Always Choose the Painful of Discipline
This week was sooooooo good. We went on exchanges with three different
companionships this week!!! I was out of our area for 4 days. It was a
good chance for sister Feinga to get better acquainted to the new area
and honestly it was a much needed thing for me. I was in Little Rock
for a few days doing exchanges with the ASL sisters and the Hermanas
so there were also a few different languages thrown in there. I also
went to Hot Springs: the boyhood home of Bill Clinton. The highlight
of my week was Saturday. Elder Jörg Klebingat of the first quorum of
the seventy did a mission tour with us. I can't put into words how
much I learned and felt and experienced so I won't even try. I can
tell you, I know that my Heavenly Father is aware of me and loves me.
I had a very spiritual and perfect witness of that this weekend. One
concept that Elder Klebingat touched on that was particularity
impactful to me is the difference between the pain of discipline and
the pain of regret. Think about that. I know that we've all felt the
pain of regret. I've felt that pain so deeply that it was almost
debilitating. It's miserable and it's dark and it's lasting. On the
other hand, the pain of discipline is momentary pain that comes when
we choose to do something good and right even though it may be
difficult. The pain of discipline brings joy while the pain of regret
brings sorrow. Over the past couple of days I've tried to apply that
principle as literally as possible. When making any decision I've
asked myself, would I rather go through the pain of discipline or the
pain of regret? Every time gone through this process, I mentally
choose the pain of disciple and then righteous action follows. I
invite all of you to always choose the pain of discipline over the
pain of regret. A few other things were made very clear to me from our
meeting with Elder Klebingat. First is that Heavenly Fathers plan is
so much greater than we can comprehend. We did not begin to exist at
birth and we will not cease to exist after death. I better understand
who I was and what I agreed to before coming to this earth and that is
motivating me to work harder than ever before. Second is that we need
to know the scriptures, and we need to know them well. The third is
that for any of us to "make it" in these last days we are going to
have to gain and sustain our own unshakable testimony of Jesus Christ
and of the restoration of the gospel. I know that Jesus Christ lives
and is our Savior every single day. I know that Joseph Smith saw God
the Father and the Son. I know that the Book of Mormon is scripture
and will bring us nearer to God than any other book, if we will abide
by its teachings. I know that the pain of discipline is always worth
it.
Hope y'all have a great week!
Pics
Exchanges!
Sis gunnerson killing a spider (it was faster than her)
I love Hermana Hunt!!
I carried this butterfly on my finger for a quarter mile not kidding
Exchanges!!!
After the mission tour with SL (sister lange)
Hey sorry y'all apparently this never sent. This is last weeks update. (October 2nd No pics as of yet?)
Hey everyone! Another week in Little Rock. We've found some cool new
people to teach but the struggle has been teaching them a second time.
It's been a bit discouraging, but we prevail. This morning I was
reading in the Book of Mormon in Alma chapter 8. At this point Alma
the younger is preaching the gospel to various groups of people. After
having success and baptizing many in one area that he goes to, Alma
heads to the city of Ammonihah. Well, "Now Satan had gotten great hold
upon the hearts of the people of the city of Ammonihah; therefore they
would not hearken unto the words of Alma". These people rejected Alma,
spit on him and kicked him out of the city. Nobody spit on me this
week or said, "get out of Little Rock", but we did face a lot of
rejection. Well, Alma left Ammonihah and the scriptures say, "And it
came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being weighed down
with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul,
because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of
Ammonihah, it came to pass while Alma was thus weighed down with
sorrow, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him..". You could
say I've been a little weighed down with sorrow and had a bit of soul
anguish as I've thought of all of my brothers and sisters around me
who, at this time, may not be open to the message of the restoration.
Well, the angel that visited Alma told him to go back to the city, and
Alma does go back, "speedily" I might add. It says that Alma "entered
the city by another way" and this time, he was received by a man named
Amulek who had been prepared by the Lord. Amulek became Alma's
missionary companion and together they preached the gospel. As I read
this I thought about what the Lord wants me to do right now, even
though things are hard in Little Rock and rejection is frequent. I
think He wants me to keep trying. I think He wants me to "enter by
another way" and not give up. I'm thankful for the scriptures and the
lessons they teach. General conference was a great spiritual
experience and I hope you all had the chance to tune in. If not, I
invite you to read the conference talks when they are released. Study
them. Apply them. Be blessed.
I love y'all, have a great week and I LOVE OCTOBER HAPPY FALL (unless
if you're in Arkansas, it's still summer here)
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