This week was good! It was nice to not have anything too crazy, and be in somewhat of a normal schedule! We did some good proselyting on the streets-- it is fun with Elder Y. We like to run around when it is cold, it helps us stay warm and especially to meet our goal. President Jeong made a mission goal for each missionary to give out 2 Book of Mormons per day, and to meet 3 people who are willing to meet again and exchange contact information with them... It isn't easy, and sometimes we don't have much time, but I love having goals to work towards! Simple goals give you direction and motivation to go farther than you ordinarily would!
Well sadly I told you all about the police station people, but they were unable to meet due to a sudden training they had to attend, so we are going to try to re-schedule a time... this week might be hard. We have all the zone conferences this week, so it will be fun to see friends in the mission! And Thursday-Saturday we will be in Jeju Island-- I have always wanted to go there, so that will be a cool experience! Ironically, I hear it is pretty cold there...
As for winter Olympics... we see advertisements and things, but that is about it! It is kind of far from us. I wish we were close by!
This week the topic of Zone Conference is "Repentance and a New Beginning"... As a missionary I have come to think about repentance a little differently. In PMG, it teaches, "as we repent daily, we will find that our lives will change and improve. Our hearts and our behavior will become more Christlike. " I love that quote-- and one more that I will share with it: "When a person has gone through the repentance process, the Savior does more than cleanse that person from sin—He also gives him or her new strength. That strengthening is essential for us to realize the purpose of the cleansing, which is to return to our Heavenly Father. To be admitted to His presence, we must be more than clean."
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| (Picture from the mission president of them on Jeju Island) |
Repentance is tied to daily improvement and becoming happier and more successful in life-- to overcoming not only sin, but also weakness, poor habits, lack of self-discipline or laziness, or any area in our lives in which we fall short.
I believe there is great power in speaking openly to Heavenly Father, in sharing our goals and plans with Him, and telling Him how we plan to achieve them, and then asking for His strength and guidance as we fulfill those plans.
I know we can repent of sin, and I know that through repentance we can find more joy. We can improve daily, we can change. One great time to pick something to improve on is the time leading up to the sacrament, where we can bring our own weakness as an offering to give up, to be more like Christ.
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| (Picture/oil painting app? from the mission president) |
Lastly, I will share one more quote from Elder Holland: "When you have sinned and recognized the seriousness of your mistakes, your most crucial challenge will be to believe that you can change, that there can be a different you. To disbelieve that is clearly a Satanic device designed to discourage and defeat you. Repentance is not a foreboding word. It is, following faith, the most encouraging word in the Christian vocabulary. You can change! You can be anything you want to be in righteousness."
I know that that is true! Love you!
Elder Beckett
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