How big is your appetite?

                                                                     I love food...

Whenever I go to a buffet, an all you can eat type of restaurant I rub my hands together and lick my lips in anticipation.  I get excited about all the good food I am about to eat.  When I get there and I see the amazing spread of food before me I quickly grab a plate and load up.  I make sure to get my money's worth and eat until I can't possibly eat any more.  I think we all can relate to this feeling of excitement and appreciation when we have a feast in front of us.  But how many of us feel this way when it comes to the spiritual feast before us?  

We have the scriptures in front of us and if you are not aware of it, we actually have a living prophet on the earth today, and apostles just as in biblical times, leading and guiding Christ's church on the earth today and counseling the people.  We have a very literal spiritual feast, a spread of knowledge and the word of God in front of us, readily accessible that we need to take in.  If we ate spiritually as much as we did physically we would all be better people.  

As for me, I know that too often I take the scriptures for granted.  I need to take advantage of the word of God.  No matter how much I try I don't get full from looking at food...I have to eat it.  That is the way it is with the word of God.  We cannot just look at it, or know it is there.  We have to take it in and partake of it.  When we do that we will have our appetite sated.  Not our physical appetite, but our spiritual appetite...

I love the scriptures...  

Future missionary? You better believe it!

One of the greatest things about serving a mission is meeting people who are just ready for the gospel, people who want the truth so badly but don't know where to find it.  We refer to these people as elect, because everything just clicks with them.

Someone who epitomizes this, is an amazing guy I met named Michael.

Now I met Michael on chat back in December of 2009 and he was baptized not long after in January.  Although he came on chat to initially get help from me and learn the basic beliefs of our church from us, the missionaries, in the end I was the one that was doing the learning :) 

Here are a few things that stood out to me.....

Typing My Testimony...

Teaching people over the chat, trying to express my feelings, my faith and my love for the gospel can be difficult when typing is the only option, but believe it or not, it works.  You can feel the Spirit so strongly when conversing about this gospel, even if that is taking place on the computer :)

Whatever the medium is (I have taught in person, over the phone, chat, email etcetera) , the message is the same, the truth beautiful and clear.  I am so grateful for the gospel and for the chance I have to share it with so many people.    

Worthwhile Choices...

In life there are so many choices....

What am I going to do with my life?! Do I follow the crowd and blend in to avoid embarrassment or do I stand up for what I believe to be true? Even the daily decisions of mundane life can be difficult as we try to find our way....

Often times we feel that we aren't really doing anything worthwhile. That we are just kind of drifting through life, surviving....which is why it is such a great feeling when we can come to the realization that we have a purpose in life, and that there are worthwhile goals to work towards.

That is why I am here on my mission...