Charity - The Greatest Virtue of All

Hello everyone!

I have had a really good week, and overall, our mission is doing a lot better than we have in the past. We are seeing more success in finding and in teaching, as well as the number of people that have both committed to be baptized and those who actually make it to the waters of baptism. This week, Elder Tate and I doubled the number of lessons that we taught, and we found someone who committed to be baptized in February (something that is really really rare if you understand our area here.) We have been looking forward more to going out to work because we are seeing miracles and we are finding God's prepared children. I am beginning to feel like I understand more about what it means to be a missionary and to be a servant of the Lord, wherever we happen to be in the world.

I think that there are many reasons for this change, one being that it is God's will now for us to have more success, but I think that our progress here has been largely due to the fact that we have tried to have more charity. As I have studied the scriptures these past few weeks, it has dawned on me that all of the Christ-like attributes that we try to develop here are only appendices to charity. Charity is the reason that we do things, and the way that we go about doing them. It is through charity that we are able to look outside ourselves to help others, and it is through Christ's gift of charity that we are able to be cleansed from our sins and eventually return to live with our Heavenly Father again.

As we have focused on charity in our mission, we have seen miracles as we have come to more fully understand the reason why we go out to talk to people. Why we want them to be baptized. It is because we truly love them and want them to receive the same opportunities that we have as Latter-day Saints. As we have striven to develop more love toward others, God has blessed us, and I know that it works the same way in all of our lives.

Here is a little thought that I had this week about charity:

It is the glasses of our current perceptions of reality which cleanse and heal the heartaches of yesterday, focus and clarify the lessons of the past, and give color and meaning to our dreams for the future. Only after we truly understand where a person has been and how they see the world can we begin to really understand the whys of what they do. Without this understanding, we are left to grope in the dark and guess, most often falsely, about the true essence of a person's character.

I know that as I have tried to understand people more fully and to see them the way the Savior sees them, I have been filled with His love and my desire to serve others has increased. I am so grateful for the gift of love which we are all able to receive if we just open up our hearts to God.

I love you all, and I hope you have a fantastic week. Ha det fint!