Tuesday, January 20, 2015

January 12, 2015

Decisions Determine Destiny

We teach a lot of people! A whole lot.  Just to give you an example, we contacted (remember we don't tract) about 300 people last week. . . So, our teaching pool is pretty huge as well.  With this knowledge it can easily be assumed that we are teaching people of various walks of life.  Not only am I in the Bay Area where you can find people driving Teslas, Range Rovers and other hundred thousand dollar luxury cars but we also see drug addicts on Livermore 1st Street asking us if we want to smoke weed with them, alcoholics with no job, and children with no way to feed them.  I had seen this type of poverty on T.V. but up until the mission, despite being from the D.C. area, I had never seen how real poverty is.

I pray that the Holy Ghost will be with me as I write this letter.  I don't want to offend anyone but simply stating what I've seen as a simple minded 22-almost 23 year old (thank you very much) from Northern Virginia living in California.

I have come to know, though I have always known even more while on the mission that 

Decisions Determine Destiny;

And that the Gospel of Jesus Christ allows you to have a happier life.  The Gospel helps you with your decisions and your choices, thus having a happier life.

Sister Packard and I teach people of all walk of life but this week the theme was apparently that of our decisions determining our destiny.  It seems as though some of the people that we teach may not have thought about their futures too much and so the choices that they made are still having lasting effects on how their lives are playing out now.

When you don't put the Lord first in your life you will be unhappy.  When you have the gospel of Jesus Christ in your life and do those things that are pleasing to Him, you will be happy.  It's proven and we can see the results in the lives of others who don't.

Commandments like the Law of Chastity that helps us to keep our bodies, minds, and lives morally clean bless and protect us.  Commandments like the Word of Wisdom allow us to have control over our lives and maintain happier and healthier bodies and minds as we abstain from alcohol and drugs.

Commandments are laws/standards set by the Lord that will bless and protect us as well as elevate us.  Commandments aren't rules set by a vengeful spiteful God to hinder us or limit us, but they are truly there to protect and bless us, to shape us and make us into what we have the potential to be.

On my mission, I am learning of the importance of choices.  This decision of going on a mission has blessed my life and I know it will determine my destiny.  For that I am grateful.

Elder Cook, an apostle of the Lord came to our mission on Saturday and spoke to us of the importance of this mission and beautifully bestowed an apostolic blessing on us.  It was tender and beautiful and I will never forget it.

I love you all and am very grateful for your love, your examples, your influence and your testimonies.

Always,

Sister Carter

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