The Errand of Angels: Week 11 Project Purification sounds like a spiritual marathon

Hello Everyone!

I love being a missionary!!!! If you need a little more happiness in your life, find someone to share your testimony with or someone to serve. Heavenly Father will bless you with an added measure of joy :)

I am so grateful to be here and I LOVE the work. I know that I am here because Heavenly Father wants me to be and I want to ensure that I am always using His time wisely and following the Spirit. I also realize though that I have much to learn and we cannot become perfect in a day (or even in the first three months of being a missionary... wow, is that anniversary coming up soon?!).

There are many miracles in the work because it is God's work. 

A highlight of the week was definitely baptism of our awesome 13-year old investigator. Not only was it exciting to see him get baptized (he was so ready!) by his grandfather, but we also had an investigator who came that absolutely loved the service. We gave her a church tour afterwards and she felt at peace, at home. It was beautiful. I am excited to work more with her. She is very humble and sweet and keeps on reading and praying about The Book of Mormon. Oh, and I gave a talk about baptism at the baptism. Our investigator come up afterwards and complemented me by saying, "You are a preacher!" She is so cute. She is from Jamaica. I totally appreciated her compliment. Yay for the Spirit!

Also, this week has been cool in regard to realizing the very wide variety of people we are teaching. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has entrusted such individuals to us. I am especially grateful because some of these individuals have a lot of barriers to overcome and it makes me feel comforted to know that Heavenly Father is on my side and that the Spirit is the one that has to convert and not me. I love seeing people slowly become closer to Christ and slowly become converting. This work is so rewarding. Wow, I love it.

My mission zone is doing something right now called "Project Purification." Essentially for the next 40 days (now 32 days) we give up everything distracting us from the work and dedicate ourselves to do everything that we can to find success in the Lord's eyes. This has been a challenge because its changing hearts and habits. You have a list of these things and it sort of develops over time as you add to it. I have learned that I have much to approve upon. I am grateful to learn these things at the start of my mission. Every morning you promise to do or not do the things on your list and every night you follow up with Heavenly Father about how it went. I have not been perfect at this over the last 8 days, but I am so grateful that I am doing this because praying about each of those things specifically has helped remind me to do or not do those things, especially when the time comes to make the choice. Wow, I love it! I have felt an extra measure of help from my Heavenly Father in the work, but also an extra measure of pressure from the adversary because I am trying so hard. Luckily, I have the gift of the Holy Ghost and I know that Heavenly Father will not let me fail if I turn to Him and allow the Atonement of Jesus Christ to enable me with power every step of the way.

I love how the Atonement is described in a talk, "His Grace is Sufficient," by Brad Wilcox (http://www.lds.org/new-era/2012/08/his-grace-is-sufficient?lang=eng&query=his+grace+sufficient). My invitation to all of you this week is to read this talk and write in your journal what you can do to be more "changed by grace" and "learn Heaven."

Trusting in Christ enough to use his Atonement at all times takes faith. I am grateful to a Priesthood leader of mine who shared with me his testimony of faith this week. Here are some quotes he shared with it. I hope that he doesn't mind me sharing his testimony. It was so simple yet so beautiful and powerful:

 "To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone.  The Lord has revealed himself and his perfect character, possessing in their fulness all the attributes of love, knowledge, justice, mercy, unchangeableness, power, and every other needful thing, so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in him without reservation.   (Bible Dictionary, p. 669)

 “Faith is a principle of action and of power, and by it one can command the elements and/or heal the sick, or influence any number of circumstances when occasion warrants.  Even more important, by faith one obtains a remission of sins and eventually can stand in the presence of God.  All true faith must be based upon correct knowledge or it cannot produce the desired results.  Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel and is more than belief, since true faith always moves its possessor to some kind of physical and mental action; it carries an assurance of the fulfillment of the things hoped for.  . . Where there is true faith there are miracles, visions, dreams, healings, and all the gifts of God that he gives to his saints. . .” (Bible Dictionary p. 670)

I'm thankful that the first principle of the gospel is faith in Jesus Christ. What a blessing to know that Jesus Christ is always available to us and that through Him we can obtain our fondest desires. He is the source of all good things. What a blessing it is that He invites us to come unto Him.  What a blessing that He allows us to extend that invitation to others.

Here are some thoughts from my Mission President:

"A simple, eternal truth is that our true happiness is found in seeking the happiness of others. 

We know that Alma and the sons of Mosiah “were men of sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God. But this was not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting”… Alma 17:2-3They were not content to casually prepare to be missionaries. There is a price to pay to know God-and they paid it. We can say the right words and teach correct principles, but to preach with power, we must pay the price…we must demand more of ourselves every day. Ask yourself if what you’re doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow. If you want to be as good as Ammon, you need to demand more of yourself. 

“Since time is so precious a commodity, we must not be dismayed when the time permitted to savor success seems so small on occasion.  High moments are soon followed by fresh challenges.  It could scarcely be otherwise, for none of us would for long want to be banqueting over our blessings while others stood without, waiting for the touch of our lives and talents.” Neal A. Maxwell.  

Sisters and Elders “wherefore you must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ” 2 Nephi 31:20. never being content with what was OK yesterday. I promise you that as you demand more of yourselves, your capacity to work will increase. ..and ‘angels will be round about you to bear you up.’"

I know that through the Atonement of Christ we can become better each day. He will help us. He will enable us to become our best selves and then tomorrow become even better. Do not get discouraged if improvement and perfection does not come today. Just like it mentioned in the talk by Brad Wilcox, we are learning Heaven. Learning takes time. Changing takes time. Christ will help us every step of the way.

I love you all! Thank you for your support and prayers!!

Sister Jenkins