In Matthew 7 starting in verse 24 it says:
24 ¶Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
In this parable it talks about rain, floods, and wind that beat upon these houses on there different foundations. I believe the rain, floods and wind represent different types of temptation and struggles that we face in our everyday lives. We have to build our houses on a sure foundation in order to deal with these trials. It may not be easy at times but it needs to be a priority. As it is depicted in the parable, the man who didn’t have the sturdy rock foundation lost his house to the rain, floods, and wind.
To me, building a sure foundation is to work every day to develop and maintain faith in Jesus Christ and to follow Him.
I really like a talk given by Elder Holland in the MTC several years ago. As I continue to work on my foundation as a full time missionary, his message will help me get through those tough times, to develop greater faith, and to accomplish what God needs me to do. He said,
“When my body begs for rest I give to myself this rallying cry, Remember Him.”
He points out that missionary’s could ask a lot of questions, some of these he’s even asked himself:
· Why is this so hard?
· Why doesn’t it go better?
· Why can’t our success be more rapid?
· Why aren’t there more people joining the church?
· Why don’t people just flock to the font?
· Why isn’t it easier?
· Why don’t the people understand?
· Why do they reject us?
He continues: “Missionary work is not easy because Salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation was never easy.
Why would we think it would ever be easy for us, if it was never easy for Him.
We must be prepared to walk a little bit of the path He walked. Feel a little bit of the pain He felt.
I don’t think missionary work has ever been easy.” Close Quote
From the most recent General Conference, Elder Kearon talked about the refugees in need of help, and about how we have been protected from the raging storm with this by having the Gospel in our lives. He said, “We have found refuge. Let us come out from our safe places and share with them, from our abundance, hope for a brighter future, faith in God and in our fellowman, and love that sees beyond cultural and ideological differences to the glorious truth that we are all children of our Heavenly Father.” Closed Quote
In a way we are all refugees, even the Savior was a refugee. We have a responsibility to reach out, helping refugees and helping each other because we are all refugees. I get to do this as a missionary, and I can’t wait for that opportunity.
I have been blessed to be protected from the raging storms, by having the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. It has helped me know the right decisions to make when I’m faced with challenges. In my life, I have experienced being a recipient of others reaching out to me as a refugee. They have lifted me up and blessed my life in many different ways.
I honestly have some of the greatest friends I could’ve ever asked for. Chase, Matt, Wiscombe, you guys have helped me so much, and I am so glad that we have been such good friends. I also had such a good experience working at BYU this summer, because of all of the great friends I have gotten to work with. All of my other friends have made such a difference in my life. They helped me throughout some of the toughest times in my life, and have made life fun. Thanks for coming today guys.
I’ve been blessed to have some of the most amazing priesthood leaders that have helped me grow spiritually and physically. Through all of the sweat and tears that we’ve shared together, I know they love and care about me. I want to thank Brother Ballif, Brother Hilmo, Brother Anderson, Brother Oaks, Brother Lee, and my dad. I honestly can’t count the number of miles we’ve hiked together and the fantastic devotionals we’ve had along the way.
I was so lucky to go to Lone Peak and have the best principal, teachers, and coaches. Like my church leaders, I always knew that they loved and cared about me, and would do anything for me to be successful.
My family has been such a blessing in my life, and I don’t know what I would do without them. My grandparents have been such spiritual anchors in my life. They served several missions together, and with that example I have always wanted to go myself. I am blessed to have the best brothers and sisters, I’m so grateful for their examples to me and that they’ve always loved me. I am so grateful for my mom and dad, they have taught me everything I know; I’m going miss them a lot.
All of these things have truly helped me get through the raging storms in my life and to help build my foundation.
Many people ask me “why are you going on a mission?” I’ve asked myself the same question, “why am I going?” Some of the reasons are,
· I’ve always wanted to,
· It is a priesthood responsibility,
· To bring others unto Christ and serve,
· To grow spiritually and strengthen my faith.
But I think the most important reason is because the Savior gave me everything, He gave His life for me, and He suffered for me.
Now I get a chance to be a full-time servant of Jesus Christ, and I am going to give my all, everything I have, I am going to work hard every day, and obey all the rules. This will be my motivator every day; He gave everything to me, and I am going to try my best, and work my hardest to give my all to Him.
TESTIMONY
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