This past week was a bit discouraging for Elder Bennion and I. We got a few references and finally found a way to get out and work. We were super stoked to actually go and find some people! (it's really hard as an office elder.) One day we had like 8 or 9 visits planned. We walked all over and were so ready for these visits....and we had 0. No one let us in, or they weren't home, or didn't have time. I thought about that this week a lot. I mean, we had finally made a huge effort to get out of the office this week, and what happened? Absolutely nothing. It really frustrated me. I always talk with Hermana Grossen. She told me about an elder who had a bit of a pride problem. I told her that I've always had a bit of the same problem. Really anything that I have ever wanted to do (besides singing and dancing) I've been able to do, and I can do it fairly well. But here in the mission, your talents don't get you very far. They can take you places, but not to the places where you really want or need to be. I've started to view this week as a humbling experience....to remind me that in those times when I get a little puffed up and feel on top of the world, that I just need to take it down a few notches and remember who I'm here for, what I'm doing, and what my job really is.
Because I've had some very reflective moments this week, I for some reason started writing a poem. And I have like three now. This is the only one in English that I wrote so I wanted to throw it in here as part of my thoughts this week. It's not very good, or very finished, but I think I'll call it:
It Doesn't Matter
I spent all day working in service of God
just to find someone who would give me a nod
in response to the question, "Will you be baptized?"
and finally they start to see through God's eyes.
Some tell me I'm stupid, I'm dumb, that I'm blind
that "Why?" would anyone waste so much time?
I tell them that I'm unashamed of Christ
and these'll be the best two years of my life.
But it doesn't matter, 'cause I'm here to serve;
giving these people the love they deserve.
The Lord will prepare me; he'll be by my side,
all the way until the end of this life.
Rejection has become a fact of my life
I hope that it isn't this way with my wife
I've been laughed at and yelled at and spit on and robbed
But Christ is the reason I keep pushing on.
Some days I don't rest; some days I don't sleep
thinking of those over whom I have keep.
I'm here for them; for these people I've cried
I love them so much that I'd give my own life.
But it doesn't matter, 'cause I'm here to serve
giving these people the love they deserve.
The Lord will prepare me; he'll be by my side,
all the way until the end of this life.
I'm not sure why or how I started writing but I did, and that's what came out. I've kind of come to the determination that it really just doesn't matter what people think. All that matters is the work we're doing here, serving the people, and helping them to come unto Christ. It's the work of God, and it's the most important work on this earth. We're here to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man, as we know is God's purpose for all of us here. It's that we can all achieve that eternal life, get sealed in the temple, and live with our loved ones forever in the presence of our Heavenly Father. I'm so grateful that I have that with my family, and that one day I'll have a beautiful wife and children that I'll live with forever.
I want to share a scripture with you all, that's found in 1 Corinthians 13:11. It says: "11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." One of my buds showed this scripture to me this week and we thought it was hilarious, but then I really started to think about it. It's one of my favorites right now. I didn't think about it in a literal sense....not as if we're talking about children becoming adults. But simply as someone maturing. It is time for all of us to become men or women, and to put away our childish things. We must realize what's happening in the world and what our role is! We have to stand up for Christ and his teachings. That really hit me this week. I need to stop playing around and start being a man of Christ, like it mentions in Helaman 3:29.....we all do.
I know without a single doubt that now, if ever, is the time for us to be true discipulos of Jesus Christ. I know that in doing so, he will stand by us, and strengthen us, and help us. I know that He loves us with all of his being, so much that we'll never be able to understand. That's why he sacrificed himself for us, so that one day we can live with our heavenly father once more. I love this gospel so much, and I know that it's true.
I hope all of you have a great week!
Love, Elder Jones
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