The Will To Act

"The training, is nothing, the will, is everything!"-Rhaz Al Gul, Batman Begins

This quote has been on my mind a lot lately. As we commited two investigators to a basptismal date this week, I've been thinking a lot about how much work was put into this. If they get baptized on their set dates, it will have been five missionaries that have had to work and teach and testify to these people before making it to the waters of baptism.

The key is, did we have the will to act, to do what is necessary, and do all that the person needed, to make it there? As a very new missionary with little training, I have to have a lot of will, and a lot of faith. And the great thing is, faith leads to action! When you have the faith and the belief that someone will listen to you, you will find someone to listen to you! Someone's heart will be touched by your words, your actions, even just a smile may change someone's heart.

But we must be willing to put in the work, to have the faith to pray with real intent, to study the scriptures for advice for those we talk about or lessons to learn from the great people in the scriptures. To be totally obedient and willing. And I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Prayer

There is nothing more important for our individual relationship with our Father in Heaven than prayer. And the way to develop that relationship is through heartfelt, sincere prayer, not through rote, repetitious prayers.

At district meeting today, the zone leaders taught us that sincere prayer is key to conversion, not only that of our investigators but of ourselves as well. We cannot change without help from God. We have to communicate to Him our goals and our plans for achieving these goals, then asking for help from Him. We must humble ourselves and realize that we need His help, then get on our knees and sincerely ask for it.

Sometimes, it's hard to say prayers at 10:30 at night when you've been out walking in the rain and you're exhausted, or at 6:30 in the morning when you're still half asleep. But I know there is nothing more important for our relationship with God and for our happiness than sincere prayer, actually having a conversation with God, instead of sending Him a list of the things you're thankful for and the things you want. I challenge you to get on your knees and talk with your Heavenly Father. He will answer and respond to your prayers through the Holy Ghost; you will have thoughts arise in your minds or feelings in your hearts, not harsh and loud, but through a still, small voice; a gentle nudge in the right direction. Then take these directions and act on them! Do not harden your heart and ignore spiritual promptings, but instead act on them and do the best you can, ask God for strength to do these things, then go and do them; He will provide the way (1 Nephi 3:7).

I'm not saying I'm perfect at this, quite the opposite actually. I know I need to work hard on this and improve every day. This post is almost me telling myself what to do, but I encourage you to do these things as well. I know you will feel the difference and you will be able to meet the things the adversary will throw at you, and most importantly, you will be talking with your Heavenly Father, and He wants that so badly. Then take His loving directions to heart and follow them! You will see the difference. And I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Strength

As I've been doing missionary work, I've learned something very important: You must rely on your Heavenly Father for strength, not yourself. I have the tendency to think that I can do everything by myself without help from anyone, and I've realized I can't be a successful missionary when I work by myself.

Alma 37:36-37 says,"Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doing be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.
"Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good..."

This scripture is the guidebook for being a successful missionary. Obviously, there are prerequisites to have your prayers answered or to have meaningful communication with your Father in Heaven: obedience, faith, scripture study, keeping the commandments, etc., but if you obey and use these scriptures as a guide for how you pray, you will have more meaningful prayer and feel the strength Heavenly Father will give you through the Atonement of His Son.

If you do this, your thoughts and actions will be guided by the Spirit to find those people who need a friend, who need to hear the message of this gospel, or maybe even need help. I know if we all pray sincerely and ask to be instruments in His hands, it will be granted unto us and we will be happier as we do His work.

Breakthrough

So last night, after much hard work, prayer, study, and obedience, Elder Smith and I achieved something miraculous. One of our investigators commited to baptism to myself and a member, who I was on splits with. It was amazing. Elder Smith was out with another member and they taught a less-active member and his girlfriend, who is not a member and has never talked with us. But she commited to be at church on Sunday and to read the Book of Mormon and pray.

I guess the lesson is: keep working hard and being as obedient as possible because even if you have some bad days when appointments get cancelled and no one wants to talk to you, you will have that breakthrough, that day when things go right and Heavenly Father allows us to witness the greatest miracle on earth, and to be instruments in His hands.

Never stop trying, the fantastic day will make up for all the bad days.

Resisting Temptation

 3 And when the ^atempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made ^bbread.

 4 But he answered and said, It is written, ^aMan shall not ^blive by ^cbread alone, but by every ^dword that proceedeth out of the ^emouth of God.

