Monday January 19, 2015

This week Was another Great Week, I think I am just going to stop saying that so We can all assume that it was a great week anyway :p

My Studies went Well, I continued to be studying the lessons from Preach My gospel to become a better teacher, I am currently studying in Lesson 2 : Plan of Salvation.

We have began working alot more with members as well, And we have discussed and contemplated ways to help strengthen all those we work with in their missionary efforts as we have done so we see the members getting more excited and we are able to see the miracles pour out here. 

Unfortunately I can't seem to type much today, but I will share some experiences I have had.

I am doing my 40 day fast from things that are not edifying or focused on the Lord and I started it again this week but this time, I have fasted more during it to truly show the Lord how dependent I am on him, It seems to be going well and the sacrifices aren't as hard to resist so that is pretty cool to see, I know that to be fully effective as a missionary I must consecrate myself to the Lord, why would anyone not give 100% it doesn't make sense to me why someone wouldn't search for changing throughout their missions. This is the GREATEST opportunity for anyone. if anyone is not sure if they should serve a mission I plead with you to come out, You learn so much about who you are, who the Savior is and you become so interweaven in the gospel it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

We were able to get and get food at this place our investigator and our friends have recommended and the man recognized us as Mormon Missionaries and asked us if we had any pamphlets with us, we said yeah, he then gave us permission to leave some in his Store he was so nice and his food was AMAZING, We also found out that two of our investigators are planning on being married this summer so that is exciting to see, especially as the World goes farther and farther from the Church and God's stance on all of that. One cool Experience that happened for Barry is that he was there and we said a prayer, and after we said Amen he recieved a text from his dad saying that he would be working on getting off the day of their wedding so that was sweet. Oh AND IT SNOWED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We also were able to visit some potentials and they expressed how interested they were in the gospel, so We will be seeing them this coming weeks hopefully.  Also this week we contacted this man 2 months ago we have returned several times to visit and follow up with him and we got him in and he expressed that Mosiah 24 really helped him so much that he gave it to his friend as well and it helped her and now they both want to learn more about the gospel and come unto Christ so that was AMAZING.

When we were teaching Thomas this week we were able to be Bold with him in declaring the truth of the gospel as we watched the Restoration we invited him to be baptized he responded how he had already been baptised then with authority and power we were able to Teach about Authority and boldly testify how the Authority to act in God's name was lost after the death of the Apostles and that The CHURCH of JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS is the only CURCH that has that authority and is Gods kingdom once again on the Earth. The spirit was so strong and It resignated with him. 

We also saw John this Week and when we saw him, we were able to share exactly what he needed which was really cool, I love him so much he is amazing, and As we brought him with us to a lesson he was able to recieve answers to his questions Through SERVING with us which was really neat to see. We met nice people all week and were able to visit many Great people. It was great. 

 We got many Potentials this week but couldn't get exact times so will be doing alot of calling this week. 

I love all of you 

And I just want you all to know  

I know that Jesus Christ is my savior and my redeemer, I know that I am out here serving for some purpose that only God Knows Truly, I know That God is there and that he is my heavenly Father, I know Who I am because of that knowledge and I know That there is greater potential and possibilities for all of us as we are literally his children and as such are of a noble birthright. I know that Jesus Christ Lives and through the Atonement We can ALL be saved in his kingdom and have everlasting happiness, these things I earnestly testify in his sacred name, the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 Keep Swimming :)

 

- Elder James Reece

Monday January 12, 2015

Hey Everybody, 

It's nice to be able to speak with you all once again, This week Has had some wonderful experiences and I would say one of the Most Spiritually building Weeks of my life. If you look at reports we only taught 3 lessons contributing to any Indicators we report, however the amount of personal strength and growth that I have experienced is way more then that. This week has been a week where I was able to recieve many answers to prayers and see and hear from people How much change I have gone through as well as see That my prayers are working. 

