May 2

Hello Everyone!

I have had another good week this week!  It has gone by super quick again.  But it has been really good!  We got to talk to a lot of people, and we met some really cool new ones.  My favorite maybe is sister Ismile.  She is super nice.  She was the one that found us!  We were walking and she stopped us and asked about us and what we taught and how long it would be before she could get baptized.  Then she promised that she would go to church, and yesterday she showed up with her four grandchildren!  She is super nice!  I am excited for her. We've set up a return apointment with her later today, so I'm excited!

I have been learning again, about how important doing service is.  Yesterday one of our RCs got her personal progress book so that she can get started on that, but she asked us a couple of questions about what she should do with it, so we talked about it, and then I was just flipping through it looking at the different value experiences and projects that it has, and I really liked one of them.  This is what it said:

Learn why service is a fundamental principle of the gospel. Read Matthew 5:13–16; 25:34–40; Galatians 6:9–10; James 1:22–27; Mosiah 2:17; 4:26; and 3 Nephi 13:1–4. Others often give service you may not notice, such as preparing meals, reading to or listening to younger children, repairing clothing, or helping a brother or sister. For two weeks record in your journal the quiet acts of service your family members and others perform. Acknowledge their service in some meaningful way.

I thought about that and how important it is.  It is so easy to just take things for granted.  But I realized that just because someone always does something, it does not become less valuable.  It may become more valuable because it is repeated over and over again.  And it is so important for us to say thank you and acknowledge it in a meaningful way.

It is also important for me to be the one giving service as well.  And not just serving to serve, but serving out of love. I sometimes catch myself serving to be noticed, and as such, I would get annoyed if I wasn't thanked.  But I felt God chastising me a little bit whenever those thoughts came to my mind.  I felt Him questioning what my reason was for serving.  If I was serving for recognition, or because I wanted to help those around me.  And I realize, that if we serve for the right reasons, we will not worry about whether or not they say thank you, or seem to appreciate what you have done for them, but you will just be happy that you were able to help them.  Two scriptures came to my mind as I thought about this. Its from Matthew Chapter 5.

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them thatcurse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray forthem which despitefully use you,

and persecute you;

 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is inheaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on thegood, and sendeth rain on the

just and on the unjust.

 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward haveye? do not even the publicans the

same?

 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye morethan others? do not even the publicans so?



The second was this.  Also from Matthew, but in chapter 6

 16 ¶Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of asad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that theymay appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, Theyhave their reward.

 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, andwash thy face;

 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thyFather which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth insecret, shall reward thee openly.

I really like both of those scriptures, and I feel they really embody the way that we should serve.  We should serve even those that don't serve us, especially those we don't like, and if we do it to be seen of men, we won't recieve our reward in Heaven, but if we do it because we love them, they will feel that love, and we will feel so many more blessings because of it.  I know that that is true, even if I'm still not very good at it (:

Have a marvelous week,

Elder Childs