WEEK 69: A Need for Diligence

Hello friends.

Well for me, as I am beginning to near the ending months of my mission I have realized a greet need for diligence. Some days the work seems too hard and the load too heavy to bear. The temptation of sleeping in is becoming more and more enticing as each day passes by. I often feel physically exhausted and sometimes unmotivated to do the work. The truth that I have found is on my own I can not meet the demands of this work. On my own I cannot complete this race I have started. The winds are beginning to blow and my mortal body isn't strong enough on its own to continue. 

But there is hope. I have found added strength beyond my own in staying focused on the simple doctrines the gospel of Jesus Christ has to offer. When I can't get out of bed, going to my knees in prayer seems to give me a breath of life for the day. When I feel unmotivated to go out, reading the scriptures and words of the past and modern day prophets gives me the desire to share this wonderful message with others. When I am at the close of the week and drained spiritually, partaking of the sacrament worthily gives me the spiritual recharge I need for another week. If I didn't stay focused on the little things, I would not be able to do this work I have been commanded to do. 

  

I began to reflect on this and realized the same is true in life. Even the strongest among us can fall if only they rely on themselves and lose focus of the pure and simple doctrines. Just like a tree, no matter its size, can whither and die if not given water to its roots, so can our spirit if it is not nourished by the living water given freely by Jesus Christ. President M. Russell Ballard taught, " When someone stops doing these simple but essentials things, they cut themselves off from the well of living water and allow Satan to muddy their thinking with his deceptively polluted water...[leaving| the spirit with counterfeit nutrition. Sin and Guilt cloud the mind... causing a 'de-conversion' from the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

None of us are exempt from the temptation of the devil. We will ALL be tried, tested and even shaken. However when built upon Jesus Christ we are promised "that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."(Helaman 5:12).

I know its not always easy, believe me. Mission isn't always sugar plums and candy canes. What I do know however, is we can only find pure joy from living the gospel of Jesus Christ. Never once has leaving behind this gospel brought lasting happiness, instead it only ever brings devastation and hardship. We will experience trials. We will experience heartache. Some days we may feel as if we can't go on. When this happens we need not lose hope but endure with faith. When we stay faithful all things will turn out for our good. Anything we may miss out on or lose will eventually be added unto us but with so much more.

This perhaps is the biggest thing I have learned so far on my mission and it has blessed my life. Love you all. Until next week

-Elder Pace