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| President Thomas S. Monson |
This week has been such a great week for me
here in my mission. It was a week that I definitely needed. I have been
learning so much here in this sector and I have really felt a spiritual boost
as I have learned new principles and have come closer to my Savior.
This week
all of us had the privilege to watch General Conference. I hope all of you were
able to see it, because it really was a spiritual booster for me. I felt like
my spiritual gas can was a little low, but after this Conference I felt like my
gas can has been filled and is over flowing. It was so amazing to listen to the
prophets, seers, and revelators today. I know that they are living witnesses of
our Savior. As I watched and listened to their words I couldn’t help but notice
or feel the power that came from their words. I hope all of you were able to
learn from these very intelligent men as they testified and preached that
Christ is our Savior. I was able to learn many things as I listened and
pondered the words they said. It was very interesting to me that as they all
had different talks and different topics, yet they all had something in common.
They all talked about how through affliction we grow and come closer to Christ.
I was touched to hear each and every one talk about this topic. As each and
every one expressed their feelings and thoughts about how this world is
changing and how it is becoming more and more wicked.
They all testified and
said: This life will be hard, but as we put our trust in the Lord we
will be lifted up from the depths of misery and woe, and experience eternal
life.
I forgot to bring my journal today that had all my notes, but there were so many quotes that I wanted to share with everyone. For now I just wanted to share a few of the things I was able to learn. As I was listening, I was really prompted and felt so strongly that this life is not one of ease. That each and every day is a new day of trial and testing. I realized that it is necessary to have trials in our life. If we do not have trials in our life we cannot grow as humans. Trials will be part of our life. We will have moments of struggles, we will be brought to tears, we will experience somewhat of what our Savior suffered for us. But, all this comes for a good cause. Our whole purpose here on the earth is to be tested and to grow to become more like our savior Jesus Christ. We cannot become closer to Christ if we are not tested or challenged. Just like a sailor cannot be a good sailor if all he does is sail in good calm waters.
Just as it says in Ether 12:6:
And
now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things;
I would show unto
the world that faith is things which are hoped for
and not seen; wherefore,
dispute not because ye see not,
for
ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.
We cannot become
closer to Christ until after the trial of our Faith. This means we must experience trials, we must
be tested. Many of you may be thinking, WHY? Why must we be tested? Why can’t
this be easy? Why do we have to suffer? The prophets answered this question
with a very strong felt answer. They testified as we turn to Christ, turn our
will over to His, as we feast upon the scriptures, are in constant prayer, and
always try to become better… we are promised the blessing of the Holy Spirit. As
the spirit comes into our lives we are changed. We are guided to do what is
right and come closer to Christ. One thing that really hit me was the question: What
impedes me from progressing? As we ask that to ourselves and really
turn to Christ we can have our weak things become strong.
I wanted to testify
of this to all of you. As I have been in my mission, I have been tested more
than ever. I have felt the lowest of lows. I have been on the verge of quitting.
There have been days where I have gone back to my house physically, spiritually,
and mentally exhausted. I felt like I could not do anything. I felt like I was
no one, like I was doing nothing, and that God did not love me. As I have grown
to love the scriptures and have been in constant prayer, I have seen the
blessing as promised in the Sacrament prayer:
THAT THEY MAY ALWAYS HAVE HIS SPIRIT TO BE WITH THEM.
I have grown
as a person, as a missionary and as a disciple of Christ. I wanted to end with
this quote from President Nelson "If you quit now, others will have to
painfully learn what you already know."
DON'T QUIT… I know that you
can do it. I know that as we put our trust in the Lord he will shape
us into who He wants us to be. We will be the potter’s clay and he will shape
and make us into the most beautiful pot. We will become true disciples of Jesus
Christ.
I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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