Hello all -
I really am so happy here in the mission. And by happy, I don't mean without troubles and trials. Actually, for me, I am coming to a more clear realization these days that troubles and trials are necessary for and give birth to true happiness.
God created a perfect plan for our happiness. We might look around us, watch the news, and find no easily acceptable reason to believe such a claim--There are so many troubles and trials! But that's the reason why the claim is true.
Someone who has tried their hand at cooking has surely experienced an immense pleasure in eating his/her culinary creation that no restaurant could bring. Parents will too understand the very different joy of authorship. Holding your own newborn, is a very different satisfaction than holding the newborn of a stranger.
To bring happiness, the victory has to be, at least partially, of our creation. Through the atonement, the price of the paint has been paid and we are left with the easel and the paint brushes (and a million new pages if we mess up a bit). And the best part, we are blessed with a lack of painting ability! Or in other words, we as a human race are given everything we need for our victory, but not the immediate skill to have it without some form of struggle.
So the crap is gonna hit fan every once in a while. It might be by our doing or the doing of another. But it's normal and even necessary. Surely we can learn this lesson by the simple fact that those who have earned something, appreciate that something a whole lot more than those are given it, especially if he/she has never had something else. How could a win in the championship game be truly satisfactory if the other team didn't even show up?
Luckily, in our sporting event of life, we already know which team will win. We don't have to get stressed out with turnovers, injuries, or unfair calls in the fourth quarter. They are a testimony that we are on the winning team.
God's plan is perfect because it combines a guaranteed victory with a personal struggle. There is no need for stress in the midst of trials. Trials are what bring the victory to life. We have all the paint supplies we need and a lifetime to practice, mess up, and try again. With Christ's help we can become the perfect painter. The paintings will be ours. The fight will have been fought. And thus, the joy will be full.
I love my savior Jesus Christ. He is the author of the victory. I pray that we can all be a part of it. Christ is the reason that a temple will be built here in Brasília, but I almost jumped through the roof of happiness at its announcement because I was able to be a part of it.
Through hard work and trials, we become a part of an eternal victory of our own creative rights. Never to forget that Christ made it possible.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/our-fathers-glorious-plan?lang=eng
Love,
Elder George
I really am so happy here in the mission. And by happy, I don't mean without troubles and trials. Actually, for me, I am coming to a more clear realization these days that troubles and trials are necessary for and give birth to true happiness.
God created a perfect plan for our happiness. We might look around us, watch the news, and find no easily acceptable reason to believe such a claim--There are so many troubles and trials! But that's the reason why the claim is true.
Someone who has tried their hand at cooking has surely experienced an immense pleasure in eating his/her culinary creation that no restaurant could bring. Parents will too understand the very different joy of authorship. Holding your own newborn, is a very different satisfaction than holding the newborn of a stranger.
To bring happiness, the victory has to be, at least partially, of our creation. Through the atonement, the price of the paint has been paid and we are left with the easel and the paint brushes (and a million new pages if we mess up a bit). And the best part, we are blessed with a lack of painting ability! Or in other words, we as a human race are given everything we need for our victory, but not the immediate skill to have it without some form of struggle.
So the crap is gonna hit fan every once in a while. It might be by our doing or the doing of another. But it's normal and even necessary. Surely we can learn this lesson by the simple fact that those who have earned something, appreciate that something a whole lot more than those are given it, especially if he/she has never had something else. How could a win in the championship game be truly satisfactory if the other team didn't even show up?
Luckily, in our sporting event of life, we already know which team will win. We don't have to get stressed out with turnovers, injuries, or unfair calls in the fourth quarter. They are a testimony that we are on the winning team.
God's plan is perfect because it combines a guaranteed victory with a personal struggle. There is no need for stress in the midst of trials. Trials are what bring the victory to life. We have all the paint supplies we need and a lifetime to practice, mess up, and try again. With Christ's help we can become the perfect painter. The paintings will be ours. The fight will have been fought. And thus, the joy will be full.
I love my savior Jesus Christ. He is the author of the victory. I pray that we can all be a part of it. Christ is the reason that a temple will be built here in Brasília, but I almost jumped through the roof of happiness at its announcement because I was able to be a part of it.
Through hard work and trials, we become a part of an eternal victory of our own creative rights. Never to forget that Christ made it possible.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/our-fathers-glorious-plan?lang=eng
Love,
Elder George