It's official. My release date has been changed to March 6th. So I'm coming home 3 weeks earlier than I thought I would. The mission office told me that I could tell my family, so I'm calling that official. I'll get my flight plans in a couple months.
Enough of that. This week we set a goal as a mission to get 100 new investigators. A new investigator is someone we've taught once and gotten a return appointment with. Basically someone who is showing genuine interest in taking the missionary lessons. To put it in perspective, we've been averaging between 40 and 50 new investigators a week. So, we were looking to more than double our numbers. We ended up with 98. So we didn't quite meet the goal, but I think we got the point across haha. As the largest district in Norway (18 of the 56 missionaries are in the Oslo District), we had wished that we could have carried the mission a bit more than we did...of the 98 new investigators, only 24 came from our district, but I've decided that we really couldn't have worked much harder than we did. Either way, the Lord helped us to miraculously increase the number of people we were talking to this week, and I don't think anyone here should be dissatisfied with that.
We had a district meeting on Accountability this past week. I wanted to share some of my notes from that meeting.
We had a district meeting on Accountability this past week. I wanted to share some of my notes from that meeting.
Accountability is knowing there are no "free tickets" in life. We are responsible for our own actions. Accountability includes being responsible for our actions before our peers, our leaders, and the Lord. Accountability is the law of Justice. It's also the law of Mercy. The blessings we receive for obedience and the consequences we face in disobedience are all founded on the principle of Accountability. All throughout our lives, we learn step by step, mistake by mistake that there are always consequences for our actions. Accountability is described in the Doctrine and Covenants. Section 130 says, "There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundation of this world, upon which all blessings [we can even say all consequences here] are predicated. And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated."
Essential to Accountability, is our free agency. We could not be accountable for our actions, if they were not actions based completely on our own free will and choice. "And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you." I love that scripture. It basically says, "It's your choice."
I think one of the biggest lies that Satan tells people today is that what they choose doesn't matter. That it doesn't affect themselves or others. There are always consequences for our actions, and choosing to follow the teachings of the Gospel brings happiness in personal and family life, both here and in eternity. When it comes to the Final Judgement, we will all have been given a fair chance to accept the Gospel. For some people, that means they grew up in the Church and had to gain their own testimony independent of their parents'. For others, it means they accepted or rejected the Gospel later in life, even after this life. Whatever our situation, we will have a perfect knowledge of the truth at the Judgement, and a perfect ability to have made our own decision.
Our final fate will be dependent on the principles of Free Agency and Accountability. Ultimately, our Heavenly Father has provided a way for us all to be happy in the end, though our opportunities for further progression depend on our faith in Jesus Christ and his Grace in this life. How we show that faith and make ourselves accountable for our choices is up to us. "...ye are permitted to act for yourselves"
Obviously I tied that a little bit more into missionary work when we talked about it in district meeting haha. But the principle is the same and applies to everything, not just missionary work. So, I'm a fan haha.
Other than that, we're still working to find some people to teach. We're meeting with a Korean man tonight who took a Book of Mormon last week. I called him this weekend and he and his wife have both started reading and he said his wife especially is interested in hearing more. He's a way nice man and we call him S.K. cause his name is way hard to pronounce. My tongue was definitely not made to pronounce Korean words.
Hope everyone has a great week!
Elder Sessions
No comments:
Post a Comment