Man, this past week has been quite the week.
Before any of ya'll freak out about my title may I just say that I love being out here as a missionary of the Lord serving His children. The reason I chose the title for this week is because of the new, personal commitment I've made with my Heavenly Father.
In my personal studies I have been reading from a talk called 'The 4th Missionary' by Lawrence E. Corbridge. The basis of the talk is "Be the fourth missionary!" The fourth missionary loses himself. He gives total and unconditional surrender to his (or her) Heavenly Father. "He boxes up all of his previous plans, wishes, wants, and desires and puts them on a shelf in his closet at home with all of his clothes and other things. When he returns he will unpack all of those boxes." It continues on to say that the prime example to become the fourth missionary is he Savior. And He is who we are all trying to become like on this life here on earth.
So, I've been praying all week to my Heavenly Father that He will give me the strength to lose myself. It's time to grow up! The only way to be successful and happy is through service. It's time to forget about myself and my wants and my desires and think about someone else for a change. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (1 Corinthians 13: 11)
All week went really well, and then we got to fast Sunday. Some of our investigators have been going through some really hard trials. Sister Robison and I have seen some really broken hearts. So this Sunday I made sure to fast for all of them. I was really just trying to do what I know is right, I was really hungry and the adversary had been on my back all morning. I was just a grudge. Only thinking of myself and exercising my natural man. Sister Robison, in all of her goodness, could tell that something was wrong and decided that we should go tracting, That was in all honesty the last thing I wanted to do. But I can testify to you that service is the way to happiness. Charity is the pure love of Christ. The second we started knocking on doors and talking to people I felt so much better, cuz I wasn't focused on myself anymore. It was the first step to letting go of what I want and letting God into my heart. So, after all of the praying to become more like what He wants me to be, I finally got it. I've known that service was always good, but it didn't click until I went through this experience. So, this is my commitment to God: I am going to give up. I surrender. I won't fight anymore. Here it is. Here are my desires. Here is my will. I want only what He wants me to do. That's enough for me. That's all I want.
I know I sort of went on a tangent today, and in all honesty I am still working on trying to become the consecrated missionary that God would have me be. I'm still so very far from perfect, but that is why I shared this experience. We all can become like the fourth missionary. Whether we're serving a mission or not, submitting our will to the Lords is the step to becoming more like Jesus Christ. That is my goal.
I love you all so very much. Thank you for the prayers, letters and love that you send me. I could not tell you in words how much you mean to me. I encourage ya'll to read this talk and know that I love ya'll very much.
God bless you.
Sister Mason
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