By: Justin Hansen
I have shared in prior posts that I am fascinated by church growth and those who convert or re-convert/reactivate to the gospel. It is something that motivates and excites me. This is great to help my flame stay active, along with the other things that are promised to help (scripture study and prayer, church attendance, etc.). I was called about 3 weeks ago to be the ward mission leader. I have been praying for missionary opportunities, to see others find the truth. To an extent, this is an example of "be careful what you ask for, you just might get it" as it is a demanding responsibility. To a much greater extent though, it is a huge blessing. I am better able to work with those individuals and families I have been praying for, to see them grow in the gospel, and to be an instrument in God's hands to help them change their lives' as they take the steps to accept the gospel. I have been spiritually fed as I do this and teach the gospel essentials class each week. The Spirit directs things and I can say for sure that God is in the teaching of these basic principles to help those in the class. In other words, this opportunity has been great.
Taking a look at the harder aspect: It takes a lot of love and faith to help nurture the growing testimonies of those investigating the church, it is more often than not a prayerful struggle as they learn and try to hold onto the things they have learned. As a sort of "administrator" in this process, I find myself exhausted on a mental level as I try to remember all of the tasks that come up in order to help things go well. I feel the help of God, but it is still a struggle, a growing chance to help me refine my weaknesses and share my strengths, something I have trouble seeing in myself at times.
As far as the stimulation, I have found that just doing the work helps, but what about the other aspects of life? Things will always come, opposition will always be around us in many forms, trials and stumbling blocks will be there to try and trip us up. What can we do? Well, there is the old adage "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!" That is cliché, and often it is harder to do than it appears, but there are things that can be done to help move it along. Find things you enjoy in life, think about them, use them to build a positive feeling, don't dwell on the dreaming all day, but use it to kick start your action. For example, there have been a lot of trials in my family within the last 6 weeks (thus the slacking on the blog posts) a car accident, a death in my wife's family, and more. Things that have motivated are listed above, but just thinking of positive experiences and things you enjoy can go a long way to moving you ahead in life. What is my point in posting this on a blog like this? Only that life hands us all kinds of surprises both sweet and bitter, we can and do have Christ with us to help the progress, and our "favorite things" to motivate as well. The Sound of Music song is catchy, annoying, and anything in between, but it rings true. A few of my favorite things that keep my spirits up: Good music of all types, I'm glad to have a diverse taste, that helps me when I'm not in the mood for rock, I can go to classical voice or religious stuff. I love sports, college football and pro baseball tops among them, they help me to look forward to things and keep my mind off of all the troubles, often allowing me to set a goal. For example, BYU will be playing Texas this Sept in Austin, I am going to the game, I set a goal to put the money aside for it, and it motivated me to work harder at my budget and to follow practical steps of being better with my money. I love the church growth stuff, my first three weeks of being ward mission leader have taught me a lot and helped me focus that passion on a more personal/local level, but that interest has been given to help me progress and be better in the example I put forth to others. It is also forcing me outside of my introverted shell, which is something I need to be working on. I also love my family. My wife and kids mean a lot to me, and with them around, and all the trials, I think of the good times we have together, helping me strive to be a better husband and father (I have more shortcomings in this part of my life than I'd like) but their loving ways help me to strive for more. These are just a few of my "stimulants" and I have and use them and others to find ways to progress in life, taking care not to let them entrap me in addiction, or cause me to put the most important things on the back burner.
In sum, use those good things in life that you enjoy to drive you to better things as a disciple of Christ and as one of God's Children. Use them to overcome your barriers and struggles that will come, as we do, God helps sustain us as we strive to use whatever means he has given us to live and progress toward him.
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