So as always my studies, this week have been focused on Preach My gospel but also focused on the Activities and Application settings within them, As I have been trying to figure out how to best help God fulfill his purposes.  As I was studying I focused largely on the first chapter in Preach My gospel which is "My Purpose". As I focused on the Personal study activities within this section I learnt deeper of what My Purpose as a missionary is and it is not to bring everyone to the church but Focused largely on Doing EVERYTHING in my power to give people the information and to bring the spirit into their lives so they can accept the Gospel but in the end it is INVITING everyone to learn. Of course not everyone will accept the Gospel but our invitation is to do as illustrated in Doctrine and covenants and all of us who have been warned it is our responsibility to warn our neighbours. How incredible is that and recently a friend of mine has had the Power of Everyday missionaries book and I had the chance to look at it and review it and make changes to apply some of the focuses of it in the work and it is so great. Focusing on the IMPORTANCE of members in this work and Our role as missionaries to help them to encourage and strengthen them so they may feel the love of the lord for them through helping others they know feel the love of God for themselves. My study also studied alot on Patience and Looking through the scriptures for occasions where Patience is needed. 

Patience really is a core fundamental aspect of the Gospel as we have patience, we exercise both Faith and Hope in these things and show Love for all of God's children. It is through patiently awaiting the blessings the Lord has promised us as we are faithful which allows us to ENDURE to the END. If we didn't patiently endure and continue on through hardships, well alot of us would turn our backs on the gospel thus because we wouldn't have a hope that things would/ could even get better. Patience Is definately something I have been working on and I notice that as I focus on Patience and  pray for opportunities to be more patient with everyone the Lord definately provides those opportunities for you to try to be, The Lord works hard to test our patience because it is through that test that we learn to be more patient and  just as the Lord says to Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, " Bear with patience thine afflictions, then if thou wilt endure them well the Lord will exalt thee on high"- paraphrased. 

It truly is the primary thing before anything else can really be instrumented.

Now on to my week 

I have begun to keep a miracles journal per day and have really noticed very much the miracles that have been presented unto me this week. 

I am not sure If I reported this miracle on Monday, but if so I will repeat it again, As we were coming into town we were sitting on the bus and someone came on the bus, she was going to sit somewhere else than lended up sitting right beside me, she had her music in her ears and as she sat both me and my companion felt prompted to talk but we couldn't think of how to engage in conversation, then she sneezed and I replied bless you and began talking with her, as we talked we talked about what we do and asked about her as well and we mentioned about how we teach people about the Gospel and she responded that if people came to her door, she would go and go a pen and paper and listen to what they have to say, so We asked her if she would be interested in Learning about these things, she expressed she would be,( however I forget to set a return appointment) so getting off the bus we gave her a card and said to call when she would like to learn. It was a miraculous thing though, Also that day I was able to have a very powerful prayer that morning and that Evening, Could really feel the Lord's love for me.

This week I had countless miracles but Don't have too much time left to e-mail only 10 minutes so I will share some.

One day we were on the bus and the first person we talked to expressed how he lost his dad several years back and that he couldn't talk to his fiance about it because she would say that he was lucky to have had that at least, so we expressed to the man if he needed someone to talk to he could call us anytime. Later I was sitting on the bus and at the back and I prayed and asked heavenly Father to put someone there who we could help  to come to know God, in my prayer I commited that I would talk to anyone he put there in front of me and as I said Amen a man approached and sat beside me, He was the most unlikely man that we would contact just normally as he was scruffy and wasn't well groomed, however I felt Prompted to speak with him, As I spoke with him I came to know that he was striving to recover from Heroine and is going through Addiction Recovery, and he also visits his mother for tea often, As I looked at this man ( I have been praying to be able to see people for their potential rather than their appearance)  I could see him clean shaven in whites and it was a miraculous thing, As I talked with him I told him that Heavenly Father LOVES him and Knows Him, As I did so I could feel within me the Love that God has for this man and It overtook me, I invited him to learn more about God, and He declined and after he left I was thanking the Lord for the opportunity I had to be able to have showed his love for his children and as I Did I felt the most outpouring of God's love I have ever felt that I weeped right there on the bus for this man, I can truly testify that the Gift of Charity is a gift from the Lord and if we do as Moroni instructs in Moroni 7:48 we can truly come to love people. I have been praying for this love for so long and This day I could see it evidentally in front of me. 

