Change is Necessary for Growth

Service project of the week: digging up a tree

Having a snack after the service project

Elder Shirley relaxing after the service project

May 24, 2016

Ahojte!

This week has been pretty normal. Just good hard work! We contacted a lot and did service twice this week. My comp and I are getting along great and are having fun with the work! We also had zone training yesterday and that is why I am emailing a day late. With not a whole lot to talk about this week, here are a few cool things that I have learned the last week.

At training yesterday, President McConkie trained us on understanding and recognizing the Spirit. He used the scriptures D&C 8:2-3 and D&C 9:7-9. But we talked about how the Spirit speaks to us in the mind and in the heart. But first, we must study it out in our minds, come to a conclusion, and take it to the Lord in prayer. Everyone feels the Spirit in different ways though and he invited us to think about past experiences in our lives and come up with a way to describe how we personally feel the Spirit. It was a good thing to think about and realize how I personally feel the Spirit so I know when the Spirit is communicating with me.

The other thing that I have been thinking about lately is change. Change is great and change is necessary; necessary for growth, spiritually, mentally, and physically. There have been a lot of changes recently in the church here, including the formation of a stake in the Czech Republic and we will be getting a new Czech mission president in a month or so. Change can be hard though. But changes open up opportunities for us to be changed. I am grateful for this mission experience and the way that I have been changed and will continue to be changed and molded as I try to live and follow the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love this amazing time to be a missionary!

Love you all!

-Elder Shirley