I started getting an email called "Gods Army" awhile ago and never knew the source. It's an email sent out to missionaries around the world. In each email there is a fun picture, a gospel quote, a little news-bit from the last week, and other random tidbits of information. Since I was the only one I knew of that was getting I just kept reading them happily on my own. One day I noticed that you can send them email addresses of other missionaries that would like to receive this Weekly letter! So I decided to reference a few friends. Today I got on and had not ONE but TWO emails from "Gods Army". One, the regular Weekly letter. Two, a little note from a friend back in Hawaii saying that it was he who made and sent out this newsletter every week! I am so amazed at the talents that people have. I can't believe that someone I met only a few times got an idea, put in a little time and effort, and is changing the lives of missionaries every week! I'm proud to call you a friend! (I'll keep your name a secret. Just for the fun of it!)
SOME WORDS
that I wrote in my study journal this morning.
Something that I have noticed in a lot of return-missionaries is that they come home and are completely lost. When asked about any “favorites” or “hobbies” they answer “… I dunno”. Everything that existed before no longer applies and the future is shockingly unknown. They went on a mission and quickly (or sometimes slowly) grasp the concept of “lose yourself in the work”. So with all the energy of heart they lose themselves so that they can serve others! The work they do during those two years or eighteen months is undoubtedly the most important to what they've accomplished thus far. However I've noticed that as soon as this time is up, the work they've done has robbed them of the most important part of God’s work – themselves.
It’s true that they only honest way to serve a mission is to lose yourself in the work. You no longer come first. It’s either your companion, or your mission president, or an investigator, a member, or a bus driver, or your neighbor, and above all else the Lord. But what is supposed to happen once we lose ourselves? Are we to be tied down away from everything that we've ever known and never expect to return? And if we do return is it on a specific day? At the airport? At our Homecoming? Our first day back at school? Our wedding day? My questions is this; if not now… then when? When the prophet Alma and Amulek were in bondage they prayed “O Lord? O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ” and they immediately broke the cords from which they were bound. (Alma 14:26)
Even truer than serving an honest mission by losing ourselves is that as we serve others we FIND ourselves. We can forget everything that held us back. We can leave behind everything that has ever hurt us. We can break the cords that bind us and come back even stronger than before. And we can come back TODAY.
How can we expect the Lord to serve through us if we have little of ourselves to offer? Once we give ourselves completely to the Lord we can’t expect him to pick up our feet for us, or open our mouths, or bring our cheeks up to a smile. We have to continue to be. We have to regain ourselves! As we give to Him, he gives to us! As the Prophet Isaiah said “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.” (2 Nephi 22:2) He offers to strengthen us, uplift us, guide us, love us, build us, change us, and work miracles through us! I fully intend on humbly using and graciously accepting all of the blessings the Lord has offered.
Being just one day under 6 months as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I am the happiest I've ever been! I can’t bear to see the blank stares of lost missionaries. It hurts me to see a stiff smile that quickly vanishes after the lesson is over. It breaks my heart to hear the pains of going home and leaving behind this wonderful place. It makes me sad because I know that this is not how the Lord wants us to feel. He wants us to sing! To cheer and praise! To cry out with Joy! Not just for moments, or for now, but forever! While I’m happier than ever before I still look forward to what lies ahead. To experience the next 12 months. To go home. To get married. To keep building God’s Kingdom! And I pray that as I serve I will keep finding myself. I pray that I will stay smiling! I pray that I will find those qualities and characteristics that God has given me and put them to good use. And I pray that along the way I can help others do the same.
That was long, huh? It should be. It took me a whole hour of personal study before I realized how much I had written. I ended up teaching myself a lot of things that I needed to learn. My mission President emailed us all this morning and talked about how sometimes our own memories and experiences are the best tools to learn from! He's right. You learn things and then suddenly your stuck in a similar predicament asking for help again! We really can learn a lot from our own mistakes and victories and challenges. It just takes a little thinking and time to organize our thoughts.
UPDATE ON BUILDING
because it's the thing that I do the worst! I love helping out at Habitat for Humanity and I always come away with good stories. So the insulation burn that I had on my wrist is almost all cleared up now. In good time to head back and get to work again! Only I wasn't inside with a step-ladder and some yellow puffy stuff anymore, I was out on a ledge holding power-tools. We built the roof of the patio this last weekend and let me tell you it's a LOT more rewarding than shingling. With the skill-set that I'm getting here I could get any job when I get home. I could teach English Second Language, or become a Physician's Assistant, or a Contractor, or a Sailor, or a Chef, or a House-keeper, or a Manager. I mean when you put your life in the Lord's hands he really gets you working! Most importantly, I can teach people about theeeee.....
GOSPEL!