I know God Loves all of his children and if we ask to do his work and ask him for his help we can feel that love he has for them. 

It is a miraculous thing. And we can come to know for ourselves of God's love. 

I apologize I couldn't talk about the other miracles I have run out of time, However I will say this, Through God's Servants I was able to recieve many answers to my prayers. It is incredible to know that God has chosen individuals he works through to answer us and that the Spirit can testify truth to us by the words they speak. 

I know this work is True and I am so priviledged to be apart of this, I could never have anticipated the joys that my mission would grant unto me and how much I would truly come to know My savior and my Father in heaven.

I love all of you, both at home, and here, ANYONE who is reading this

I LOVE YOU, YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN LOVES YOU< THE SAVIOR LOVES YOU , AND we are all hear for all of you. 

Have a great week, remember to look back and see how much you have grown, I was able to see a lady in my mission who met me when Ifirst came in and standing there talking to her Wednesday she didn't recognize me as the same person. The Gospel changes us 

LET IT

- Elder James Reece

Jan 5, 2015 - New Years

So this week was good. Not alot of things happened numbers wise but it was a good week. We were really able to strengthen the members alot and were able to see many miracles. Nothing attributed to our key indicators though.

This week has been slow and have been doing alot of chapping of Doors which is good, One miracle of the week while knocking a street we had been directed to knock we found a less active member who didn't have his address updated and has been going to other churches and has been wanting to come back but Hasn't known how to, so he let us in and told us he wants to come back to church and not drink or smoke anymore again and learn about the Book of Mormon again and come back, That was super amazing especially because that day was such a rubbish day outside and we were cold. As we continued chapping on that same street on the next day we found a man who let us in, His name was Bill and he used to have a blether with the missionaries many years back and talk about the Book of Mormon. This is the second family where this happened and it's so cool.

The other family that had this happen we felt prompted to knock this little place of 5 houses and they told us to come in a few weeks ago, and it was great but this week the subject of the Book of Mormon came up and they said hey I used to have one of those and I said would you like another and they took one and want to have discussions about it. So that was amazing as well. 

On New Years day once again, we had the priviledge of going to member's houses to drop off cookies, we were well recieved at each house we went to and everyone was home which was neat, we were able to have some nice visits and really strengthen our relationships with the members which TRULY is key in missionary work. ABSOLUTELY #1 KEY thing. 

Oh yeah almost forgot, Tuesday I saw a miracle that I never would have been able to do months ago. But It was cool We were knocking this street and as we were knocking it we met this man and said hi We are sharing a message about the Love of God, and he told us he didn't believe in God, but looked perplexed as he did, and then he shut the door, we continued on to the next door, and I felt as we walked away the reason he didn't believe, but was afraid to go, so we continued several doors down then when the urge became strong I spun around and told my companion, hey we are going back to that man's door, We knocked his door again and apologized for coming back but we felt prompted we needed to come back to talk to him, and he said"I told you, I am not interested, and as he said that I proceeded to ask him, "Have you by any chance lost someone so dear to you which has caused you to not believe, He looked for a moment and said Yes I have lost many, so we began to ask him If he would want to know how he could see them again, As we extended the invitation, you could see in his eyes it is something he longed for, but he chose to not accept the invitation, however as we left three teenagers came up to us and asked us about hockey, and at this time I was filled with the spirit and I turned to them and asked them about if they have ever wondered what the purpose was of being here, Whilst almost tears coming to my eyes I bore testimony on what knowing my purpose has done for me, and one of the three expressed how it was something they would be interested in and the other boys seemed to be confused about it as well, so we left them with the Plan of Salvation and told them we would see them again, since we see them all the time. Walking away we felt the spirit testify to us that we just did what God wanted us to do it was a unique and amazing feeling, and from that moment, I decreed I won't let my fear of man overcome my love for the Lord and if I felt even a little push to be more persistent with specific people or to talk to specific people whether they are in a group or not I was going to do it. and from then I have been focusing on Praying for experiences to show my courage and exhibit patience in the Lord's plan. 

