Convertido ao Senhor, Convertido à Obra

 

Hi!!

This week was bomba. Future Sister Menden needs to come back and read this email one day. 

This week was so full of the Spirit!! and learning!! and revelation!! As Presidente would say, um banquete espiritual!! 

On Tuesday we had our mission conference all together at the chapel by the temple! The conference was focused on the Savior and His Atonement and it was amazing. The whole mission had been studying and preparing specifically for it and it was just a huge spiritual climax. I talked last week about how obvious my weaknesses and inadequacies have been to me throughout this transfer. And the conference was perfect for me to learn more in depth of the role the Savior's Atonement plays in my progression and repentance. One quote has been stuck with me all week, "If you're seeing more of your weaknesses, that might just mean you're moving nearer to God, not farther away" (Hafen).  I know that with growth comes growing pains!

Also on Tuesday, fiz um ano na missao!!! I've been thinking a lot recently about how I want to live these next 6 months and how I want to apply the things I'm learning here and the person I am here, after the mission as a faithful member of the church of Jesus Christ. I don't want to be the type of missionary who, when the clock strikes 21h30, I take off my tag and am done for the day. I want to be a missionary always, even after my 18 months are up and the tag comes off. And MLC and the division we had this week were PERFECT for me. 

MLC was soooo good!! So cool!! It was so amazing to see Presidente work and to see more of the revelation he receives the process he goes through. Our mission is a mission viva! We talked about a lot of things, and I'm suuuuper excited for this next transfer. But something has stuck with me all week. We talked about the culture of our mission, and President had us all pull out our phones and go to our whatsapp group, and type out one good and one bad thing about the culture of the mission. We all hit send at the same time, and read through them. One Elder said that we're a mission that is converted to the Lord but not to the work. Fogo bro that hit me hard and I need to be better. 

Then right after MLC we went to Setúbal and had an exchange with the Sisters there! Setúbal is in our zone but it's still a 3 hour train ride from Faro so that's insane. I spent the day with Sister Costa, who's from Espírito Santo, Brasil!! She's so cute. This division was so inspired. We prayed a lot to know which Sister should go with who and what time in the transfer we should do it and I feel like it was perfect. They've been having some problems working recently, and Sister Costa just wanted to work. I don't know if I've met a missionary more converted to the Lord, and more converted to the work. Sister Costa is 24 years old, has a fiancé waiting at home, even wears a ring, and she's here because she wants to work. We had just finished a lesson and only had 10 minutes left until we finished the division and I asked her "Sister wanna go knock some doors really fast?" And I've never seen anyone so eagerly say "yes!!" And run to the door. We ran and batered some portas and found them a new elect friend who wanted a Book of Mormon and wanted to come to church!! Miracles. 

I've been studying a lot about conversion and consecration this week!! It's been so cool!! Sister Webster sent me this talk Elder Tad R. Callister gave to the MTC in 2008 and it's so good. 

"What is a consecrated missionary? It is a missionary who is willing to lay everything on the altar of sacrifice and to hold nothing back. It is a willingness to give every ounce of energy, every conscious thought, and every drop of passion to this work - to submit our will to God's will whatever it may be." 

I've learned that consecration is not sacrifice but dedicated sacrifice for the Lord's service and His holy purposes. 

Conversion topics and questions explains that conversion is "a change in behavior, but it goes beyond behavior; it is a change in our very nature."

"If you only change your behavior, then you will be the same person you were when you left home, subject to the same problems that plagued you then. But if you change your nature you will go home a new man or woman, with the power and disciple to conquer you old Goliaths." 

A consecrated missionary:

- "will read the white handbook with enthusiasm, anxious to obey and follow every rule with exactness, knowing that it is not a book of restraints, but a book of blessings."

- "preaches by the way at all times and in all places, both day and night."

- "disciplines his passions."

- "must have a clean and consecrated mind."

- "gives up his pride on the sacrificial altar."

- "hungers and thirsts for instructions as to how he can be better."

- "is willing to give up negativism or sarcasm. Instead they are optimistic and positive."

- "is an extra-miler."

- "never gives up on the Lord's work."

- "is out of the apartment by 10am. They do not come back before 9pm, except for lunch and dinner. They speak to everyone. They knock at one more door. There is quickness in their pace and an urgency in their work. You can see it in their faces."

- "is without limit in power."

"What is the driving motivating force for a consecrated missionary? It is the Savior and His Atonement."

It just all comes together so perfectly. The mission conference centered on Christ's Atonement, conversion to the Lord, consecration in the work. 

I'm so excited for these 6 months to be the best, most consecrated, 6 months ever. 

"Conversion is a process, not an event. Conversion comes as a result of righteous efforts to follow the Savior...Although conversion is miraculous and life changing, it is a quiet miracle."

Sister Menden