PATIENCE

Dear Missionary,

Have you ever felt impatient?  Sometimes for me the thought of waiting for something, especially when I don't know exactly when it will happen, can seem overwhelming and make me want to cry like a little mama's boy!  However I testify that patience is an essential part of missionary work and I pray that the spirit will help us feel that as we discuss the attribute of patience together!

Do you remember the first time you tried to grow a plant?  You probably expected that little cup of dirt to shoot forth a little stem instantly like a geyser at Yellow-Stone.  When it didn't happen as soon as you wanted you might have given up on it.  Or perhaps you were smarter and decided that if you poured a gallon of water on it and threw it in the oven the water and heat would produce a miracle :). (hopefully you never tried that one!) I think we, as little kids were simply missing the key ingredient of patience.

We often do the same thing in missionary work.  We either give up after the first time someone says they don't want to hear about the gospel, assuming that their response was final.  Or we decide that enough pressure, cookies, and invites will suddenly make a non-member into a perfect candidate for the full-time missionaries and baptism :) Rather as we "cheerfully do all things that lie in our power" we can "stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed" (D&C 123:17)  So let us be patient in the work of the Lord and realize that he is the Lord of the Vineyard!

But lets be honest, doesn't it bug us all just a little bit when someone says "just suck it up and be patient"??  For me, I always nod and smile back to the person and say "totally", but inside I am at a total loss with knowing where to start.  Do we just flip on a patience switch and suddenly become content with waiting indefinitely?  In my opinion, there is much more to patience that just shutting our mouth and waiting.  To be truly patient we must learn to increase our FAITH in the Lord and also learn to live with GRATITUDE in our hearts!

Faith in Jesus Christ leads us to have a more hopeful and  optimistic attitude towards the future which enables us to wait patiently for good things to come.  We must always remember that "faith is not knowing what the future holds, but who holds the future."

In the meantime, we must learn to have gratitude in our hearts.  Impatience is wanting what we don't have, and wanting it right now.  Gratitude on the other hand is appreciating what we do have, and appreciating it right now.  So essentially as we increase gratitude in our lives our capacity to wait calmly for good things to come grows!

And believe it our not, the good things do come!  Last weekend I had the opportunity to go back to my mission in Everett Washington to see the baptism of an awesome guy named Craig Lash!  Craig was married to a faithful member of the church who was SO PATIENT with her husband.  Every time we would go over for dinner and share a message afterwards with Craig, I could just see the sincere desire of Sister Lash for her husband to receive the gospel, but I could also just feel her incredible patience with him and trust in the Lord.  After 23 years of patient waiting, Craig chose to seriously investigate and be baptized!  WAHOOO :)  Please read more of their story below in the comments!

I testify that patience is an essential attribute of Christ that we must learn to develop.  I Testify that God will send his holy spirit to help us develop patience as we choose to build FAITH in Jesus Christ and have GRATITUDE in our hearts for the good things we have already.

Remember who you are.  You are a Missionary.

--Parker

Have you said a prayer of pure thanks to God lately?  

Please share any comments below :)