This week was a lot better than the last because it was full of action and less reaction. I am not perfect and I did react a lot. But I was a lot better this week. One thing I have been learning out here is that I am not even close to being humble. The Lord is constantly humbling me to be a better person.
Last week, I shared a little bit about action and that we need to act in place of reaction. This week, I studied that subject a little more and I have been trying to apply more to my life. I am studying the subject a lot more and I would like to share my testimony about agency.
Adversity seems to be a bad thing. Adversity is a trial or hardship that we encounter during our lives. In the truth, adversity is a blessing. "Opposition will not be allowed to overcome us." The Lord gives us trials to see how we will act and if we will be humble enough to learn from our problems and circumstances. “It is not on the pinnacle of success and ease where men and women grow most. It is often down in the valley of heartache and disappointment and reverses where men and women grow into strong characters.”
The mission brings a lot of trials. It's the hardest thing I have ever done. 24 hours a day we work to bring and find people that want to have these grand blessings. Sometimes I question why I decided to do this, I could be back home: driving (I miss that a lot), shopping, chilling, watching basketball, with family, hiking, there are countless things. But I know this mission was my choice and I am glad I made it. This is my choice and no one else's. Through the trials I have had here, I know I have grown. I know I have progressed in these past 195 days. My testimony has been strengthened through the trials and hard times. I am excited to see what life has it store for me.
"An old cowboy said he had learned life’s most important lessons from Hereford cows. All his life he had worked cattle ranches where winter storms took a heavy toll among the herds. Freezing rains whipped across the prairies. Howling, bitter winds piled snow into enormous drifts. Temperatures might drop quickly to below zero degrees. Flying ice cut into the flesh. In this maelstrom of nature’s violence most cattle would turn their backs to the ice blasts and slowly drift downwind, mile upon mile. Finally, intercepted by a boundary fence, they would pile up against the barrier and die by the scores.
“But the Herefords acted differently. Cattle of this breed would instinctively head into the windward end of the range. There they would stand shoulder-to-shoulder facing the storm’s blast, heads down against its onslaught.
“‘You always found the Herefords alive and well,’ said the cowboy. ‘I guess it’s the greatest lesson I ever learned on the prairies—just face life’s storms’”
For the moment, we may have a difficult situation like the winter blizzards, but we have two choices at that point: to act like the Herefords, or be acted upon like the other cattle. We can choose to tough it out and show God that we can do it as well, learn something about ourselves along the way. Or, we can turn away and let somebody or something else decide how we will act and follow the fiery darts of the adversary. “When we are pushed, stung, defeated, embarrassed, hurt, rejected, tormented, forgotten—when we are in agony of spirit crying out ‘why me?’ we are in a position to learn something”
--
Elder Corom Jones
(See "Adversity" speech from Dallin H. Oaks for these quoted references)
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." -2 Corinthians 12:10
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