hmm...i am not sure what week i am at now, i cant keep track anymore....but i am way excited because we are going to the temple in 10 days, and it will be my second zone conference....so exciting. this week we had some tough experiences, two of the really great families that we had been teaching dropped us...man i hate when that happens, they told us that they like our company and the messages and everything and that they dont doubt that it is true, but they just dont think that they need to change, or that they dont feel it is neccesary...i never thought it would be so hard hear that, from people that we have learned to love so much...but they have their free agency and its just not their time to accept the gospel right now i suppose, kinda sucks, but thats part of this work...moving on with hope and faith knowing that the poeple who are prepared to recieve the gospel and are willing to change their lives, are out there...i know they are, but it has been so stinkin hard to find them....it has really caused me to reflect alot and really made me gain my own testimony....i never really understood what it meant to have your testimony tried, and even tho it is growing daily, it is being tested...so many times investigators, pretty much all the people we meet, have so many profound questions about life, sometimes it makes me wonder too...if God really does love us, why does he let so many things happen? or why is it so hard? but then i just have to constantly remind myslef that His plan is perfect and that without these tests my testimony would stay the same, every time someone questions us we are called to anwer as the voice of the Lord, and even tho sometimes i dont even understand why people are faced with so many things, the answer is always the same, thru the gospel of Jesus Christ their problems can be solved, or at least made bearable, our burdens will be lighter with our knowledge and underdstanding of His plan for us. even though my knowledge is not perfect i know that there is no other way to have happiness in this life, we can either liv the rest of our lives wondering why things have to be so hard, or we can rely on the Lord, ask Him in prayer what He wants us to learn form it, and gain strength, we really cant be stronger until we are tried and tested, and i love be able to help people realize that. that yes it is true, life is hard sometimes, for many of the people here, all the time, but if they would just think for one minute and take the time to ask our father in Heaven if He really does exist, will He please help us? then they would recieve the answer to there prayers and they would be willing to act and follow the example of the saviour...everyday we strive to improve the way we teach and live worthy of the spirit, which is the only teacher there is really. i am so happy for all of you and that you have been writing me, and i hope that whenever you start to question something, especially your testimonies of the church and the principles of the gospel, that you "would not ask if these things are not true" there is a quote by gordan b. hinckley that has really helped me out lately..."Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause. Lend your efforts to helping people...Stand higher, lift those with feeble knees, hold up the arms of those that hang down.Live the gospel of Jesus Christ."
if we are not willing to make an effort and live the gospel of Jesus Christ, we shouldnt expect to recieve the fullness of the blessings he has in store for us...i guess that is what sometimes makes me sad when we find great families who just "dont feel like its neccessary to change" when if they would just experiment upon our words they would recieve the promised blessings....thats how it is for all of us, and i guess its good to question things sometimes, it makes us think about why we do or dont do certain things...but until we try our faith and test the Lord to see if by our obedience He will bless us, we will never know partake of the amazing blessings that await us. the more we appy these principles, the more we recieve, we just have to ask and try it for ourselves.
love, gioia
