Feb. 1, 2014

Wow.... That's right... in less than two weeks i'll have been here for a whole year. That is just ridiculous. I can’t believe the time has passes by so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was in Moquegua being trained and getting burnt to death. All that has changed in one year can really surprise you. I guess there are things that never change too. The gospel never changes. The lord still has his hand outstretched to those who continually reject him. The Lord is still patient with us, his imperfect children, trying to teach us obedience, and why we should be obedient. Why I am here on a mission has changed completely. When I left home to go to the MTC the first thing you hear from the teachers is the Missionary purpose. Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. In the mission I constantly hear the missionaries explain why they think they are on a mission. Some of them say that if they don’t baptize a single person here but convert themselves, they will go home happy. As if that is a cause more noble than helping someone else open the kingdom of god. We have been called to help others. We have not been called and set apart to go to some foreign spiritual school. Our purpose is to help others, and if by doing so in the process we ¨convert¨ ourselves, hurrah for Israel. But I hope that all missionaries can come to understand their purpose. Conversion is a process, just like becoming perfected. The Lord doesn’t ask us to be perfect, but he asks us to convert, which means to have a change of heart and of mind. Just like you said mom. No one can convert themselves in just two years of dedicated service to the Lord. It requires a lifetime of errors and experience and spiritual witness to convert to the Lord. Also, we don’t convert ourselves. In the same way that we cannot convert people to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We, alone, without the Holy Ghost cannot be converted. Any person who says they are here to convert themselves needs to be humbled and accept that the will of the Lord will always be completed and brought to pass. Do the will of the Father and the Holy Spirit will have the power of conversion over you and you will receive the conversion you are looking for. It took me a full year to figure out why I was here. To figure out what the Lord wants and expects of me. The mission is a personal sacrifice. If I am focused on myself and my own ¨conversion¨, I will never be all that the Lord expects of me. I left on the mission for the wrong reasons, I think most missionaries do. But im glad I have helped other people. Everything that brings us to salvation is selfless service. I am eternally grateful for the service and the love that the lord has shown me. Understanding the atonement is one of the most important things I have learned. Study it. Really study it and truths and spiritual experiences come. I promise you. Elder Haskell Home in 401 Days? I think i'm going to extend...