Elder Richard Gautavai: I Know This To Be True

Elder Gautavai sitting on abby rock!

Good Morning,

This may have been one of the best weeks of my mission so far, and it's opening my eyes more and more as I continue to move forward. We had a lot of good, and even a lot of disappointments hit us this week, but it was such a peaceful week for me.

I had the opportunity to go on an exchange with Elder May this past Thursday into Friday. I often wonder to myself why I was blessed to know the people that I know here on the mission, including President Jones. It has continued to amaze me how much Elder May has continued to help me throughout the course of my mission, and the exchange we had helped even more. Well, we talked a lot about how the Savior works, and how he doesn't expect us to be perfect, and is pleading with us to rely on him. I'm realizing this in my life every single day, and it's the most peaceful and humbling experience I have ever witnessed. I'm beginning to see what it means to be fully converted, and the process that conversion entails.

I have developed a better understanding for my role here in Wisconsin as a missionary. For a little bit of time I was becoming a very "robotic" missionary, and I didn't even realize it. I kept wondering why I wasn't developing love for people to the extent that I wanted to, and as I talked to Elder May I realized that I was becoming very robotic. It occurred to me that I'm here to help people by helping them receive the Gospel through not only the words which I use, but by the spirit which I bring. I have realized the only way for me to invite the spirit into the lives of those I meet with on a regular basis is to serve them any way that I can. I didn't even realize I was losing sight of this, but I was. I can't say that I understand everything at this point in time, but I do know I am very humbled at the things the Lord has done.

I am starting to develop a greater understanding the purpose of relying on the Lord. I'm not quite sure what it means completely, but I do feel like I am learning how to do this. I am seeing it is an essential part to us becoming "fully converted to the Lord." In order for me to be fully converted to the Lord, I now see trials are always going to be there, but only so we can learn how to rely on him, and because the Lord loves us, he allows us to choose whether or not we will humble ourselves and rely on him. When we humble ourselves we can find he is the one who allows us to go through these trials, and he is the one who will lift us up. It does take time and effort to becoming lifted up, but it's the way the Lord does things, line upon line and precept upon precept. I am seeing how truly humbling ourselves before the Lord is actually a great sense of peace and comfort in a world of shifting morals, and we have no promise if we don't humble ourselves.

My next thought moves to how we can humble ourselves each day in our lives. The best way I have been taught to humble ourselves is to live the commandments to the exactness, and rely on them every day of our lives. Elder Cristoffel Jr. taught us we will become humble through obeying the Lord's commands with exactness, and we will see we need him to be able to live his commandments to the exactness in our lives. I have really come to find there is safety, peace, and solace in being humble in my life, and I have found the way for me to stay humble is by living the commandments to the best of my ability.

I'm really coming to see God does care for all of His children, and He loves them so much. He weeps when we do not obey what He commands, because He doesn't do anything that won't benefit the children of men. In the end, He knows we are going to fall short after all we do, but He has promised us if we do the best we can here in this life, through Jesus Christ, we can have all He has. Again, I'm still searching more and more to understand these things, but I know that it's all part of God's plan. I do know after all we can do in this life, relying upon Him to be our strength, we can become more and more like the Savior. No one will ever be perfect, but through obedience to His Gospel, we can be assured he loves us, and wants all of his children to have peace.

After we realize all of these things, we should do our best to be a light for those around us. Not only do we need to be a light to those around us in our outward actions, but in our hearts as well. We need to do our best to do all we can to help those who are in need of help, comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and serve those who don't feel like they deserve to be served.

When we do these things, develop Christlike attributes, and rely on the Lord, we are building upon his rock. There are many tools out there that can help us to do these things, but our ultimate source of help is our Father in Heaven. He will always love us, while showing us the way we need to go. He will walk with us, and will pick us up when it's too hard. He will truly rescue us in our time of need. I know this to be true.

Love you guys!
Elder Gautavai