The End is Here!

Hello! Well the end of my mission is here. I will be flying back to Canada tomorrow to join my family. I have been serving here in the Tennessee Nashville Mission for the past 21 months. It has been such a wonderful and memory filled experience. I have been able to watch many people grow and come unto the Savior Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for this opportunity most importantly which I have had to learn and grow. I have experienced medical challenge after medical challenge. I have pushed forward as best as I could. I have given my life to Christ in His work. The end of a mission though is not the end of doing His work. There is much more to be done in such little time. I will be a member missionary serving God. I plan on going with the missionaries that are around where I live to keep the excitement of missionary work and to help others come unto the Gospel. Being a part of the cause of missionary work will bring salvation to mankind. I will also be involved in another vital work. This is temple work. Where baptisms for those who have passed and had not received the Gospel are done as well as other ordinances. Salvation shall be offered to ALL! Including those who are dead. That is part of this great plan that has been set forth from before the creation of the world. I want to thank all of those who have helped me as I have served our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because of many people supporting us missionaries, we are able to continue helping and serving others and bringing the saving ordinances to mankind.

I will continue writing on this blog as it has helped me in my life to learn and grow as well as many others. It has brought me such great joy in tough times. I hope that others will be able to learn and grow from this website. If you have any questions please feel free to email me, comment or whatever you need to.

Also about THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS please feel free to visit the website www.mormon.org .

CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE!

So it has been a long while since I have taken the time to write a blog. I missed my Thanksgiving blog but am in time of Christmas. I am so thankful for the opportunity which we have to remember the life of our Savior Jesus Christ. As we drive around everyday so often we see signs that say, "Jesus is the reason for the season." This is so true. It helps me to remember why we have Christmas. It is not focused upon presents.

I love Christmas. I love being able to spend time with my family and reflect upon past years and just to have a good time. This is my second Christmas away from my family. It will be my second Christmas here in Tennessee. Maybe it will even be a white Christmas. HAHA! I may continue to have my Christmas's here in the South. They definitely are not as cold as Alberta Canada where I am from. This past week we had 70F weather. It was so nice. Christmas is my favorite time of the year. It is also usually the busiest time of the year to unfortunately.

As we go through this Christmas season I pray that we remember the reason for all of the excitement. I pray that we may remember those who are fighting so we can enjoy this Christmas in peace. Thanks to all the men and women of our military, law enforcement, fire personnel and their families who are working on helping and protecting us.

OUR ZONE MEETING!

So today we had a zone meeting which was absolutely incredible. We talked about many different things such as the Atonement, Jesus Christ, Obedience, CHOICES, etc..Let me just tell you, it was Heaven sent! There is nothing I enjoy more than being in a meeting where we are just able to bask in the Spirit in soo much abundance. One of those meetings was today! As a zone of missionaries we gathered around as is spoken of in Moroni verse 5 which states, "...did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls." We enjoy being able to gather together and talk with one another. It is always so edifying.

Today we had a special guest who has been off his mission for nine months. He is a very inspired man. He talked about the importance of our missions and our calls. He talked about the choices we make and how they affect everything in eternity.

Here are a few points I wrote down that I absolutely loved from Chris Olive:

• You are here to prepare for the rest of your life
• You are here to be sifted through the tares of wheat(to prove yourself)
• Your life will be a reflection of your mission
• Your mission will be a direct indication of how your life will be
• Faithfully fulfilling your mission edifies you
• Spiritually these are the two most developing years
• Help and teach people to pray and to have faith
• "You have two years to serve and eternity to reflect on those two years"
• Six ways God judges us

1. How well you magnify your calling
2. Your willingness to be Obedient
3. Your eagerness to Serve
4. The righteous desires of your heart
5. The way you respond to hardness and opposition
6. The way you love your Heavenly Father

• Missionary work is a Holy work, You need to be Holy!"

We were also fortunate enough to be trained by others. Here are more points from these special individuals:

• Ezra Taft Benson said, "Greatest test in life is obedience"
• Christ could have known our sufferings and afflictions through revelation but He chose to suffer with us
• "If I chose to be here when I was in Heaven, then why don't I chose to be in Heaven here on earth"
• We are agents to act and choose for ourselves
• You can choose eternal life or captivity
• Everything you do is a choice
• When you choose to be obedient, you choose success
• We tend to live up to our expectations
• You can choose the positive side of life

Everything is your choice. You can choose bondage with sin and greater hardship or you can choose freedom in obedience to the Gospel and your Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ!

We decided to focus on a word for this transfer. We chose ACT. We came up with an acronym. It is:

Atonement
Christ
Testify

Teach about Christ and His Atonement as they are central to the plan. Then as you do follow the Spirit you will be able to testify with power from on high. You will have the Angels of Heaven taking your message to their hearts. They will truly know that that is God's plan as you prepare and teach by the Spirit. This will come back to their minds as it is not new but was decided in the pre-earth life.

"When we willfully disobey we in a sense walk on Jesus Christ. We have willfully thown Him out of our life and decided to walk upon Him by being disobedient. The Savior ALWAYS has His hands out stretched to us. He always invites us to "Come unto Him" and repent and strive to become better. As we do this we will feel His Atonement working in our lives."

Will you choose to live obedient to the Gospel and have freedom from bondage and sin or will you choose to be disobedient and suffer while in the hands of the lucifer? This is your choice and your life. You have to live with the consequences for eternity. I admonish all to come unto our Creator, Jesus Christ and become better! Do this and see if He does not bless you because I know He will.
What decision will you make?