This last week, I’ve spent a lot of time studying different talks and scriptures. Before I go out and begin teaching, I want to really dig into Preach My Gospel and do as it says: study, believe, love, live and teach. Teaching scares me so much. I’ve never considered myself a good speaker. I trip over words, and I have a hard time expressing ideas. And then speaking in Portuguese is a completely different thing. When this fear creeps into my head, I remember Moses and Enoch. Both, when told to teach, were afraid because they were “slow of speech”. I think about what great leaders and examples both of these men turned out to be. The strength that the Lord gives these people is truly amazing. Have you ever just thought about how crazy awesome the story of Enoch is? He’s called to teach people who, according to scriptures, are a pretty wicked group of people. At first Enoch is afraid to go and teach these people, but my favorite thing is that the Lord responds by saying, “Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good.” Enoch ends up going and teaching these people, and they are not just converted, but they are so righteous that THE ENTIRE CITY IS RAISED UP.
“Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled.” That is such an amazing promise, and I have seen this promise fulfilled time and time again as I have seen all of these young men and women go out and teach the gospel. Just think about it. Girls and boys in their early twenties (and now younger) are going out and teaching the world how to come closer to Christ. And a lot of times they are teaching in a foreign language. Not only that, there has been SO MUCH SUCCESS! I know for a fact that if there wasn’t any form of divine intervention, there is NO WAY that this is possible.
This week, as I’ve kept Easter in mind, I’ve thought a lot about not just the redeeming factor of the atonement, but the enabling power of the atonement. I read a quote from Elder Bednar, an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which said, “I wonder if we mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities. The belief that through our own “sheer grit, willpower, and discipline” we can manage just about anything seems to be widespread these days. This simply is not true. Heavenly Father and the Savior can inspire, comfort, and strengthen us in our time of need, if we remember to cast our burdens at Their feet.”
Currently, we are living in a world where we are taught to be very independent. There is nothing wrong with being independent, but I think it’s also important to know that there are some things that we just can’t do on our own. I know that this is true. Since I have been preparing, I know that without that additional help from my Savior, I could not learn all that I need to know before I leave to teach the gospel. In order to receive that help, we need to be willing to ask for it.
“Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled.” That is such an amazing promise, and I have seen this promise fulfilled time and time again as I have seen all of these young men and women go out and teach the gospel. Just think about it. Girls and boys in their early twenties (and now younger) are going out and teaching the world how to come closer to Christ. And a lot of times they are teaching in a foreign language. Not only that, there has been SO MUCH SUCCESS! I know for a fact that if there wasn’t any form of divine intervention, there is NO WAY that this is possible.
This week, as I’ve kept Easter in mind, I’ve thought a lot about not just the redeeming factor of the atonement, but the enabling power of the atonement. I read a quote from Elder Bednar, an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which said, “I wonder if we mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities. The belief that through our own “sheer grit, willpower, and discipline” we can manage just about anything seems to be widespread these days. This simply is not true. Heavenly Father and the Savior can inspire, comfort, and strengthen us in our time of need, if we remember to cast our burdens at Their feet.”
Currently, we are living in a world where we are taught to be very independent. There is nothing wrong with being independent, but I think it’s also important to know that there are some things that we just can’t do on our own. I know that this is true. Since I have been preparing, I know that without that additional help from my Savior, I could not learn all that I need to know before I leave to teach the gospel. In order to receive that help, we need to be willing to ask for it.