Another week has flown by and man this one was hot. It's been 30-35°C all week. As soon as we would leave the house I would start sweating, so yeah pretty fun. Not too much really happened this week if I am being honest, it's been a week of working and trying to help as many people as possible. In fact we have had the opportunity to work with many youth, and they are wonderful and funny. There are a lot of things I probably could elaborate on about the people and the mission, but I honestly don't know how I would elaborate on what all has actually been going on. A new Bishop was called and we were so happy that it was Thales because he is absolutely great and I know he will do a wonderful job helping the ward.
For some reason this week has been the week of Charity. Now I don't mean like giving stuff away to charity, but the Christlike attribute of Charity.
To put it simply, Charity is the pure love of Christ. Now what does that mean?
It means you have a pure love/care for someone. A sincere concern for their well-being. A desire to understand them and their point of views. Charity is compassion and a desire to serve and save. It is seeing the physical and spiritual needs of others being just as important as our own needs. Lastly it's giving to those in need regardless if they are our friends or not.
So why is Charity so important?
It is so important because Charity brings peace and prepares you for perfection. In this life we are always trying to better ourselves and trying to follow the example of Christ. Christ was the perfect example of Charity to all people not caring about the appearance or what they did wrong, but focusing on how to love them despite what they may have done. Even to the point where he asked his Father in Heaven to forgive the people who crucified him. It is marvelous to think and ponder of the amount of Love that Christ had for us. 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' (John 15:13) Christ gave his life and suffered everything just for us to have a chance at becoming better people. He gave a perfect example of the kind of people we can become if we seek to be more like Christ and seek to have more Charity.
As I was reading I came across an interesting quote, "If you lack Charity then you are as a child who has not given up childish things." That quote stuck with me and then I began reading in Mosiah 4:16-24 which talks about how we should not decide if someone deserves help or not for who are we to judge another without a concept of their life experiences or challenges. We should avoid thinking we are better than others because we are all beggars to the same God.
How do you know if you are walking in the right direction?
We know we have Charity when we are filled with good feelings, we become more patient and kind, we are not boastful or proud or selfish or rude, we don't remember or rejoice in the evil others have done, we are loyal, and we always believe in the best of others. We learn to love others as we love ourselves and we see a decline in negativity, anger, envy, and we are less likely to judge or criticize.
Charity comes from a pure heart, good conscience, and faith unfeined (1 Timothy 1:5).
I never realized how important Charity was and what it truly means to have Charity. I realized here on the mission that it was an attribute that I was faulting a bit and I have begun the process of trying to have more Charity in my life.
I'd like for all to listen to this talk by President Thomas S. Monson which touched my heart and made me rethink a few things in my life.
Charity Never Faileth
Anyway as I focus on working on my Charity, I ask you all. What do you lack? I'll let you know more next week.
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