I want you to know That I know that from knowing God's Plan for YOU, you can ultimately find happiness and peace in your life and the lives of those who you impact. Since discovering my purpose I have never thought of not being worth anything, since finding this I have never questioned if I am meant to be here, I KNOW GOD has a plan for me and I know that he has aplan for all of US if you let him he will shape you into a masterpiece, he has begun that process within me and countless others I have been priviledged to meet and work with.

I KNOW HE LOVES YOU, I KNOW HE IS THERE WITH YOU , I KNOW HE LOVES ME AND NO MATTER WHAT WILL ALWAYS LOVE ME.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had the priviledge Tuesday as well to spend it with two families who have children who have either strayed away from the gospel or who have never chosen that path, which was nice because It is a good contact with the church and a nice way to Show the Love of the Lord. 

The next day was the same, I am so greatful for the examples all the members are to all of their family especially those that have strayed or who have never decided to join with us it is by their examples that one day the Lord will be able to soften the hearts and that together they will be able to be joined together with their families. 

But other then that New Years Eve and New Years were great many strong relationships strengthened and got to spend it with some more awesome families.

Friday was a good day we met a man named Lee, who is excited and wants to return to going to church, we invited him to learn about the Church and come to church he agreed, He hasn't yet came to church but he accepted the invitation and said he would try to get in contact with us. We have been trying to get back in contact with Lewis as well, and haven't been able to in several days we tried by and found him in and set a return appointment, found out he had some difficulties but we helped him with it and even got to meet his mother so that was awesome.

One interesting thing I did on New Year's day is I got to learn how to play 4 chords on a guitar so that was exciting. 

Today on the way here, We met a young lady named Nathalie, and she was talking about how she is super open about learning things and said if people were to come by her house and ask if she wanted to learn she would sit down take out a notebook and write these things so that was neat. We invited her to learn and she was excited for it. She was so happy so that was nice to see. 

Well week of miracles and many more on the Horizon I love all of you and oh wait I have one more thing to share. 

On Sunday I got up and shared my testimony and it was weird I felt the spirit so strong as I was reflecting back on how much I've changed since Joining this Church, the happiness I have seen and blessings that are apparent within it. I cried twice on the pulpit that doesn't usually happen.

Well I love you all

Keep Trusting in the Lord and Think of him as your friend, always

Sincerely, yours truly, love, 

- Elder James Reece

Mon Dec 29, 2014 - Christmas

I first wanted to thank everyone for all the gifts I was able to recieve from all of you, Also I recieved one gift from someone that had no name or way of knowing but it was a red Coxxer tie so whoever sent that thank you so much, Also thank you to all those who sent me gifts, I lended up needing everything I recieved so that was amazing. 

So This week was Christmas it was pretty Good, I didn't like the fact that we couldn't go out and teach and proselyte some of the days but It was okay. 

Mission Christmases are pretty cool though, we had a Christmas Truce Caroling commemoration service Christmas Eve and then the other elders slept over at ours and the next day we made Brownies and peppermint bark for members and others around us so That was really cool. I can't remember much from this past week though, the days off fried my brain from remembering

Christmas Eve though was a great day for us, saw many miracles. For one we were told initially we would need to be in the flat from 8am-1pm for the Gas man to come by and switch over our pay as you go meters to normal meters with a bill so we anticipated staying in the whole day, however he showed up at 830 Which was amazing. The installation took 30 minutes all together so we were out of the flat at the usual time. As we went forth we went to leave our flat and we prayed that we could see a miracle today and than went out to work. We travelled about 10 Metres from our driveway and we found a man named Andrew, He was Atheist in the past and is looking at religion right now, He has never believed in God or Jesus Christ but is looking at it from every angle at the Moment so that is exciting, My companion than looked at me and said I didn't expect to have him answer our prayer that fast. 