 5 ^aThen the devil taketh him up into the ^bholy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

 6 ^aAnd saith unto him, ^bIf thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not ^atempt the Lord thy God.

 8 ^aAgain, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the ^bkingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

 9 ^aAnd saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, ^aSatan: for it is written, Thou shalt ^bworship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

 11 Then the devil leaveth him, ^aand, behold, ^bangels came and ministered unto him.

This story is one of my favorites. I know I couldn't fast for forty days, but if I could I bet I'd be pretty weak and open to temptation. The Savior gives us the ultimate way to resist temptation: quoting scripture. If Satan is trying to get you to do something, quote a scripture in your head or say it out loud. My favorite scripture to say when Satan is trying to tempt me is where I get the title of my blog: 2 Nephi 4:28. I encourage you to do the same thing and follow the Savior's example and tell Satan to go away.

Also, anyone want some good missionary reading, read Helaman 5. It's an incredible story of two brothers that preach the gospel together. 

-Elder Schnell

Falling Slowly

Summer is turning to fall here in Bowling Green and it is a beautiful day. The temperature has cooled down and the leaves are starting to change colors, but the sun is still shining and it feels great. How grateful I am to be here and to be a missionary, a representative of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I will admit, sometimes it is a little discouraging when people don't listen or they blow you off before you have a chance to talk to them, I know I'm where I'm supposed to be. I wouldn't be out here talking to people and inviting them to come unto Christ if I didn't believe this gospel is 100% true.

I just want to take this opportunity to share my testimony. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Christ's church restored on the earth today. I know it was restored by Joseph Smith, and that he really did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and that he translated the Book of Mormon from an ancient record of people in the Americas. I know this church is guided today by Thomas S. Monson, who is also called of God to lead and guide His followers. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior, that He atoned for my sins, that he paid the ultimate price so that I can be forgiven of my sins and return to live with Heavenly Father.

That's why I'm on a mission. This gospel makes me happy, I don't know what I'd do without it, and I want others to feel this joy that never fades.

And I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Something to brighten your day

If you are ever having a bad day, hop over to mormon.org and watch a couple of the "I'm A Mormon" videos. They are so inspirational. These are just normal people with problems like everyone else, but their faith in Jesus Christ and the knowledge that they have gets them through the hard times. And they are so happy.

Start of a new week

Just a short one today.
Started reading Jesus The Christ today and I am so excited to learn more about Him and His life and purpose. I really love Him and know He is my Savior.
Alma 22:26
We must realize that we can do nothing without God. He is the reason any of us are here, and He gives us everything. Just rely on Him.

I love you all!

It's a Beautiful Day

I really mean that. It's a gorgeous day here in Bowling Green and it leads me to reflect back on how blessed I am.  Even though I am away from my family and the ones I love dearly for two years, it's a short two years. I can't believe it's already been four days!
This gospel is the key to my happiness. Without it, I wouldn't be where I am today, knowing the people that I know and being as happy as I am. Even though life is extremely hard sometimes, and even though there aren't very many people that want to talk to us right away, we need to speak with an urgency. This is someone's relationship with their Father in Heaven. He wants to hear from them and we are here to tell them that. This is someone's relationship with their Savior, the One who payed the ultimate price for their sins, who loves them without end, and provided the example for them to follow.
Even though this is serious, this gospel is joyful! Us members are so happy because we know we can be with out families forever, we can be forgiven of our sins and have that weight of guilt taken off our backs, because we receive guidance through a modern day prophet who speaks for God.

So, what I'm trying to say is: share it. Even if you aren't a full time missionary, talk to everyone about this! It might be scary, but if you have faith and you act, you can do it.

Remember 1 Nephi 3:7 (and if you don't have a Book of Mormon, it's very easy to get one). There will always be a way.

Love y'all

Greenie

Being a greenie here in the Tennessee Nashville Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is way awesome! My companion, Elder Smith, is a really hard worker and is super obedient, and we're getting along really well.
It is absolutely beautiful here in Bowling Green (Bawlin Green), Kentucky and the people are awesome, and the experience is only made better by the fact that I am a servant of the Lord. I get so much help from Him and know that I could not do it without Him.

This blog is titled after one of my favorite scriptures from the Book of Mormon. It is 2 Nephi 4:28: "Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, o my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul." Sometimes, it's hard to stay focused on one thing for so long. I just recite this scripture every time I get distracted while I'm doing personal study or even just walking around. It's very helpful.

Well, hope you enjoy my little words of wisdom and funny stories!