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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Questions of the Soul


Rakas ystävä ya Perhe, 

I don’t have too much time to write today, we are leaving for Helsinki in a couple minutes for our interim 6 weeks, training that will last the week and then end it with the kieli koulu, which is language school for a day! First off one of our friends from the MTC wrote something in his weekly email that I thought was so profound yet simple that I want to share it with all of you!

I firmly believe no person will be surprised in what kingdom they inherit one day...because in reality its our choice. I relate this to a soccer game...yes in the end the winning goal is what determines who wins the game...but its not the scored goal that is important...that is merely a natural consequence of the effort and choices made within the game...plus all the additional effort and choices made during practices. By the time it comes to shoot that game winning goal you have already made millions of decisions that have led you to that point. The same is true with our salvation...it is not just a one time decision come judgment day...we determine what kingdom we are to inherit EVERY DAY with EVERY DECISION. plain and simple DECIONS DETERMINE DESTINY!! What kingdom are you choosing at this moment?! Agency is so beautiful...god has literally given us the choice to become exactly like him...PERFECT! And not only this but he has given us the way to do it as well...Gods mercy blows my mind! The commandments are calculated to help us make decisions that will permit us to make that game winning goal one day...they are for your benefit and progression...my desire to keep the commandments has increased so much for this reason.  My challenge for all that hear this is to search in your heart who you want to become...and then know that it is possible...god has provided a way...now make the decision to become just that and DO IT! ''

We had zone conference this week and I just have to say we have the most amazing mission president in the whole world! I learn so much every time he speaks. One of the biggest things I took away this time was that every person we meet with we need to have a goal for them, and especially with the members, getting them from stage 1 (having missionaries over for dinner, and maybe going to a lesson or two with them) to a stage 3 (where they are setting up their area and talking to the people around them and bringing people in for the missionaries and becoming friends with the other new investigators)! As members we have this irrational fear of sharing the one thing that our friends need the most. But once we get them members starting to do this then it kicks missionary work into the next level, like the broadcast The Work of Salvation said, where missionaries wont have enough time to find because the members are doing that for them!

This week I was reading Alma 5 and I challenge everyone who is reading this to go and read Alma 5, it has soo many questions of the soul, stuff that only you can evaluate for yourself if you are doing good and are on track and especially what you need to work on. My favorite two verses is the one where he asks if we have the Lord engraven upon our image (verse 19). If we do then people should be able to feel like they know Christ a little better by knowing me, I still have a long way to go, but that is where I want to end up. Also the other verse I loved was where he asked, have you had a change of heart and wanted to sing the song of redeeming love, ''I would ask, can you feel so now?'' (v.26) I love that because he is so straight forward, have you felt the atonement in your life and felt the Savior lift you out of the pit of despair, if so can you feel so now, and what are you doing about it? Are you telling others to help them out of the darkness and showing them the light, or are you keeping it to yourself because you fear man more then God. In the end, when we are at the judgment seat it will only be you and God, and I know that his opinion is really the only one that matters, and to remember that every time I get nervous to share this gospel. 

I have a pieni kertomus (short story) from this week that I want to share. So I was on the bus and I sat next to this lady, about in her 50s or so and we started to have this great conversation about the gospel and God and she was talking so fast, and I was praying sooooo hard the whole time for the Lord to help me understand what she was saying and to know how to respond, and she was saying, after I asked her if she believed in God, about how she wants to but how can so many bad thing happen in the world if there is a God, and she kept talking and moving on to the next thing before I could really clear stuff up, but I testified that I did know with all my heart that there is a God and that he loves us, and that we have a redeemer and she was saying that she cant understand how I can be so young and know that with such absurdity. And she had soooo many question and I wanted to answer them all but I couldn’t really understand everything and we were on the bus and I didn’t have much time to explain, but she was searching for this truth that I have, and I was just praying in my heart so hard that she would be able to feel the holy ghost when I testified, and I felt impressed to give her this pelastussuunnitelma pamfletti (Plan of Salvation pamphlet) that I had in my backpack but totally forgot I had (I had already given away my book of Mormon that day so I couldn’t give her that) and I have her read the front page about us living with our loving Heavenly Father before this life and that he loved us and gave us a plan for this life. And she stopped and said that this was such a beautiful concept, if only it was real and I felt and I’m pretty sure she felt the spirit very strongly when she read this and I testified that it was true, and that we do have purpose in this life. I asked her if we could met again and discuss what she read and I had so much more to discuss and answer her questions and she thought about it and said no. And my heart literally just broke, she was so close to the truth that she was searching for but when it was offered she rejected it, and I asked her if I could get her number and then maybe we could met, she said no, I asked her if she would like to come to church, she said no., but she said that she would read the pamphlet and I gave her a pass along card with our number and told her to call it if she wanted to discuss. Then I got off the bus and my heart was torn, I felt so much love for this woman I had just met and was praying so hard for her, that she would recognize this truth that would change her life, she would understand that she has a Savior, and yet she said no. So I was feeling so bummed, and my trainer Egan came up to me after I told her my story and she said, ''Hey, do you think that her Father in Heaven is just going to give up on her because she cant recognize the truth yet? I don’t think so, He loves her too and wont give up on her, so don’t you give up on her.'' Wow what an awesome trainer, it’s so true, the Lord loves her so much too and won’t give up on her just because she is not ready for this yet. Then we went to Sähly (floor hockey) with the ward and I prayed before we went in there and opened my heart up to the Lord and told him how much I was hurting for this lady that I met on the bus and how sad I was that she rejected it after she had be searching, I asked him to help cheer me up. Then when we walked into Sähly, M. this cute girl from our ward that has been bringing her friend C. to church and Sähly (we had invited M. to ask her friend to meet with us, and M. said she would think about it and pray about it). We walk into Sähly and M. runs up to us and tell us that she had prayed and asked C. if she would met with us at her house to discuss more about our church and what we believe and C. said yes! Wow, sooo exciting and we set up a date. Miracles happen everyday and I know even though at times it seems like the Lord didn’t hear my prayer, that he did and always answers them!

Our recent convert B. said this quote once that I love, ''Why don’t more people believe in God? What do you go to lose by believing in God''

I got to run but I love you all, and I am soooooo proud of you Dad for giving that Book of Mormon to your bus driver friend after praying to know who to give the BoM to! Wow you all are such inspirations to me. I hope you all stay safe and work hard to ''bring the world his truth''

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hubner

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