So I had an experience this week that has had me thinking a lot about humility. Its vital for us to always try to become more Christ like, if we arent humble then we wont be willing to make the changes we need to. Sometimes we learn from positive experiences, this is an experience where my imperfectness helped me realize I need to be more humble. Some good quotes from Preach My Gospel
"When you humbly trust Him and acknowledge His power and mercy, you can have the assurance that His commandments are for your good. You are confident that you can do whatever the Lord requires of you if you rely on Him. You are also willing to trust His chosen servant and follow their counsel."
"To be prideful means to put greater trust in oneself than in God or in His servants. It also means to put the things of the world above the things of God."
So why do I spend time in my emails writing a spiritual thought or two? Because generally the spiritual thoughts in my emails have a place in my week. They were a part of my week and helped me in the week and so maybe they can help you all with your week.
So back to the pictures and video Mom said you all enjoyed them, Im glad to hear it :) One thing I want to comment on is the seriousness, they arent completely serious are they. And I think in part thats good, hopefully there was some more normal serious pictures, but in gernall some of the pics (and the video) sent home have been somewhat goofy. Please dont let that take away from what this work is. I really am sorry though if any of you feel that any of them are too un-serious.
I can testify that this work really is lead by God. That his Holy Spirit leads and directs this work, that a member of the Godhead truly does guide us and give us direction. Just a few days ago we had a lesson with a man named Zoltán. Super cool story about how we found him. We were streeting our way back to the branch house and had just reached the path to the branch house from the road. We were about to head down it when I noticed a couple just a little bit past the path, just a bit in front of us. I told my companion (Elder Cutler at the time) that I wanted to pass the path and street them. They were super cool, and like I already said, we ended up meeting with one of them a few days ago.
And stuff like that is an every day thing, every day miracles happen, I recently started to write a miracle of the day in my journal every day, its so neat seeing the hand of God in this work and in my life. How much He really does love us.
So we had transfers this last week! Exciting stuff, unfortunately Im not serving with Elder Cutler any more, fortunately Im serving with Elder Giacalone! Im just super glad I get to stay in Szeged. Apparently Pres. Smith sent an email about being senior companion, Mom asked about that since Elder Giacalone is older than me. Well, hes a senior companion too, we are "co-seniors." In this mission if two missionaries who have been out almost the same time serve together they are considered co-senior even if one is a little bit older. So we are coseniors, and Elder Giacalone speaks better than me so he is a big help and a very awesome companion, he is also the District leader. He is also a super fun companion and works very hard and is very willing to be obedient which I love. Thats what I love.
Honestly, as a missionary I have no idea how to do this work the best. We have the book "Preach My Gospel" and thats what we are doing, preaching His gospel. And if its His gospel He for sure knows how to preach it the best. If I am obedient to the things He has asked me to do then I can be open to recieve His inspiration for how to best bless His children. So whether Im tracting, streeting, tabling, teaching a lesson, at church, or wherever I can find who He has prepared.
Thats one thing Ive found. I can work all day long, all week long, all transfer, but if Im just doing it to do it, if I just want to get a few working hours in its not going to do much. But If I do it with faith and with real intent this work progresses, and maybe not in the way I thought.
I dont think Ive said it recently. I love this work. I love getting to be a part of it, and I love this gospel. Its such a blessing to get to be a missionary. Its not easy. If its easy than Im doing something wrong. Its hard, but its supposed to be hard because this is the work of the salvation of Souls and its worth hard work. Ive had some of the most challenging times, but also some of the best.
We got to go to Budapest for transfers, super fun. Train rides are pretty normal to me now, super cool, I love trains. I remember when the nephews were younger they loved Thomas the Train, dont be surprized if when I get home in about a year I get out their old train toys and start playing with them :) Except the 4 hour delay on the train, that was an adventure. Apparently there was a break in the track or an accident or something, I never found out all the details, but we did just barely miss the earlier train by a few minutes and we missed it because of a silly mistake we made getting to the station that I still dont know how we made. So I dont know if there was a problem with the earlier train or something but maybe we were protected from getting on it or something.
Anyways wow, I forgot to mention at the end of last transer, so last week a cool member named Géza had us over. Amongst missionaries Szeged is known partially for Gézas meals he feeds us at the end of the transfer. It was a real, super good, super delicious, Hungarian feast. First the soups. First dish was a delicious soup with pork, noodles, orange and white carrots, maybe other stuff, super good.Next dish was fruit soup! Fruit soup is an incredible Hungarian dish, Ive had it before but this was by far the best. Everyone just wants to keep eating this stuff all day long. Next dish is delicous baked tender chicken with mash potatoes, then then king of the meal is the last dish, pörkult. Just the most amazing Hungarian dish, super super good, I dont even know how to describe it. There are lots of Hungarian things about eating and what to do, but in general the main rule of thumb is to just eat as much as you can to show that you love it.
Well I should get going but I hope you all have a great week. Keep smiling and keep being awesome! Thanks like always for the love, thoughts and prayers, right back at you!
Sok szeretettel,
Elder Shoop
No comments:
Post a Comment