Week #44 Love This Work!!!

Hello Friends!!!

Another great week here in good ole San Juaquin!  It`s funny how this work really becomes your life and your very person.  It helps you to see a glimpse into the eyes of our Padre Celestial...how he feels when we succeed, when we fall, when we cry...I am beginning to understand why nobody can ever explain why, but why EVERYONE says that the mission is the most important experience of your life.  It just helps you understand.

We had some good lessons this week.  A young boy Miguel is starting to gain confidence and open up to us.  He had lost trust in the missionaries for some reason and gone inactive in the church.  He still isn`t assisting, but at least he is consistently receiving us now.  :)  Also, we had a good lesson with the family I talked about last week.  They had some questions that we did our best to help them understand...the cool part was that it led right into the message of the restoration.  It`s just so cool how the Holy Ghost literally guides you through lessons if you lesson to it.  I figure that in itself teaches us a lot about life.  If you will listen to the Holy Ghost telling you what to do...things will always end up where they need to be.

This week I was thinking a lot about the timing of Heavenly Father in our lives...why he doesn`t always step into our lives immediately to change things.  Why is that?  It makes me think about the development of a child.  During my mission, I`ve had the blessing to be around right after a baby was born.  I have gotten to see the development of said baby..it really is quite remarkable   In the beginning, the parents have to do EVERYTHING for the baby, but it reaches a point that if the parents continue doing everything for them, they will NEVER grow and act for their own.  First, a baby begins to crawl.  Slowly, after MANY times falling, the baby begins to kinda waddle around.  In time, it masters the art of walking.  Then it wants more!  It begins to try to run!  Again, it falls.  That never stops the baby.  It continues to attempt to run time after time after time.  After many more attempts, it masters running!  Next thing you know the baby is running with a soccer ball...kicking it around like a professional with the Dad coaching it.  

None of that progress would have ever come if it hadn`t been for the parents letting the baby fall...time after time after time.  The baby took it`s own initiative.  It begins to practice.  Isn`t that marvelous?  We can relate that to our progress spiritually quite easily.  Heavenly Father guides us many times and then leaves us to see what happens.  Through learning from our mistakes and continually striving to become a better person, we become what we were born to be.  After mastering a part of life or the gospel, our Heavenly Father again begins to guide us where we need to go to continue growing as people.  We are right where we are supposed to be.

I love the light that has been shed on my life.  I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  That I really can understand a little better who our Heavenly Father is, how he works, and why he does the things he does.  I want to testify to each of you that the timing of Heavenly Father is perfect.  Many times, we don`t want to wait...we don`t want to fall, but it it ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!  Any time you fall down...I want you to always remember that there is a reason.  There is something that Heavenly Father is waiting on us to do so that he can continue to guide us.  Any time you fall on your back, look up, there`s a sky full of opportunities just waiting for you to take them.  I pray that we all might try to draw closer to the Savior.  

Con Amor,

Elder Jackson