Boy has it been a crazy busy week, by far one of the fastest weeks in my mission, I can't even measure the time of the weeks anymore, seriously a blink of an eye.
We taught a lot of lessons about Christ and why have Christmas in celebration of his birth and ministry. We had a lot of success as well in having some Less actives come back to church last week. That was really exciting, I really hope they will continue to come back, and realize how much the Gospel can bless their lives if they are only willing to sacrifice small things, sometimes big.
Our Christmas Zone Conference was awesome! We traveled to Lucena Sunday night, and stayed with the Zone Leaders which by the way lives right behind the Chapel where the meeting was held, which was super nice because we didn't have to wake up super early and got a little time to study! I had to sleep on the floor though because there wasn't enough matresses for everyone, and I ended up getting sick from it too because it was a nasty floor. The Christmas Zone Conference was awesome as expected, was full of the Spirit of course as President, and the Ap's delivered a powerful message of the Atonement, and more specifically the repentance side of the Atonement, and lovingly called us all to repentance just like King Benjamin did with his righteous people. We also had lots of fun and games, with food. The bought a roasted pig for our feast which was the best! there was so much food! Thats how it should be on Christmas right!
After the Zone Conference we went to the mall to prepare for Christmas! We all know what that means right! MORE FOOD!!! hahaha so we had fun, and enjoyed the compnay of our fellow servants. We didn't get back until 1 in the morning because we just slammed on the worst bus the kept stopping for everything little person to get on... I was not very happy plus the lady's kid in front of us pooped in his diaper and yeah.. we got to smell that for 4 hours... I was pretty irritated but what evs.. nothin you can do but breath in threw your mouth...
Going along with the title of the e-mail, as we have been teaching about Christ and God's gift he has given us through Him, I personally thought what Could I give Christ this Christmas?? I was all ready in His service, and doing what he wants me to do, even thought sometimes I am not the best at doing but I am definitely trying my best each day. I thought of the best thing I could give him, especially with 6 months left in my mission, and this is the gift of consecration. I have tried to do this my entire mission, and i even think at some points i was even acheiving this goal but I really thought about it and I am sick of thinking about what school I am going to go to when I get home, or what career I am going to go into, what job I want to have, cars, entertainment, and who is possibly going to be my wife hahaha I am sick of thinking about all of it, and I am ready to throw on the blinders, and just see track and finish, because its pretty close, and I can run a lot faster in this race. I feel that I now have been trained, I now have experience, I now have the knowledge of how things should be done, and just haven't been the best at applying it all. So now is the time where I am going to take all that and start hitting the pavement. I am not going to come home regretting that I didn't work hard till the end of mission, I will not allow it. A Sister in my batch made an interesting comment while we were having a testimony meeting while we were stuck in the Chapel for 4 days, she said: " At the end of your mission and you go through the temple before you go home, and you are in the Celestrial room then you should ask the Lord if he has accepted your mission, and your efforts as his called servant." That hit me pretty hard, and I have been thinking about it ever since. How heart wrenching would it be to be told that the Lord didn't accept your mission because of your lack of will, obedience, and love. Knowing you had one chance to do it, man that would not be fun, and that ain't going to happen to me.
Consecration is what I am going to give to the Lord on His special holiday, and I challenge all of you to look within yourselves and give a gift to Christ that He is really going to like, something challenging to help you really feel closer to Him, and I know he will be proud of you in your efforts doing so. I love you all and hope you have a very Merry Christamas! I am grateful I can be in His service at the special time of the year!
Elder Kikel
-on the Lord's errand-
San Pablo Philippines Mission
Lewis,
ReplyDeleteHope you had a great Christmas there! Sounds like it was a perfect opportunity to share the meaning and light of Christ. I'm sure you all did a wonderful job. You can plant many seeds with just his name and they will feel the spirit. I noticed the conversation with a sister missionary about the Lord accepting your mission. The way you have worked and how you love the people there you have no worries. The Lord is excited that you are just on a mission and sharing the gospel with others, expectations are high but will accept anything out of individuals. No worries about that! I will be the first one to let you know that you have made a huge difference out there in the Philippines and will be rewarded for your efforts by the Lord, Big Time! how great shall be your joy! :)
Love you bud
Your Bro
Tony