Hey family and friends!
I'm suave here in Brazil. Having the time of my life!! I don't what to say hahaha... I'm approaching the last week of work and last Sunday as a missionary. I've got two goals for this last week written on my wrist in sharpie and everybody keeps asking me if it’s a tattoo... I'm currently in Cristalina doing splits with the Elders here. I love and miss this area so much!!!!! If I could put my time these days into one word, it would be gratitude!!!!! I'm so grateful for my savior and his power to heal and lift me up every day. I'm sooooooo grateful for the mission that he gave to me. It will have moved life forever as well as the lives of many people who God let me help during these two years.
Something that I would like to share today in my email is something that I have come to learn over the past couple of months.
As I pondered Mathew 6 19-24 which read,
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
I felt that our eyes point out the treasure of our hearts. Or in other words if we want to know what is filling our heart, just look to what we casting our eyes upon. We might be surprised with what we find. We might find possessions, the lives of others on social media, our own image and ego, or all of the above are occupying our hearts.
I then read a scripture in Philippians 2 that helped me understand where my eyes should be set:
4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus
I'd say I've passed a good bit of time and anxiety wondering about questions such as, am I being a good missionary? What can I do better? Is God accepting my mission? I probably worried so much about said questions that I looked over people who I could have helped and lifted up. The questions I should have set my heart were, How can I help my companion be a happier missionary? Who's burden can I lift right now?
I realized that the best thing to cast my eyes upon was the well-being of others. Not worry about my own blessings. That's the mindset that Christ had. After having suffered the sins of the world in the most humblest of ways, He had no ounce of self pity. Only compassion. He was concerned about the well-being of the very romans soldiers that were arresting him! He even healed the ear of one!
As Gordon B. Hinckley once said, "If you want to be happy forget yourself and get lost this great cause."
Christ taught in Matthew 16,
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
I now read this scripture to say, whosoever will lose sight of his life shall find it. I know that Christ lives. He is the light and the way. By no other name can salvation be attained.
Love,
Elder George
I'm suave here in Brazil. Having the time of my life!! I don't what to say hahaha... I'm approaching the last week of work and last Sunday as a missionary. I've got two goals for this last week written on my wrist in sharpie and everybody keeps asking me if it’s a tattoo... I'm currently in Cristalina doing splits with the Elders here. I love and miss this area so much!!!!! If I could put my time these days into one word, it would be gratitude!!!!! I'm so grateful for my savior and his power to heal and lift me up every day. I'm sooooooo grateful for the mission that he gave to me. It will have moved life forever as well as the lives of many people who God let me help during these two years.
Something that I would like to share today in my email is something that I have come to learn over the past couple of months.
As I pondered Mathew 6 19-24 which read,
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
I felt that our eyes point out the treasure of our hearts. Or in other words if we want to know what is filling our heart, just look to what we casting our eyes upon. We might be surprised with what we find. We might find possessions, the lives of others on social media, our own image and ego, or all of the above are occupying our hearts.
I then read a scripture in Philippians 2 that helped me understand where my eyes should be set:
4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus
I'd say I've passed a good bit of time and anxiety wondering about questions such as, am I being a good missionary? What can I do better? Is God accepting my mission? I probably worried so much about said questions that I looked over people who I could have helped and lifted up. The questions I should have set my heart were, How can I help my companion be a happier missionary? Who's burden can I lift right now?
I realized that the best thing to cast my eyes upon was the well-being of others. Not worry about my own blessings. That's the mindset that Christ had. After having suffered the sins of the world in the most humblest of ways, He had no ounce of self pity. Only compassion. He was concerned about the well-being of the very romans soldiers that were arresting him! He even healed the ear of one!
As Gordon B. Hinckley once said, "If you want to be happy forget yourself and get lost this great cause."
Christ taught in Matthew 16,
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
I now read this scripture to say, whosoever will lose sight of his life shall find it. I know that Christ lives. He is the light and the way. By no other name can salvation be attained.
Love,
Elder George