Hey everyone! I hope y'all all had a great week! This week was pretty awesome for me. Here are some of the highlights from my week.
1. We had a special mission conference this week. President Cook asked me to give a capacitation on "How to keep your house clean". It´s really funny because he knows me as "Mr. Clean"...now everyone knows me as that. Haha I´ve had several people call me to help them with something and they´ve said "Hey how´s it going Mr. Clean!?" haha The capacitation went great! It was super great to get a chance to give a talk to the missionaries. I feel that it will actually help them out. Instead of just preaching to them about not being lazy and cleaning, I related the subject to feeling the Holy Spirit stronger in your houses, which in result to that, will better your planning, lessons, and conversion. I felt honored to help out with that. :)
2. Elder Anderson´s replacement was called to the office. His name is Elder Nelson. He is really awesome. He´s from just outside of LA California. We have a lot in common and he just seems like a great guy. He is going to play baseball at BYU as a pitcher when he gets back, so that´s pretty neat as well. He is actually from Elder Sarceno´s group.( The missionary I trained.) It´s just crazy to think that they already have enough time for someone from their group to get called to the office. Time is flying!
3. We took a couple missionaries to the airport the other day. We took a senior couple there to go home. The Bradfords. They got here like right at the end of my training. It´s weird to me to think that they´re gone because they´ve like always been here, but they were excited to get home and see their family. We also took Hermana Contreras to the airport. She actually got called to the Temple Square Mission in Salt Lake. She got trained here until her visa stuff was all taken care of. I´m way excited for her. I know she´s just loving the mission out there. The only mission in the whole world that is smaller than mine. hahaha
This week I have been meditating a little about the leadership we have as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Every organization has a leader, but what is so special about ours? Every organization has a "good man" or "a man that´s good at his job" at the head. I have just been thinking here lately about what separates our "good men" from the other "good men" out there. Here are some of the things I´ve come up with.
- We know that they are the same men in public that they are at home. Although many times we´d like to envision the leaders of the church as perfect beings, they aren´t. They have personal challenges and trials just like the rest of us. The difference is this. They´ve allowed the Lord to work through them in their lives. That´s something that anybody can see when they study these unique individuals. The amount of faith they have is unequaled. That´s how I know without the shadow of a doubt that we have "great men" at the head of the church. I know with all certainty that they don´t have any other desires other than to serve their brothers and sisters under Christ.
- As I mentioned before, all of the leaders in the church are "great men". There are many of those in the world. I wouldn´t dare to say that there aren´t others. What makes the difference in these men is that they are divinely guided. They have put their lives in harmony with the gospel to a point that Heavenly Father trusts them with personal revelation and revelation for the entire world. That is what makes them "Special Witnesses of Jesus Christ". Any Christian would call themselves a witness of Christ, but these men have raised the bar. They´ve not applied the gospel to their lives, but made the gospel their lives. That´s how they have come to witness such marvels in this life. That´s how they´ve come to see the other side of the veil. That´s how they´ve attained a higher vision for themselves, their families, their wards, their stakes, and for the church as the Kingdom of God upon the earth.
I feel so privileged and special that Heavenly Father has blessed me to live in this time of history. We are literally living in this most historic time. The restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the most historic occurrence in the history of the earth right behind the events of the Atonement. How amazing it is to know that Heavenly Father has´t left us here in this all important part of history without guidance. He has blessed us with leaders who are not JUST "good men", but that they are "good men inspired of God". I believe that that is an accurate way of describing all of the prophets and apostles in the scriptures. Now, imagine this. Imagine how incredible life would be if you had men comparable to Adam, Noah, and Abraham in your life to guide you....it´d sure be heavenly wouldn´t it? Well you do. That´s one of many reasons why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Kingdom of God upon the earth. I testify of the holy calling of these men. I testify that I´ve come to trust in the words that they say. I know that their words are the will of Heavenly Father for each and every one of us. They will guide us to peace, happiness, and eventual Life Eternal if we head their words. That is my prayer for each of you. That you´d pray about the sacredness of the callings of the leaders of the church...that you´d pray to know that these callings really did come from the Heavens. I know that as you do that, you´ll receive divine confirmation that they did. Of this I testify, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Con Amor,
Elder Jackson
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