We have a new investigator! We met him by chance one night as we were leaving a Brazilian home where we teach English. He gave us a ride home and seemed interested in the church but he mentioned he already knew members so we handed the job over to them. We told the members that they should talk to him more and see if he wants to know more! I guess Nico was interested insomething because we eventually got back in touch and he asked if we could see him. We met outside of the DQ and had the briefest lesson I've ever taught. We had to catch a bus but we had about 26 minutes to talk. We explained what missionaries do and asked what he knows about God already. We told him that we can help others come closer to Christ and he said, "I want that". We left feeling very excited! Ok we left feeling stoooked! Even though he can't read too well we gave him a Book of Mormon and read some of it with him. It was a really good lesson and we can't wait to teach him again! It's always nerve-wracking when you start teaching new people because you never know what they feel in-between lessons. We hope he still wants to learn and we hope that the member friend will help us out! But we officially have an investigator here on Martha's Vineyard!
OH
we didn't get to hold a baby lamb. But we met a cool sheep named Molly. I fed her one of my carrots and I think we're best friends now.
LIFE IS A MISSION!
love you all so much
Sister Hileman
It’s true that they only honest way to serve a mission is to lose yourself in the work. You no longer come first. It’s either your companion, or your mission president, or an investigator, a member, or a bus driver, or your neighbor, and above all else the Lord. But what is supposed to happen once we lose ourselves? Are we to be tied down away from everything that we've ever known and never expect to return? And if we do return is it on a specific day? At the airport? At our Homecoming? Our first day back at school? Our wedding day? My questions is this; if not now… then when? When the prophet Alma and Amulek were in bondage they prayed “O Lord? O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ” and they immediately broke the cords from which they were bound. (Alma 14:26)
Even truer than serving an honest mission by losing ourselves is that as we serve others we FIND ourselves. We can forget everything that held us back. We can leave behind everything that has ever hurt us. We can break the cords that bind us and come back even stronger than before. And we can come back TODAY.
How can we expect the Lord to serve through us if we have little of ourselves to offer? Once we give ourselves completely to the Lord we can’t expect him to pick up our feet for us, or open our mouths, or bring our cheeks up to a smile. We have to continue to be. We have to regain ourselves! As we give to Him, he gives to us! As the Prophet Isaiah said “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.” (2 Nephi 22:2) He offers to strengthen us, uplift us, guide us, love us, build us, change us, and work miracles through us! I fully intend on humbly using and graciously accepting all of the blessings the Lord has offered.
Being just one day under 6 months as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I am the happiest I've ever been! I can’t bear to see the blank stares of lost missionaries. It hurts me to see a stiff smile that quickly vanishes after the lesson is over. It breaks my heart to hear the pains of going home and leaving behind this wonderful place. It makes me sad because I know that this is not how the Lord wants us to feel. He wants us to sing! To cheer and praise! To cry out with Joy! Not just for moments, or for now, but forever! While I’m happier than ever before I still look forward to what lies ahead. To experience the next 12 months. To go home. To get married. To keep building God’s Kingdom! And I pray that as I serve I will keep finding myself. I pray that I will stay smiling! I pray that I will find those qualities and characteristics that God has given me and put them to good use. And I pray that along the way I can help others do the same.
That was long, huh? It should be. It took me a whole hour of personal study before I realized how much I had written. I ended up teaching myself a lot of things that I needed to learn. My mission President emailed us all this morning and talked about how sometimes our own memories and experiences are the best tools to learn from! He's right. You learn things and then suddenly your stuck in a similar predicament asking for help again! We really can learn a lot from our own mistakes and victories and challenges. It just takes a little thinking and time to organize our thoughts.
UPDATE ON BUILDING
because it's the thing that I do the worst! I love helping out at Habitat for Humanity and I always come away with good stories. So the insulation burn that I had on my wrist is almost all cleared up now. In good time to head back and get to work again! Only I wasn't inside with a step-ladder and some yellow puffy stuff anymore, I was out on a ledge holding power-tools. We built the roof of the patio this last weekend and let me tell you it's a LOT more rewarding than shingling. With the skill-set that I'm getting here I could get any job when I get home. I could teach English Second Language, or become a Physician's Assistant, or a Contractor, or a Sailor, or a Chef, or a House-keeper, or a Manager. I mean when you put your life in the Lord's hands he really gets you working! Most importantly, I can teach people about theeeee.....
GOSPEL!
We have a new investigator! We met him by chance one night as we were leaving a Brazilian home where we teach English. He gave us a ride home and seemed interested in the church but he mentioned he already knew members so we handed the job over to them. We told the members that they should talk to him more and see if he wants to know more! I guess Nico was interested insomething because we eventually got back in touch and he asked if we could see him. We met outside of the DQ and had the briefest lesson I've ever taught. We had to catch a bus but we had about 26 minutes to talk. We explained what missionaries do and asked what he knows about God already. We told him that we can help others come closer to Christ and he said, "I want that". We left feeling very excited! Ok we left feeling stoooked! Even though he can't read too well we gave him a Book of Mormon and read some of it with him. It was a really good lesson and we can't wait to teach him again! It's always nerve-wracking when you start teaching new people because you never know what they feel in-between lessons. We hope he still wants to learn and we hope that the member friend will help us out! But we officially have an investigator here on Martha's Vineyard!
OH
we didn't get to hold a baby lamb. But we met a cool sheep named Molly. I fed her one of my carrots and I think we're best friends now.
LIFE IS A MISSION!
love you all so much
Sister Hileman
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