life doing that? Wouldn't that be exhausting? Well, the answer is this: His Father gave Him the power to SERVE. Think about that. We are promised in the scriptures that we must do all we can do, and after that, God will "reach our reaching." He will step in and give us where we lack. My brothers out there, you have been given power to serve beyond a capacity that is normal, beyond the capacity that you even think you have. You have literally been given the blessing and responsibility to have the ability to do more than the average. You have been found worthy to have power that will allow you to physically, mentally, and spiritually go above and beyond the mark, in terms of devoting yourself to service. So my question to you is this: What do you do to be more than average? What do you do to go above and beyond the mark? What do you do that shows God that you recognize He's given you the strength and ability necessary to bless His children in ways that only you can? Do you even want to do more, to actually try to reach what you're capable of? Please don't take this power you've been given for granted or lightly. God has literally told you that He is giving you power to make you capable of endless service. Do you trust that? Do you believe He will really reach your reaching? I would hope that as a priesthood holder, you recognize that you hold a bit of the character and abilities of Christ within you. I've never heard Christ say He didn't have time, He was too tired, too busy, or had already done enough. So, I hope that at the bare minimum, you fulfill your specific callings. That you do your home teaching. That you go out and help the missionaries in your ward. That you grow your testimony daily by scripture study and prayer and weekly church attendance. I hope you go to the temple often. I hope you regularly have FHE, family prayer, and family scripture study. I hope you let your wife know how appreciative you are of her, and how much you love her. Or if you're not married, I hope your siblings and parents know that. I hope your children can say that one day they want to be the kind of husband and father that you are. And if you don't have kids, I hope you're striving to learn from the best examples of how to do this. Doing these things is the average. That is what a man is capable of doing. But you have been given the power of God to be able to do more. And He expects more. So pray, fast, get off the couch, off your phone, off your video games, off of ESPN, and figure out what more you can do. I promise you, you'll find more people to serve than you ever thought possible. I realize I speak really bluntly. But I feel as though I must. I feel that because of the experiences God has given me on my mission, He has wanted me to learn these lessons so I can go out and share them. I have seen many times, this past week in particular, the difference in happiness of families where there is a father or son or brother who understands this, and families who don't. I of course commend all of you for what you do, and thank you for it. And I also know that women are expected to go above and beyond in a life-time of service as well, just in a different way. But I'm not talking about that today. I'm talking to every man and boy out there who holds the holy priesthood of God. If you're unsure of what to do, pretend you've got a badge on like the one I have, or perhaps one you once wore as a missionary. Cover up your name. Literally take yourself, your human weaknesses, and your human setbacks out of the equation. Just look at what remains. The name of Jesus Christ, and His church. You can then tell yourself "I am a representative of Jesus Christ, and I will be capable of doing anything He needs me to do to build up His church." What would He do? That's what I do when I need to figure out what more I can do, or how to overcome my weaknesses. All can be made strengths through Him. I love you all! Have a great week. Love, Soeur Shields
|
map
Archives
November 2015
|