Then as we were walking to continue our work we ran into a man named Gerald, He was also looking for truth, He was homeless though and as we talked about Christ he expressed a desire in learning, so we recieved his e-mail address and will be keeping in touch with him. Then as we were walking we met another man named Robert who we contacted at a previous time, he said we could come by and share a message with him sometime when he gets his own place again, We then were able to meet with Lewis and have a good lesson on Spirit world and Kingdoms of Glory, We also were able to hear that he was going to have the opportunity to share Tea with his mom that night so that was amazing for us to see that for him. We also were able to go to recieve our flu shots and then go to the church to set up for the Christmas Truce commemoration Service.  It was interesting it was to remember the Football game that took place in World war 1 which was neat.

The elders then Stayed at ours that night, So we had a nice Christmas eve night all four of us.

The next morning we made goodies to bring to people, We were able to bring treats to Brian and Ann and they were so excited for recieving the goodies, they invited us in but couldn't go in had many more deliveries to make. We were able to make many people happy and surprise many who we haven't seen in a while so it was a great experience.

We were well taken care of and we recieved lots from the Ward thank you to all

I will write more next week, As I will have more opportunities this week.

Love you loads

MERRY CHRISTMAS

- Elder James Reece

Monday December 22, 2014

So, This week I have only an hour of e-mailing with it being Christmas and out of that time I have 15 minutes left So I will write as much as I can.

So this week has been I think the best week we have had since being here in LeavenMouth area, so many miracles and so much of the Lord's hand in all the work. I don't have too much time so I won't write about my studies but I will next week as I am focusing on Doing a massive Study on Christs life this week and his teachings, But this week in general has been amazing.

So this week started off on Monday, Monday was great, We went to visit a friend named John and as we went to see him he had two of his friends there and his friends asked what we did, and He was courageous enough to tell his friends that we were Mormons and so was he, and he invited them to Learn the lessons and meet with us and they accepted, On the first Visit they asked about Opposition and why it is necessary, so we shared 2Nephi2 with them, and it was able to encourage that discovery. So we taught them again later in the week, about the Book of Mormon and why we have it and the lesson was recieved very well. It was a strong lesson. We then were able to celebrate  us staying together with the Bakers and It was a fun night, All centered on Christ which was awesome.

Tuesday we were able to Teach Thomas again and the lesson went really , He is starting to understand that God the Father and Jesus Christ are seperate but are one in purpose. There was a strong spirit there. We then taught Lewis, It was an incredible lesson, He was able to share some personal experiences with us that really helped us know about him, and he is at the point in his conversion where he knows the BOM is true and that God is there and Loves him, It is so exciting to see people come to this realization and to see the change that begins to happen as we are able to Allow the Spirit to strengthen them in their lives. He is now preparing for Baptism and it is something he desires, which is so cool seeing how 3 months ago he was a stern Atheist, It just goes to show how the Lord can soften anyone's hearts and has been a light in the darkness, because as we go finding we meet so many Atheists and If it is possible for an Atheist to come to know God it shows so much more hope for all the other Atheists around. 

Lewis was also able to attend church for the first time this week, and had a great time, He wants to come back.

Well Time is up but This week has definately been a very strong spiritual Week. I wish I could write more but Have to go. I will follow up from this week next week.

Love you all

Merry Christmas

#ShareTheGift

Love you, 

Keep always in Remembrance the Savior of the World and the Gift he has given to all of us

Thank you for all who support and love me :) 

Stay Safe

  

- Elder James Reece

Monday December 15, 2014

So This week is moves, and the question is what is happening, well For Levenmouth Nothing is changing which is exciting, I will get to spend Christmas with Elder Parry, Be in my second 4 and a half month area and have my first 4 and a half month companion. But All is well, we get on very well, I am really excited about it. This week has gone well, I have alot to do though to get myself prepared for this coming transfer with Creating plans of improvement and such so My e-mail may not be the longest this week and next week we only get an hour to E-mail so that one won't be too long either but I will share what My goals are for this move and christmas season

So, As you all know my focus has been consecration these past few weeks and is going very well, seeing alot of growth and change happening and feeling the spirit work through me much more powerfully. It has been an incredible experience. 

