Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Am I still fishing?

Hey mom,
 
Zone conference was amazing. President Weston is such a man, he is so good about inspiring us and helping us find the desire in our own hearts and working for that. He is very smart. So he gave all of us a challenge. By the time we have zone conference again, sometime is Feb, that we finish the Book of Mormon and we highlight like four different things. And every time we study we have to have a prayer before and after and ask our Heavenly Father if the book is true. He said doing this will change our lives. I love being invited to change my life! 

Life is wonderful. We are being so blessed here its almost unbelievable. I love it. We are teaching these two YSA girls and they both now have dates for Dec 1 and Dec 8th.  They are both doing great things in their lives. I want to talk about one of them in particular. She understands the gospel so much. We taught her the Plan of Salvation (with the wood things Dad gave me) and then I picked up all the pieces and gave it to her and said now you do it and also explain it to us. She gave probably the most beautiful testimony on the Plan of Salvation that I ever had heard. She did all of that while correctly placing the wooden shapes in order and she told us what each of them meant to her. And after she was like "I understand why you guys focus so much on missionary work. This needs to be spread." She has expressed a desire to serve a mission. Man that would be....amazing to say the least. 

I have been pondering a lot on a couple things. First testimony and conversion and also the talk which Elder Holland gave which talked about Peter and why he was still fishing. I have come to realize that when someone has been converted they change. They have a complete 180 on what they say, think, and do. They have no more desire to do evil, yes they still fall but they have a drive to follow and keep the commandments. They are focused on Christ and His Atonement. I have been looking a lot for things like that in myself and others around me and it is really interesting. 

Now to my other subject which goes hand and hand... I have been thinking a lot about my own conversion and what I used to do before my mission. There were a lot of interesting things that I did but I will just say fishing because that works well. But I was thinking more deeply about my conversion and a couple questions came to my mind. First of all where am I and where am I going? Am I ever still fishing? Am I making decisions and choices that lead me to the Savior or to satan? Whenever I think about fishing I say to myself and sometimes out loud "Stop fishing Elder Simons". (I have got my companion into the habit too) It really helps us focus on where we are on missions and to focus on our conversions. A true conversion would be where someone has no desire to re-do the evils and maybe not just the evils but also the things I was doing well enough. A true conversion is when someone has turned their back on that promising and striving to never go back. So are we  converted? I hope so. 

This is such a wonderful time of the year. I hope we all can focus on Christ and what He has so willingly done for us. It is easier for me because I teach of Christ and I testify of Christ all day long so He is always in my head. I'm lucky I do not have to deal with all of the many distractions we as humans have put in our own lives. I love my Savior and I'm grateful for the many things He personally has blessed me with. I love my family. I would do anything for any one of them and I hope they know that. I love how much they support me and bless me. I love anyone who is reading this email. I'm thankful for the support you give me in any way. I love you all!

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