Happy Valentines Day!!
Well for me life as a missionary is going well enough. This week has been a interesting week full of fun or at least learning experiences. There were just a couple I wanted to hit on specifically. About a week ago me and Elder Peterson had the opportunity to teach a very interesting Lesson with 7 college students all of them being English. I learned many new things from this lesson that will help me throughout my mission. The first one being Fake it till you make it.
By that I mean that as a missionary or anyone for that matter you have experiences and times when you don't know what you are doing and are very much out of your comfort zone and you don't know how you should handle it. Well a wise person once told me that if you start acting confident for long enough you will end up actually being that confident. Well I was out of my comfort zone and I was the one that needed to take control of the lesson. The lesson turned out a lot better than I thought it would, but that is because I acted very confident and they figured I was. This teaches us that the attitude you have is the one that makes the difference.
The other lesson I learned was that teaching seven of any type of person is really hard and most often than not, not very effective. There is too much peer pressure in the world and people who are not willing to stand up for what they really believe because they end up not knowing what they believe. If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything. It is sad to see that the world is full of followers and people who will not act for themselves because they don't know how to. I am thankful that my family has been able to teach me to act for myself and that you do so as well. So make sure you do so!!! :)
This last week we were able to take some of our investigators to watch the new Prophet of the Restoration DVD at the church and I once again felt that strong witness that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that Thomas S. Monson is one as well. That as we follow them, and I mean truly follow them, we will be blessed beyond our capacity to know. There is a reason they are called of God and when they are it means that God is behind them. When they say something it really matters. I love the knowledge that we have that through those prophets we can know how to live our lives best to have the most happiness and success.
In closing I have learned a lot this last week in regards to faith. We have 2 progressing Chinese investigators who have been having a hard time having that faith that is needed to continue to grow. They only sometimes keep their commitments because they don't actually believe that they will be blessed for their efforts. We try to tell them that it is a principle of action and it doesn't come super easy but it does come. My question is what brings faith? Why have faith and what motivates us to have that faith, what motivates us to action. I would like you to ask yourselves if your action and faith is promoted by Fear, Duty, or Love. I have learned that they difference between those answers is huge.
Coming on my mission I was probably at the stage of Duty. I was here because I knew I needed to be here. Yes I wanted to be here and help people, but was Love really my main reason for serving? I have slowly but surely come to understand what true love is and how it compels us to action of faith or any other principle of the gospel. The reason why Charity is so important is that when we have it we are not forced or coerced to do anything, but we WANT to do it because we love God and those that want to help us. I am thankful for this opportunity to learn and grow and to be a missionary to help others find the light of Christ. I would challenge all of us to ask ourselves why we are doing what we are doing, and how we can BECOME better.
I love you all and am thankful for your love and support. Keep up the good work and know that I love you and am praying for you. If you have any specific questions about anything let me know!!
Elder Fawcett
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