Sunday, April 20, 2014

Gratitude

From: "Heath Tenney" 
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2014 11:41:18 AM

Hey family and friends! 
1st of all, Happy Birthday to the greatest Mom in the world. She is such an inspiration to me. She is one of the only people I know that by just being around her, you can be filled with a desire to serve others more. Which is exactly how the Savior is. I am so grateful for her Christlike example. I love you Mom! 

This week was kind of hard for me, but great. Serving in a new area is always hard for me because I want to go 100 miles per hour and give everything, but it is hard to do when I know nothing about the area. But it was great and I am getting more and more familiar with everything. 
This week we were teaching a less active family. Normally their 10 year old son doesn't really listen, but we made an effort to include him and he stayed! We talked about the Plan of Salvation and how the entire family can return home to live with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. And to do it, there are things we have to do to prepare. Leo, the 10 year old, asked us, "what happens if 1 of the people in the family doesn't do the right things? Does that mean we won't all be there together?" and he began to cry. His Mom answered him and told him that is why it is so important that we are all faithful. The tears of this 10 year old hit me and helped me feel more how important all of this is. Leo listened attentively to what he needs to do to get there- have faith in Jesus Christ, repent, be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. He committed to help his family read the scriptures and go to church to be able to live these things. It was a tender moment, a moment when I was so grateful for this sacred opportunity to help people see how important all of this is. We don't teach because it is a hobby, we teach because souls are at stake, families are at stake, and they have to know that, they have to realize how important this is. 

On Friday, I was feeling kind of a lack of enthusiasm for some reason. I was praying to be able to have it, but still was lacking. I was determined to still do everything I could for the Lord even if I wasn't feeling excited about it. We weren't having much success passing by peoples houses. So I was praying that He would guide us to someone. I looked at my agenda, where the night before I had wrote several less active families, so we decided to pass by one of them. I was praying the whole walk there that someone would be there whom we could help. We got to the street and none of the houses had numbers on them haha, great. So I basically just guessed, "This house looks good...". Then I clapped my hands, having no idea if this was even the house of a member. A man walked out and didn't say anything, but then started saying something about Doctrine and Covenants, so it was the right house! But we met Miguel and his family. They are great. He hasn't been to church in 18 years, but in those 18 years he has read the Book of Mormon 5 times and the Bible 3 times. He is married (which is rare in Argentina), and his wife is not a member. We talked with for several minutes about their faith. We really just told them how much Christ loves them and invited them to feel His love in the Church. They didn't accept, but there is no way they couldn't feel the Love of Christ. The spirit was strong. So we have another appointment with them next week.
 Afterwards, I was filled with the energy and enthusiasm I lacked. It was such a miracle. Heavenly Father answered my prayer. I was so overwhelmed with gratitude. I learned that enthusiasm and fire in this work doesn't come just because I want it. The enthusiasm and fire come when we are working with the Lord in every moment. It comes when we are constantly praying for and looking for His miracles. And if we constantly are pleading to Him and seeing His hand in every moment then the spirit will always testify that we are not working alone. And that is where the joy comes from, not just from working, but knowing that we are working with the Savior of the World. 
I know that Jesus Christ lives. I am so grateful for that testimony. I love Him and His work! 

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

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