'Ello!
This past week has been one of our most successful yet! We have
been meeting more less-active members and have been setting up appointments for
this coming week, and the investigators we set appointments with kept them! It
is a joy to teach people, help their faith strengthen, and keep busy! Something
we have been focusing on with most people is prayer.
So why is prayer so
important?
For starters, prayer is our way of communicating with our
Heavenly Father. Imagine it this way: you (or your kids if you're a parent) go
on a trip far away from home. When you/they call home, how do you feel?
Overjoyed, right? (especially parents of missionaries ;D )
That's the same
way Heavenly Father feels--He loves us so much and wants to hear from us about
how we're doing, any struggles we're having or help that we need, and so on. We
just have to "pick up that phone & call him" by getting on our knees &
going to him in humble, sincere prayer. I promise you that as you do so, you
will feel His love & peace.
Another reason we need to pray often is
found in 2 Nephi 32:8-9 and D&C 10:5-
8.
8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder
still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this
thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye
would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray,
but teacheth him that he must not pray.
9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray
always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord
save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ,
that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be
for the welfare of thy soul.
5 Pray always, that you may come off
conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of
the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.
Those scriptures are
telling us that we need to pray because it is how we can ask for spiritual
strength in all aspects of our lives, whether in our faith, in our studies &
learning, or in resisting temptation & worldliness.
Finally, we have
been trying to help all those that we teach understand that prayer is how we
receive answers & confirmation of truths. James 1:5-6 & Moroni 10:3-5
illustrate this well:
5 If any of you lack wisdom [if you're unsure of something],
let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not [meaning God won't think badly of you for asking];
and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that
wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. [basically
let your faith be firm, not shaky]
3 Behold, I would exhort [strongly encourage]
you that when
ye shall read these things [the Book of Mormon]
, if it be wisdom in God that ye
should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto
the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye
shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you
that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these
things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent,
having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power
of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of
all things.
Pretty simple, right? If we really want to know if something is
true or right, we need to study it out, ponder it (give it some serious
thought), and ask God in the name of Jesus Christ with faith, sincerity, & a
desire to act on our answer (real intent). And then pay attention for any
thoughts/feelings that come to you. We call those "impressions" or "promptings"
from the Holy Ghost. The impressions you receive will either be yes, no, wait,
or "you already know/it's up to you."
So, I challenge you all to increase
the amount you pray each day. I promise you that as you pray more often, more
sincerely (like you are having a conversation with someone you love), and with a
little more faith, you will be blessed in several areas of your life and also in
the areas you are praying about.
I know that God lives, He loves us, and
He is waiting to answer our prayers if we will just ask Him. In the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.
I hope you are having a great start of the month, and
that the rest of this month finds you happy & healthy!
Be strong
& faithful because Jesus was!
~Sister San Diego
Sister Michaud & I
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