So my plans are:

1. Conduct another 40 day fast focusing on anything that pokes fun of the spirit and stops it from being as strong as it could be. Which also includes a list of things I will start doing as well, They arwe not massive things but just those little changes that cause so much change. As illustrated in the book of Mormon " by small and simple things, are great things brought to pass" And that is exactly what I plan on doing, 

2. Consecrating myself to the Lord this Christmas season by Not Watching movies or any such sort and dedicating the time off to Studying the life of the Savior. (  If you don't know, missionaries, at least where I serve, Are given permission to watch movies Christmas, Boxing Day, New Years Day at member's homes, they are aloud to watch PG or U rated movies, including Disney movies. ) My focus is to not partake of those and to consecrate my performance unto the Lord. 

I know how difficult both of these things will be but I know to become a consecrated missionary and to reach my full potential that the Lord has for me is I need top fight SUPER hard. 

As a companionship as well we are consecrating our work and being more exact in following ALL the mission rules and in being Strictly obedient

As many of you know the work has been slow recently, however It has been beginning to stir once again, and we have some things that look quite promising. The Kirkcaldy ward itself is doing well as a whole ward of 6 missionaries, the ward has one baptism tomorrow and all three sets have potential people working towards baptism.

So stories from the Week, Since I didn't bring my study Journal which is my bad,

Well Gavin is super excited for The Temple in a few weeks and he has already gotten 5 names to take with him to the temple so that is super Exciting. 

Lewis is doing great we had a very powerful lesson with him the other day. We had a lesson with Lewis where we watched the Prophet of The Restoration Joseph Smith, and then we were talking about baptism, However in the Promised blessings I felt prompted to promise him increase of health and other things that can not be recorded and the spirit was just so powerful. It was such a cool experience I had no clue what I was saying but the Lord knew.

John is doing well in his desire to get to the Temple, The Lord is strengthening him alot and the Lord has guided our footsteps to find people

We recieved one new person this week named Thomas, he is a born again, which is really cool and he is looking for Christ's true church he knows it is on the earth but doesn't know which church it is.

And we have a new man we found using the Christmas initiative, we will be meeting with him on Wednesday to teach him and his family about the Gift of Christ :)

It is AMAZING

The Lord has blessings in store to all who are obedient,

I love all of you, 

Merry Christmas.

Love

- Elder James Reece

Monday December 8, 2014 - He teaches us not to compare!

So As you know another week has come to a close. And My studies this week ave been intense, As I think I stated last week my focus is Consecration this month, To CONSECRATE myself and learn how to do so. It is a Major task and it will take many sacrifices but I am so greatful to be able to study deeper these things and become purified and sanctified unto the Lord. 

This week in my studies I have Focused on Consecration which I have several talks I am going through. But before I get into those, I wanted to share my new study technique that I have begun. 

So in my study Journal before I used to write down inspirations and revelations with everything now I have started to keep the Left Margin blank and when I recieve personal revelation on how I can improve or things I can do I write them there, which thus differentiates the two pieces of information. 

So this week in my study one talk I love reading and has helped me alot is "As Many as I love, I rebuke and Chasten- Elder Christofferson." 

This talk is great and I find it very interesting that the fact is that as I was planning on studying that talk a Mormon message came out about the Refiner's fire, If you have not seen it et it is really good and great imagery, But the basis of this talk at least for me is about LOVE. God Chastens us, corrects us and Reprimands us when we do wrong because he Loves us. God Loves us and because he is our father he must reprove us if not we wouldn't learn, and this is alot like us and our parents. When you were a Child, and you did something wrong, your parents disciplined you for doing it and because of that you didn't usually persist in doing it, think about it what would happen if your parents did not discipline you, you wouldn't have known and therefore wouldn't have learned. In Ether 12:27 it talks about how with God we can make our weaknesses become strengths right, how do you think that happens?

I know for myself When I recieve correction or I recieve things I can improve on I listen and hearken to them because usually it's things you don't see and just like in that case as we Hearken to the Lord and his counsel, he tells us those things we don't see in ourselves that could improve. 

