Each week Tim and I write a letter to Colby. Mine is the motherly how are you doing, are you eating, love you sort of letter. Tim's is the fatherly message with the spiritual counsel he needs to guide and uplift him and give him strength while he serving. I love the thoughts and messages that he shares and thought this one was applicable to each of us and especially to those who are out serving a mission.
My thought for you this week comes from Elder Bednar and Elder Neal A. Maxwell. In a training meeting attended by Elder Bednar, Elder Maxwell said this, “There would have been no Atonement except for the character of Christ.” This impressed Elder Bednar deeply and it became a subject of his own personal study for some time. Later, Elder Bednar gave a talk at BYU-I called “The Character of Christ” from which I’ll share a quote:
“Perhaps the greatest indicator of character is the capacity to recognize and appropriately respond to other people who are experiencing the very challenge or adversity that is most immediately and forcefully pressing upon us… Character is revealed, for example, in the power to discern the suffering of other people when we ourselves are suffering; in the ability to detect the hunger of others when we are hungry; and in the power to reach out and extend compassion for the spiritual agony of others when we are in the midst of our own spiritual distress. Thus, character is demonstrated by looking and reaching outward when the natural and instinctive response is to be self-absorbed and turn inward. If such a capacity is indeed the ultimate criterion of moral character, then the Savior of the world is the perfect example of such a consistent and charitable character.”
Elder Bednar then went on to cite numerous examples of how the Savior was always reaching out to those in need even when he was suffering deeply.
As you are in a new place with such striking contrasts with your home life and are experiencing the challenges of being a full-time missionary, it is easy to understand how you might focus on how difficult things are for you now and on thoughts of home. But, you have been called to serve with all your heart, might, mind, and strength. Serving with all your heart means serving as the Savior did, by looking outward and reaching out to those in need of the message that you have to offer, and forgetting yourself in His service. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” Pray that your heart will be filled with love for Uganda, its people, and especially for the people you teach. When you love Uganda, its people, and the people you teach, you will no longer feel homesick, but instead will be filled joy in serving the Lord.
I am very proud of you Colby. Hang in there! Things will get easier and better. The best is yet to come. You have so much to offer.
Looking forward to hearing from you tomorrow.
Love,
Dad
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