A Day In The Life Of A Sister Missionary

If I had a nickel for how many times I've been asked what I do all day on my mission I would have... a lot of nickels. I've spent the last 16 months of my life as a missionary and sometimes I forget that regular life is a little different than missionary life! Today I'll take you through a normal day in the life of a sister missionary serving in Mesa, Arizona, plus a little bit about our purpose as missionaries and why we do what we do.

Arising at 6:30 AM this is the first thing I put on in the morning! For 18 months I have the immense privilege of wearing Christ's name over my heart. Wearing my name tag gives me a sense of purpose and responsibility to tell people about Christ and how He has helped me and so many millions of other people on the Earth.

On to the morning routine!

We missionaries have to take care of ourselves!

If we're expected to teach people about Christ and the gospel, we better know what we're talking about! Luckily we have two hours every single day to study, both personally and as a companionship, the Book of Mormon, the Bible, Preach My Gospel (the missionary guidebook), and lots of other resources to build both our knowledge and our testimonies of the restored gospel.

"Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men."

D&C 11:21

Here in Mesa we have the wonderful opportunity to share the gospel online! We use Facebook, Skype, and blogs (like this one!) to spread the good word of the gospel.

Lunch time!

Eating is probably my favorite hobby besides sharing the gospel.

Then off we go!! My companion and I are in charge of two wards (congregations) and our job is to share what we know to be true with everyone! We have lessons with people that we are already teaching, we talk to people on the street, we do service for people, we visit those who are already members of our wards, we do all sorts of things!

This brings me to our purpose as missionaries. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel, through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

We aren't here to prove anything, we don't want to force anything on anyone, we are simply out here on our missions because we have found happiness through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the last General Conference Elder David A Bednar gave a wonderful talk about why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has such a large missionary force. He said... 

"When we invite you to attend church with us or to learn with the full-time missionaries, we are not trying to sell you a product. As members of the Church, we do not receive prizes or bonus points in a heavenly contest. We are not seeking simply to increase the numerical size of the Church. And most importantly, we are not attempting to coerce you to believe as we do. We are inviting you to hear the restored truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ so you can study, ponder, pray, and come to know for yourself if the things we are sharing with you are true."

(You can read his full address here: Come and See)

Our Heavenly Father has given us the beautiful gift of agency, the ability to choose whether we will be obedient to the commandments He has given us. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ we want everyone to have the opportunity to study out this gospel and discover that it's true for themselves.

I have met so many people on my mission that were searching for the truth. They looked and looked and searched but never found the absolute and complete truth. But when we introduced them to the Book of Mormon they start finding answers! We never ask anyone to take our word for anything, we simply invite them to read the Book of Mormon, learn about the gospel, and pray about the things they learn.

So why am I choosing to give a year and half of my life to be a missionary? Why am I making so many sacrifices to hopefully help at least one person come closer to Christ? Because this gospel saves my life every single day. I can't not share the thing that has single handedly brought me the most happiness in my life with the world. I wouldn't be showing gratitude to my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ, if I didn't give everyone I meet an opportunity to feel that same happiness.

Whether the people I meet accept my invitation or not, it doesn't make or break my testimony. I know that I am doing right because of the happiness I feel every single time I read the Book of Mormon or pray to my Heavenly Father.

I simply love God, Jesus Christ, and the gifts they have given me. Nothing more than that.

The most gratifying part of being a missionary.... seeing others come unto Christ!

So there you have it. A day in the life of a sister missionary and what goes through her head almost every single day. Hopefully you can understand a little bit more about why we do what we do

Finally, at the end of the day, we go home to our apartment, plan for the next day, pray, and hit the sack by 10:30, ready to get up the next day and do it all over again.

Approaching The Throne Of God With Confidence

I hope you all enjoyed General Conference a few weekends ago! I always love being uplifted and taught by prophets of God! Today, I want to share one of my very favorite talks from this past General Conference.

Elder Jörg Klebingat of the Seventy gave a talk titled Approaching the Throne of God with Confidence. He started his address with these two questions; on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your spiritual confidence before God? and what thoughts would come to mind if you had a personal interview with your Savior one minute from now? Immediately this caught my attention! What would I do if I was to meet my Savior today? Would I be confident in answering His questions or would I think back on all the things I may have done wrong in this life?

Sure, there are probably some people in the world that can honestly say they would be perfectly confident in meeting God today, but I think a majority of the world would be at least a little nervous about it! I know I would be! And I know that's a sign that I need to improve my spiritual confidence!

While Satan will do all he can to destroy our spiritual confidence, it is 100% our choice to act and change to build that confidence! Elder Klebingat gave six suggestions on how we can improve our spiritual confidence. Remember, these suggestions will only work if you take the initiative and act for yourself.

First, take responsibility for your own spiritual well-being.

Take control! It's your spirit! Don't let the mistakes or decisions of others control how spiritually confident you are or are not. 2 Nephi 2:27 says "men are free according to the flesh... they are free to choose liberty and eternal life...or to choose captivity and death..." Only YOU can make this choice for yourself! Don't blame others or rely on others.

