Another Week, Another Won

Enjoy Ellliott's reflections on motivation and keeping discouragement at bay.

July 21, 2013

Familia, Amigos, 이매일을 읽은 모든 분들!

 

Yes, it is P-Day.  Again.  And a lot of report on.

 

One of the benefits of being in the 서울남 선교부 is that we can go to the temple once a transfer.  Last week, I went to the temple.  It was marvelous.  Although it was small, I enjoyed it immensely.  I learned a lot, remembered a lot, and really just felt a lot.  One of the joys of the temple.

 

And, we have seen a lot of miracles in our district; Elder Pruner and I had 2 investigators come out to church yesterday that we weren't expecting to be there, and Elder Anderson and his companion (yes, my trainer/now district leader and his companion, Elder Hodges) had a baptism yesterday, which Elder Atkin and Elder Lion (the other companionship in our area) were able to take their soon-to-be-baptized investigator to.  Yes, that is amazing.  I'm super thrilled.

 

Training is going just fine.  Elder Pruner is great.  He just has a lot of fire.  He's fun, smart, and well.  He's blessed.  I'm lucky to be his companion.  And, he asks good questions.  Yesterday, he asked a good question... it was along the lines of "what keeps you motivated when you're discouraged?"

 

And, well, we had a super epic comp study after that.  Scriptures were flying, the spirit was pumping, and well, we came up with this answer.  At least, this was the answer I gave him:

 

What helped me when I first came to country was to set goals.  And then to do everything I could to accomplish them.  It didn't matter much if I actually acheived them, it just mattered that I gave it my all, because when I did, God blessed me to learn the language a lot faster.  But, it changed since then.  My foucs hasn't been to become the most knowledgable misisonary on the pennisula, nor the most fluent foreigner in Korean.  My focus has shifted to trying to become more like Jesus Christ, to really become a living example of faith, hope, and charity.  And it shifted because my own needs, my own desires, have required a change.  I'm fine with laboring everyday, giving my all, and walking away with no baptisms.  And I'm fine with it because I realize that the thing I wanted from the mission wasn't to baptize everyone I meet, but to come to know who Jesus Christ is so that everyone I meet can feel His love for them through me - that other people can feel loved even when they don't feel like they deserve it.

So, really the answer to what keeps me motivated?  It's by really having a vision of who I can be, and believing that it's not too late to live up to that potential.  And then to never lose that hope - to keep it by study, application, and becoming.  Sometimes we stumble - sometimes I stumble (or fall flat on my face), but it doesn't matter as long as I get back up again - as long as we get back up again and continue to press forward.

 

I love you all!  I can't wait until next week!

Elder Wedam