Grateful for EVERYTHING!
Hey! Long time, no talk! For anyone who reads this, that is ;) Sometimes I feel like I’m writing this more for my posterity than anybody else haha! I wonder if that’s how Nephi and like every other prophet felt? Who knows haha?!
Anywho, the past little bit has been amazing! Just a couple quick bullet points to cover the past little bit:
Luckily, Heavenly Father answered my prayer immediately. My amazing companion, after saying that we were grateful for everything, said, “Jesus did atonement, and Jesus is our friend.”
Second, Jesus is our friend. He isn’t just some being that came a couple thousand years ago and left us with some pretty cool stories. He’s also not someone who died and that’s the end of His story. Wrong! Jesus Christ lives and loves us! He invites us to be His friend! In John 15:13-15 (skipping around a little bit) the Savior says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends… I have called you friends.” How cool is it that the Savior, out of all the terms He could use, chose the word friend! Doesn’t that make it more personal?! What would you do for your best friend? Would you do it for Jesus also? Elder Garret, talking about being friends with the Savior, said, “The Lord has called us friends and has invited us to be His friends. What a warm phrase that fills the heart with peace and hope, and that dispels fear and loneliness.”
I too am grateful for everything! I know that there are many things out there to be grateful for, but ultimately, what means everything to me, is the Savior! I am grateful that he atoned for me personally! He is my own individual Savior. I am grateful for the friendship I have with Him. I’m grateful He allows me to grow that friendship with Him! It has been the best part of my mission!
I hope you all know that your big brother and friend, Jesus Christ, loves you so very much! He is everything, and because of that, we have reason to rejoice! Have a great week, and think about how you can involve the Savior in your life as a friend:)
Anywho, the past little bit has been amazing! Just a couple quick bullet points to cover the past little bit:
- I went to the temple and it was absolutely amazing! I did an endowment session all in Chinese! It was awesome and I learned so much!
- Elder Zhu and I are still best friends and every single day is just a blast!
- I ate some chicken feet, pig ear, and pig skin. All of them… honestly not that bad!
- We had a super cool miracle where a guy was taking lessons in New York and moved here and had no idea how to find missionaries or our church. But then when we were at lunch, we bumped into him and he was so excited to see us! He was already reading the Book of Mormon every night (further proof that if you read the Book of Mormon, you will be blessed!)
- Alright, you’re caught up! That’s about it! All good stuff!
Luckily, Heavenly Father answered my prayer immediately. My amazing companion, after saying that we were grateful for everything, said, “Jesus did atonement, and Jesus is our friend.”
That! That right there is “everything.” How simple is that?! In my head, I had been thinking about all the good things in my life that I’m grateful for. I also thought of all the things in my life that aren’t nearly as fun haha. I was trying to think about how I could be grateful for those moments too. But then, like always, Elder Zhu showed that there’s a higher law! Christ is everything! We are dependent upon Him!
So, like Elder Zhu said, Christ can help us in all ways, but the two he specifically mentioned are His role in performing the Atonement, and His friendship. First, the Atonement! Elder Ted R. Callister, talking about the atonement, stated, “In summary, the Savior’s Atonement gives us life for death, ‘beauty for ashes,’ healing for hurt, and perfection for weakness. It is heaven’s antidote to the obstacles and struggles of this world.” The Atonement is a strengthening and enabling power! It is quite literally EVERYTHING!
Second, Jesus is our friend. He isn’t just some being that came a couple thousand years ago and left us with some pretty cool stories. He’s also not someone who died and that’s the end of His story. Wrong! Jesus Christ lives and loves us! He invites us to be His friend! In John 15:13-15 (skipping around a little bit) the Savior says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends… I have called you friends.” How cool is it that the Savior, out of all the terms He could use, chose the word friend! Doesn’t that make it more personal?! What would you do for your best friend? Would you do it for Jesus also? Elder Garret, talking about being friends with the Savior, said, “The Lord has called us friends and has invited us to be His friends. What a warm phrase that fills the heart with peace and hope, and that dispels fear and loneliness.”
I too am grateful for everything! I know that there are many things out there to be grateful for, but ultimately, what means everything to me, is the Savior! I am grateful that he atoned for me personally! He is my own individual Savior. I am grateful for the friendship I have with Him. I’m grateful He allows me to grow that friendship with Him! It has been the best part of my mission!
I hope you all know that your big brother and friend, Jesus Christ, loves you so very much! He is everything, and because of that, we have reason to rejoice! Have a great week, and think about how you can involve the Savior in your life as a friend:)
Elder Steadman (司长老)
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| Chicken feet, anyone?! |
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| The cherry blossoms are out! |
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| Happy birthday, Helen! |
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| Elder Zhu's cooking :) |
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