"Spiritual confidence increases when you take responsibility for your own spiritual well-being by applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ daily."

Second, take responsibility for your own physical well-being.

I'm telling you guys, this is a big deal! I know that when I've been in peak physical condition I've also been in peak spiritual condition. When I slack and don't take care of my body I can feel my spiritual "fitness" weakening as well. Taking control of the "natural man (or woman)" inside of us and controlling our appetites shows that our spirits are stronger than our bodies.
"Spiritual confidence increases when your spirit, with the help of the Savior, is truly in charge of your natural man or woman."

Third, embrace voluntary, wholehearted obedience as part of your life.
John 14:15 states: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." It's as simple as that. We cannot expect to receive all the blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for us if we are not abiding by all His rules. On a mission, the concept of exact obedience is pounded pretty hard into your head. And for good reason! I have felt the blessings that come when I consciously make the effort to be as exactly obedient as I can be.
"Spiritual confidence increases when you are truly striving, for the right reasons, to live a consecrated life in spite of your imperfections." 

Fourth, become really, really good at repenting thoroughly and quickly.
I've found in my own life that if I like doing something I'm a lot more likely to do it over and over again. I've come to LOVE repenting! That's why I enjoy doing it every single day! Not a day goes by where I don't make at least one little mistake (a shocker, I know) so I try to never let a day go by without seeking forgiveness from my Heavenly Father. As I try to keep myself as "unspotted from the world" (D&C 59:9) as possible I can feel my relationships with Christ and God growing stronger and closer.
"Spiritual confidence increases when you voluntarily and joyfully repent of sins, both small and great, in real time by applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ."

Fifth, become really, really good at forgiving.
"I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men." (D&C 64:10) The commandment applies to all of us. When we forgive everyone it is so much easier to feel the forgiveness we need from our Heavenly Father.
"Spiritual confidence increases when you know that the Lord knows that you bear no ill feelings toward another soul."

Lastly, accept trials, setbacks, and "surprises" as part of your mortal experience.
I'm going to let you all in on a little secret: this world is very, very far from perfect. Sometimes things don't go completely as planned. And that is totally and completely okay. We are on this earth to be tested and tried. If our purpose is to go through trials and find joy through overcoming them, then why not rejoice when a trial comes our way? Sure, it's going to be hard, but it's an opportunity to prove that you can do hard things and remain faithful! Don't be freaked out by the fact that you have a few weaknesses. If we didn't have weaknesses this life would hardly matter. Use those weaknesses to improve and progress.
"Spiritual confidence increases when you accept that 'often trials and tribulations are allowed to come into your life because of what you are doing right'"

Everyone reading this, whether you are a bishop, a new convert to the church, an average Relief Society member, or someone who doesn't know much about religion at all, everyone can increase their spiritual confidence. I know that through all of these suggestions Elder Klebingat gave us we can become confident in the sight of our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

I invite everyone to evaluate your confidence before God and act accordingly.

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

Ether 12:27

Part 2: Faith in Jesus Christ

Part 2 of your favorite blog series is finally here! Enjoy this Mormon Message to start it off!

In my last post I addressed the topic of the Atonement and how we can cleansed from sin. The next posts will be about the steps we need to take to claim that wonderful gift! And it all starts with faith.

Let's define faith.

"And now as I said concerning faith-- faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."

Alma 32:21

So faith is believing in something you can't see or prove. In the Mormon Message above we find a few really beautiful examples of having faith in Christ. In the Bible, Esther is faced with a difficult choice to make. She knew fully well that she could be killed for approaching the king but she also knew she had to defend her people. She had faith that because she was making the right decision she would be protected.

Christ has the desire to bless us, forgive us, protect us, He is waiting for us to exercise our faith and seek out those blessings that He has waiting for us.

"Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him."
1 Nephi 7:12

In Preach My Gospel we find what happens when we exercise that faith in Christ:

"When we have faith in Christ, we accept and apply His Atonement and His teachings. We trust Him and what He says. We know that He has the power to keep His promises. Heavenly Father blesses those who have faith to obey His Son."
PMG, pg 61

I have been so blessed on my mission to be able to witness so many people exercising their faith in Christ and acting on that faith by being baptized! Taking the physical steps to follow Christ is a big way to increase our faith and build our testimonies.

So we know what faith is, we know why need it, and we know who our faith should be in. But HOW can we build our faith?

"But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can find place for a portion of my words."
Alma 32:27

Building your faith might start simply desiring to have faith! Hoping but not yet believing that something is true is a perfectly acceptable start. And the next step? Experiment on the word. Try it out! Take a small step into the dark by reading the Book of Mormon, meeting with the missionaries, or making that goal to be baptized.

"Now we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves -- it must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea it beginneth to be delicious unto me.

Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge."
Alma 32:28-29

I invite you all to increase your faith in Christ. Just try it out. Trying praying a little bit more or reading your scriptures a little bit more. I can promise you will feel the Spirit and you will know that Christ is your Savior.