How much more Potential can you then have my fixing these things and growing in your teaching, in your understanding and your Knowledge. All throughout the Standard works It talks about how we must endure chastening and if we don't we will not be counted worthy to stand before God at the Last Day. Think about that.......... It may be hard to have someone correct you and in D&C 121:41? it tells us that we must reprove betimes with sharpness when moved upon by the holy ghost, then showing forth an increase of love for those that you reproved lest he esteem thee as his enemy" This verse tells us that we are supposed to help one another know our weaknesses to change to become anew, And one of the biggest and most important is to take counsel from our heavenly father through the holy scriptures. It is very important that we hearken unto him and to remember the promise we have and in both The New Testament and the Book of Mormon we are given the instruction to be therefore perfect even as I or my father is perfect. and when we ask what manner of men we must be the savior tells us, "Even As I am"

That is a big TASK, and I don't know about you but I know I cannot make it on my own. NO WAY. I need corrrection, I hunger for it and so should you because it's through that that we BECOME what we NEED to become. 

I also Studied about Personal Time Management and it ties into diligence and as I was going through Preach My gospel, I saw that Everything in the book EVERYTHING, ties into Consecrating your all to the Lord. EVERYTHING. And with Personal time management it was talking about how we don't have more time we can't stretch time or slow down time, Time is a constant everybody has the same amount of time each day, Everybody and it is all about how well you manage your time, through Discipline. There's that word again Discipline, and that truly is the root of being a disciple of God and Of Christ, Discipline, and it is a major major tool in becoming Consecrated. Discipline allows you to be diligent, Discipline allows for the spirit to be with you and direct your paths and time management gives you a tool to discipline yourself too. For example.. Missionary has 45 Minutes at max to teach a lesson to someone, they must discipline themselves to teach within that time period because if you go past that the Spirit is not there as much, I can attest to that. The spirit is strongest during the lesson and when It's the strongest is when You should be commiting others and leaving so they can feel of that spirit which requires discipline and knowing that it is the Lord's way and not yours.

One other Talk I read this week was, According to the desires of your heart. I have talked about this one a few months back but It is so good, Because it talks about Disciplining and Training your desires. Any bad desires you have dissolve them, get rid of them, but it also means strengthening those righteous desires such as Being a good parent, Magnifying your calling, Seeing your family, all of these things.

I unfortunately don't have much time to talk about all that has happened this week but wanted to share something with you. 

I n our mission during Christmas and Easter the mission has a missionary choir that goes around and sings, it is comprised completely of missionaries, and For myself I like the traditional ways of missionary work but this is genious. I had the priviledge of going on Wednesdayto it and the spirit was so powerful and the Lord was definately watching, and I have come to kow that the Lord expects us to think outside of the box, whether you are a missionary or a Ward Leader or anything all of our callings have potential for great revelation and as we incorporate the Lord in everything he will show us what to Do.

Well this week has been fun,had stake conference yesterday which focused very strongly on Prayer and that relationship as well as NOT COMPARING YOURSELF to others  When you do this you compare your WORST self to their best self so you will ALWAS feel rubbish in comparison.

I am going to try something new this week I am leaving you a Direct Invitation, you can take it or leave it

I invite you if you do find yourself comparing yourself to anyone else, 

Sit down,

1. Open with Prayer

2. Ask the Lord what Are your Strengths. 

3. Ponder for 5 - 10 minutes

4. Record what they are 

5. Confirm with the Lord

6. Thank him for them.

Then read John 15:16 and Doctrine and Covenants 121: 39 I think.  About being Chosen and Ponder that in your heart

I leave these things with you and Bear witness to all of you that God Lives, He is the chosen Redeemer of the World, He loves Me and He Loves you, He knows your potential, You are not here by accident, you are here because he has chosen you and things you have are needed at this time. I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ EVERYTHING can be made right, and we can BECOME like Christ, 

and I leave these things in the name of the only begotten of the Father the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen

I love all of you, And want you to know that and that there is always more to learn ALWAYS.

Merry Christmas, be safe. Moves call on Sunday which is scary but Love you Alll

Live Long and Prosper

Elder Reece Out.

- Elder James Reece