This past week flew by just as this year has flown by. I had one of the most vivid dreams of my mission last night, and I normally don't dream at all. In the dream I was at home and with all my friends and family and the only thought in my mind was, "Wow! That was fast!" It kind of scared me to have that dream.
My comp. and I are having a great time. I think Ive been more tired these past few months than any time before in the mission. Training can get kind of hard sometimes, but Elder Moreira and I get along great. He has a great attitude and is focused on the goals that we have. Last week we found 15 new investigators, which was the goal that we had set. He was so happy. I love to see the excitement of a new missionary, and it's something that wakes me up to the divinity of this work. What we need though are investigators that go to church. We found a few amazing people, people that I already love and the challenge is helping them go to church. We are trying for 6 investigators in the church this week. I don't exactly know how were going to do it, but I know we can.
In the mission we have kind of a slogan: Just Work. Trabajar no mas. It's one of the most important things that one can learn in this life I think: the ability and self-discipline to work. I taught a little bit about this in my district meeting. I read a talk by Elder M. Russell Ballard who quoted a few things about Self Discipline that I loved.
"The longer I live, the more weight I attach to a man’s ability to manage and discipline himself. The longer I live, the more firmly convinced I become that the essential factor which lifts a man above his fellows in terms of achievement and success is his superior capacity for self-discipline."
"For my part, I have concluded that the quality which sets one man apart from another—the factor which lifts one man to every achievement to which he reasonably aspires while the other is caught in the slough of mediocrity for all the years of his life—is not talent, nor formal education, nor luck, nor intellectual brilliance, but is rather the successful man’s greater capacity for self-discipline.”
I completely and totally agree with these quotes. We must have the self discipline required to reach the goals we want. In a more spiritual sense, it's controlling who we are by putting off the natural man and becoming humble and submissive to the will of God. I feel like this is a principle that has blessed me in my life more than any other. I am not smarter nor more talented than others, but when I or any other person for that matter, apply myself I have been able to achieve great things. Where then do we get the strength to put off the natural man? Perhaps the most important factor of this principle is the realization that this inner strength and power comes from the Savior and His atonement. He gave us the power and through covenants that we make with Him, we can receive that inner power. Elder Holland said, "The power of your covenants is greater than the power of temptation."
Just working hard and love you all..
Elder Walker
