A Mission Year

If a young man is able to begin his mission by his 18th year, then serves faithfully for 2 years, he will have dedicated 10% of his life to the Lord. In every mission, there will be one full Gregorian calendar year that he serves as a full time missionary. Missionaries refer to that as their "blackout" year. 2014 was the complete year dedicated to my full time mission. At the beginning of this New Year, I have great desires to continue to do the work of the Lord. Even though I won't be able to spend another complete year in full time service, I want to do all I can to make it another blackout year to be engaged in missionary work! 

This past weekend we had a zone conference that we were asked to give a training in. The topic was on becoming converted as a missionary. That's something that I am earnestly trying to achieve. Elder Thornton discovered the story of Peter's conversion. In Matthew 16 we read that Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God. But in Luke 22, Christ commands him that when he is converted, then he can strengthen his brethren. After 3 years of walking with the Savior, Peter still had not been converted! Yes I've been a missionary for a while now, but even 2 years does not guarantee that we are converted! We invited our mission mom Sister Cooke to teach us about effective prayer because we really feel that is the beginning and changing force in conversion. As we taught about conversion, I realized that we can tell we are converted the more we think and act like the Savior. We are trying to change to become the kind of person that He is. I asked the missionaries to imagine if Christ was their companion, what His attitude would be towards them and towards the people. In all aspects of who I am, I want to be more like Him. The closer we are to following His example, the happier we will be. It takes effective prayer and total submission to the will of Heavenly Father, but it turns out to be the easier way to live.

I don't know how to express it, but I feel this anticipation and excitement boiling up inside me about missionary work. It makes me want to try new things and meet more people. I think that is an indicator that the atonement is changing me into a more converted person. Sharing the gospel is tough, salvation is easy, but we can receive the strength and the motivation to do it as we submit our will to the Lord. Let's give Him 2015 to do good and share the gospel!