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| Mission Leadership Conference, January 2016 |
Miracle: Raul has been smoking since he was a little boy. But this past week he has cut down to ONE cigarette a day! We've been praying so hard and he got a priesthood blessing. He is so humble and willing :) His family can't get over the change in him or the way he reads the Book of Mormon with such gusto! The Lord has truly softened his heart.
Dulce has been struggling giving up coffee and we've been praying for her heart to be softened. Then, the doctor told her she could drink it anymore because it was bad for her health and then Dulce randomly asked if she couldn't be baptized THIS Saturday instead of NEXT Saturday. NO more coffee or tea! God works miracles :)
Something I've been learning has to do with the heart and the mind.
Ether 4:14-15 "Come unto me,
O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how
great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation
of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief."
"Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel."
Jacob 3:2 "O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever."
Between these two verses, I was able to understand that wickedness, pride and blindness come because of our CHOICE not to believe. It is our choice if we want something to be true and choose to believe it. By believing, we have a willing heart (pure heart) and we will RECEIVE the word of God and FEAST on His endless love. If we decide we want this forever, we must decide firmly and we will for all time. The heart holds the desire and the mind makes the decision.
A statement that has really stuck with me is that the Godhead is made up of gentleman. They will never force themselves into our lives or make us do anything we do not want to do. They respect us and our agency in the highest degree. They would never do anything to take away our agency or harm us.
"Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel."
Jacob 3:2 "O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever."
Between these two verses, I was able to understand that wickedness, pride and blindness come because of our CHOICE not to believe. It is our choice if we want something to be true and choose to believe it. By believing, we have a willing heart (pure heart) and we will RECEIVE the word of God and FEAST on His endless love. If we decide we want this forever, we must decide firmly and we will for all time. The heart holds the desire and the mind makes the decision.
A statement that has really stuck with me is that the Godhead is made up of gentleman. They will never force themselves into our lives or make us do anything we do not want to do. They respect us and our agency in the highest degree. They would never do anything to take away our agency or harm us.
Therefore, it makes sense that if we want to listen.....we
will be able to hear. If we want to see, our vision will be clear. If we want
to understand, lives windows will be opened....But if we want nothing to do
with God or his desires for us, we won't. Plain and simple.
There is Mormon Message about a girl (from Neon Trees) who
said that she never had a relationship with God because she never wanted one.
Plain and simple. I know that to be true.
There have been times on my mission where I have not wanted
to know if there really was something I needed to change or if God wanted me to
do something...even though I asked....kind of like asking a question without
wanting to know the answer...just hoping it confirms what you hope the answer
is.
It doesn't work that way!
God has many, many, many ways to communicate with us....but
he only can if we have a PURE HEART aka a WILLING HEART and a CONTRITE MIND.
Meaning, we are willing to listen and act.
The Heart holds our desires and our drives. When we learn
truths, the Holy Ghost touches our heart, helps us know it is true and
increases our desire to do x thing. However, Our mind is the control center
that allows us to make the decision whether or not we will do that x thing.
Choose today to have a TRULY open heart and a willing mind.
It'll change the way your world works. You will be happier, healthier, less
stressed and feel of your Heavenly Father's Love. You will FEAST on His love :)
I LOVE YOU!
Hna Lake
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