This morning I attended my first cousel meeting as a leader and dont have much time write today, but in preparation for the cousel the assistants asked us to study the talk Becoming a Consecrated MIssionary by Elder Tad R. Callister. They also asked my companion and I to be in charge of the activity during the Counsel which has the theme of Consegration. As I was pondering what we could possibly do as an activity that applied to consegration we came up with the idea to split the missionaries into groups to play spoons but during the time that they were playing gradually cause a lot of distractions so that many of the missionaries would loose.
We had Hermana Arrington, President´s wife, make chocoalte chip cookies and in the middle of the game she entered the room and loudly shouted, who would like a cookie?! Many of the missionaries obviously looked up and raised their hands, but others were completely focused on the game. Next we turned on some music, The Lion King, and more missionaries became distracted. At the end my companion and I entered the room with mail that missionaries had received and began distributing the letters.
All but one of the groups had finished and the last two elders were playing to see who would win. Right as one of the Elders had collected 4 of the same cards I shouted out loudly ¨Elder! You received another letter!¨ He looked up and the other elder quickly grabbed the last spoon. He was so upset that he allowed himself to be distracted because in the end he lost the game.
We share our testimonies about how as missionaries there are an endless amount of distractions and sometimes it seems almost impossible to eliminate them, but as it says in Elder Callisters talk, ¨a consecrated missionary is a misisonary who is willing to lay everything on the altar of sacrifice and to hold nothing back. It is a willingness to give every ounce of energy, every conscious thought, and every drop of passion to this work- to submit our will to God´s will whatever it may be¨
I have seen that as I have been striving to becoming more consecrated with the help of God I have become more humble and have come to appreciate more the atonement of Christ in my life. It is incredible to see how much the mission is changing my life.
I would like to challenge you all to evaluate your lives and set goals to become more consecrated to the Lord. Although you may not be serving a full time mission we can always find ways to fully submit our will to that of Gods.
I testify that this is the work of God and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church on this earth.
You are in my prayers always. Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. I hope you have a wonderful week!
Con harto amor,
Hermana Parkin