1.LOVE: I will never forget how it feels to love everyone unconditionally. I have learned that everyone has different backgrounds, beliefs, trials and ways of expressing themselves but the one common factor is that we are all children of God and as a missionary i have gotten to feel a little bit of God's love for all his children. Nothing could get done in this work without love and i have loved people i would have never even thought twice about when i was home. It has truly been a blessing to see people the way Heavenly Father sees them and i hope i never lose sight of that.
2.STUDY: The value of study is immeasurable. Literally the "primary answers" are the most solid truths! Prayer, scripture study, FHE, church attendance, seminary and institute, going to the temple. All these things are how we build up our knowledge of God and of His gospel and then the Holy Ghost uses that knowledge that we have as a tool so that we can bless other peoples lives. If we are not continually seeking after knowledge, we are not living up to our full potential and we can't be the effective instruments in God's hands that he needs us to be. So, keep on learning! There is always always always something new to learn and its always exciting!
3. THE SPIRIT: The Spirit is essential in our lives. The Spirit needs to have an active role in our lives by warning, guiding, lifting, answering, comforting, confirming, and helping us. When Christ performed His atonement the last pain that he felt was the complete withdrawal of the Spirit. In his final hour on the cross God withdrew His Spirit and Christ cried out "My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me" and shortly after, He died. Christ had the Spirit with him throughout his entire life until the very end and in order for Him to complete His atonement he had to feel EVERY hardship and to not feel the Spirit was the last thing he felt to complete his suffering. How important the Spirit is that God allowed that to be the final suffering because the withdrawal of the Spirit is the worst pain we can feel. It is literally hell. That is why we must do everything we can to always have the Spirit to be with us and then everything else in life will be a hundred times better. The Spirit is how we feel of Gods love.
4. SACRIFICE: Oh my lanta a mission is hard! Not physically, unless you are walking all day in the humid heat of Iowa in July, oh no it is hard mentally and emotionally. We are here for a year and a half and we have to give up all the worldly things we love (purple hair, fancy nails, leather jackets, 14 rings on my 10 fingers, pinterest, etc) and we focus 100% on the needs of others. It is exhausting trying to help people and being ok when they use their agency to say no. Its hard smiling at someone and saying Have a good day! when they yell at you on the doorstep. Its so sad when you know that what you have to say can help people but they won't listen. It's so insanely hard not being able to see your families faces and hear their voices everyday. Missions are hard. But Jesus Christ gave EVERYTHING even His life for us so that we can be eternally happy. So who cares if its hard, that's how its supposed to be and i wouldn't have it any other way! Its an honor to sacrifice almost everything i love for a year and a half of my life to help as many people as i can so they can have that eternal happiness that God wants for them.
5.ASSERTIVE: I have learned to be assertive. I have learned to fear no man. I have learned that what i am saying is eternally significant and i can't afford to be shy. I don't have to be a pushover or be passive about sin. I have been called of God to represent His son and help people know how to be eternally happy! Christ didn't see the people defiling the temple and say hey guys, do you think you could maybe not do that?...No he flipped tables and took care of business! You don't have to be rude to be assertive, you have to know for sure that what you are saying will help the particular person and you have to say it with love. Christ was confident and we need to be just as confident. Missionary work is not for the faint of heart. We have been called to declare Christ's gospel and by golly, we are going to do that with no reservations because we know who we are and we know our purpose.
There you have it, stuff Hermana Rice knows for sure. I have had an unforgettable year and i can't wait to see what the next 6 months bring! As always LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL TONS!!!!
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