Thursday, December 29, 2016

August 21st, 2016: Back on Pohnpei

This week was a kind of up and down week. As we were saying bye to all of our new friends in Guam and telling them to keep strong and keep learning I also missed all the people in Pohnpei. While on Guam we learned a lot on really just how to be better missionaries. I got to see a lot of great work and get to know other missionaries around the mission better. I also got to know President Zarbock even more and talk to him about some things. I also got permission to learn Chuukese so I will be adding that to my Pohnpeian language study every day! Ran Allim! 
As we got back to Pohnpei it seemed so foreign to me and new but it was like muscle memory kicked in and I just knew where to go and how to get there and everything, it was weird. Also we have been using a lot of the new things that we've learned in Guam and have been using them in Pohnpei and they are working miracles, literally! We have found so many new people in the three days we've been here it's ridiculously awesome! This week I have really been focusing on charity. I try to be a happy person that loves everyone but sometimes I am weak and judge others. I will not try to cover this fact but rather I want to share what I've learned in the past week. We are ALL BROTHERS and SISTERS and we are ALL in this together. 
Yes I understand that this may be obvious to most but do we really understand this. For me I didn't. As we knocked on what seemed like an endless amount of doors I started to become discouraged. We had tried talking to so many people and no one, I repeat, no one wanted to hear from us. I decided that I could either continue to believe and act as though our message was foreign to these people and that it would take a miracle for anyone to want to hear and I starting thinking and acting as if it was something we were reminding them of. Because that's what we are doing. When people are close to God, that veil of forgetfulness becomes thinner and thinner, we start to remember things that we knew in the past life. For example, Jesus Christ, the very son of God, our Savior, redeemer, and our brother, even He when He was born forgot all. Yet because the veil between Him and His Father in Heaven was so thin we learned in 12 years more than the scribes and scholars had learned in a whole lifetime. I realized that if I truly wanted these people to learn about the Restored Gospel, if I really expected them to read and do those things which lead to baptism, I would have to show them in some way that God is more than just a thought and something that we teach about each week. I would need to help them create their own relationship with Him as a person not as a thought or a book. This simple change of perspective not only changed how I do missionary work, but changed how I act. Though I am still imperfect I have learned so many things. From meeting with the Yars, a young couple who are so prepared and ready for baptism, to an atheist who has not felt the warmth of her Father's love who is just a humble prayer away, yet so stubborn she wouldn't even try, I have learned one thing, that God will not and cannot take away our agency. 
I know I am going off subject but I want to ask you all if we are using our agency to do good. Are we sharing the love that God has shown us in our lives with others. If not, change it.  This world is a beautiful place but only if we let it. Meeting those people in Guam helped me realize just how beautiful Gods plan for us is and how He wants us to learn so much. I love you all and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Elder Hanson

No comments:

Post a Comment