Our Eternal Potential and Missionary Work

 This week has been a week of many challanges on the mission but we have had many success as well including my first baptism, and find another person that has accepted to be baptized at the end of this month. However one of the things that really recharged my spirtual batteries was general confrence this week. I have never had a confrence session go by so fast and through out the week. Will be posting more of what is going on in my mission as well as more thoughts about this sessions general confrence.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about our potential. It is amazing how some days I can wake up and feel like I can do almost anything and other days being a victim of realism. Elder Uchtdorf had a great talk about Grace and how not only the atonement is to make us innocent before Christ but to progress and become like him.

Before going on if you have not listend to the talk by Elder Rafeal Pino and Gods Plan and Our Potential I would watch it.  One of the struggles I have is when reading the scriptures is that we are like the dust of the earth, yet we are children of God and his most beloved creations, or sometimes reading that with faith in him we can move mountains. I have come to the conclusion that we are as members of the Church of Jesues Christ of Latter day Saints are lucky to have the restored gospel. As we have been studying the gathering of Israel we really are a people of covenants, and i like how he says first got taught us the plan then gave us covenants to keep, and how really that is where are potential comes from. He has a plan and we may not know understand all of it but by following his plan we really can accomplish anything. I liked the part where he said the ¨¨lord knows what he wants and we do not have the right to council him. Why should we, we should be asking him what he wants and how to achieve it. Many do not realize but the church between the sessions gives the world report and shows great things such as church news, or faith counts and mormon messages. One of the mormon messages I have never seen is below and I really liked how it shows us just sometimes the simplest things that are holding us back from reaching our potential. 



What really stood out to me in the talk of  Elder Pino is the story he uses about the block of stone. Only the stonecutter knew the man was in there. Sometimes we do not really see our true potentail but God does and if we go to him in prayer, scripture study, but most importantly in faith he will help us see what we really can become.  Another thing i have learned besides how truely blessed we are to have the restored gospel, but that we do not have the right to determine who should and should not see no their potential. We do this in many ways by tearing people down instead of building them up, gossip, but one thing I have learned is we do not know who is ready for the gospel. I can not say how many times when that the most unlikely people have accepted to hear our message and some to the point of accepting to be baptized. There are countless times when I may have not felt to talk to a person and my past companions have started a conversation with someone when we are on the way to an appointment and are going to be late, somtimes they are great contacts and others may not have been ready at this time but we never would have known if we did not talk to them. We can not let our first impressions determine if they are ready to hear the gospel.  I want to invite all of you to think first learn your potential and I know as you reall understand the love god has for you, that you will be ready for the most unlikely moments to share the gospel and help someone understand their potential. The gospel of Jesues Christ is the plan to unlock our potential and happiness, it is also part of this plan to share the gospel.