Hey everyone.
This past week was good we got to see a lot of our friends and we actually started doing the stop smoking workshop with a couple of them. And they’re all doing really good with it. So we’re really excited to see them hopefully succeed. Also, I gave a talk yesterday on gratitude for the Thanksgiving holiday. I think people liked it.
Also, to answer your questions:
1. Best blessing this past week: The best and most thankful blessing I received was I was able to go around and help rake people’s lawns all Thursday which was awesome because we got to meet and help new people.
2. Second year of mission goals: I want to lose 60 lbs. and I also want to fully know the answers to anybody's questions for the gospel including and not limited to the whole Bible and also the Book of Mormon.
3. How has your love for the Savior changed over this past year? And my love of Jesus Christ has changed a lot because I actually love and appreciate His sacrifice He has made for me and how loving and understanding He is because of the sacrifices He has made. I also love how patient He is today and also the Bible times as well. IDK it's kind of funny looking back in the scriptures.
Anyway, love you guys and hope you guys have a good thanksgiving
-Elder Toma
A Talk of Gratitude
Hello brothers and sisters today I have been asked to talk about gratitude but before I talk about gratitude, I would like to share a quote By Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He says everyone’s situation is different, and the details of each life are unique. Nevertheless, I have learned that there is something that would take away the bitterness that may come into our lives. There is one thing we can do to make life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious.
We can be grateful!
It might sound contrary to the wisdom of the world to suggest that one who is burdened with sorrow should give thanks to God. But those who set aside the bottle of bitterness and lift instead the goblet of gratitude can find a purifying drink of healing, peace, and understanding.
One very impactful way I have seen this and used this in my life was when I was in high school not too long ago. Now one thing not a lot of people know about me is that i am not perfect and i was far from perfect before my mission especially but because of my struggles i have experienced and the love and support i have been very much blessed with by my friends and family and more specifically my Heavenly Father and 100% to this day even and hopefully for the rest of my life. I don’t know I hope I don’t do anything stupid after my mission but knowing me I probably will. BUT.. the difference now compared to then is now I know for a surety that I have people in my life that will be there for me to help me through any struggle and any pain and more importantly I know that Heavenly Father is there for me always. Now the reason I bring all of this up is because I am so grateful for those blessings I have been given in my life and though it took me a long time to realize it I finally got knocked in the head enough to do so. Now i would also like to give an example of someone in the scriptures that showed and learned to be grateful and hopefully that can help us learn how to do that now the first one i want to bring up is kind of obvious but a really good example this is of course are good friend Job we see that this man's life is filled with anguish and pain but we also see him never murmur or curse god for his transgressions instead he stays faithful and full of worship for the lord if you remember his friends even told him to give up and just be angry with god for everything that's happened to him. Now I don't know about you, but I can think of a lot of times when things don't go the way I wanted them to, and I decide to curse God and stop wanting to go to church or I just complain all the time. But what we learn from a job is that it doesn't do anything for us. If anything, it worsens the situation we are in and makes us more miserable and angrier. But if we can do as Job did and humble ourselves and not curse God and instead still show are faith and love for him, he will bless us more than any hardship we can receive like Alma the younger says in Alma 36:18-20
18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am bin the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.
19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!
Brothers and sisters, if we are as Job and Alma and be grateful and also humble we can receive that joy and happiness that will over take our pains and sorrows and what makes this even more amazing and important is that it is also a commandment of God, one quote by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf says
All of His commandments are given to make blessings available to us. Commandments are opportunities to exercise our agency and to receive blessings. Our loving Heavenly Father knows that choosing to develop a spirit of gratitude will bring us true joy and great happiness.
But some might say, “What do I have to be grateful for when my world is falling apart?”
Perhaps focusing on what we are grateful for is the wrong approach. It is difficult to develop a spirit of gratitude if our thankfulness is only proportional to the number of blessings we can count. True, it is important to frequently “count our blessings”—and anyone who has tried this knows there are many—but I don’t believe the Lord expects us to be less thankful in times of trial than in times of abundance and ease. In fact, most of the scriptural references do not speak of gratitude for things but rather suggest an overall spirit or attitude of gratitude.
It is easy to be grateful for things when life seems to be going our way. But what then of those times when what we wish for seems to be far out of reach?
This goes with exactly what I was saying about Job and Alma. We need to have an attitude of gratitude in order to receive more blessings and not only when life goes well but when life goes not so well too. Now we've learned why gratitude is so important but how can we show this to our loving Heavenly Father. One way is through prayer. You could test that in prayer today. You could follow the command, “Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.” (D&C 59:7.) President Benson suggested prayer as a time to do that. He said:
“The Prophet Joseph said at one time that one of the greatest sins of which the Latter-day Saints would be guilty is the sin of ingratitude. I presume most of us have not thought of that as a great sin. There is a great tendency for us in our prayers and in our pleadings with the Lord to ask for additional blessings. But sometimes I feel we need to devote more of our prayers to expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving for blessings already received. We enjoy it so much.” So, I would like to invite all of you after church today to pray and give more thanks in your prayers from now on and don't worry I'll do it as well so we are both held accountable. Another way we can show gratitude is through writing down what you're thankful for each day. This is something as missionaries we are encouraged to do each night and I would like you to do the same so that you can see the blessing from it.
President Spencer W. Kimball described that process of inspired writing: “Those who keep a book of remembrance are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives. Journals are a way of counting our blessings and of leaving an inventory of these blessings for our posterity.” As you start to write, you could ask yourself, “How did God bless me today?” If you do that long enough and with faith, you will find yourself remembering blessings. And sometimes, you will have gifts brought to your mind which you failed to notice during the day, but which you will then know were a touch of God’s hand in your life. Now there ones one scripture that came to mind when reading this and it's in 2 Nephi 29:11 and it says
11 For I command all men , both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.
Now obviously I’m not telling you to create your own Books of Mormon but to i am asking you write down the things you are grateful for because it’s not only important to you but it will be important to your children and your grandchildren and all of your family to come and not only just for them but also it will be important to Heavenly Father because it is a physical and tangible representation of your faith and testimony of the lord and savior Jesus Christ just like the bible and book of Mormon is for all of us. Now as we all know this world is slowly separating itself away from our lord and savior but i would like to share A quote from the late President Thomas. S Monson and he says this
This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help.
We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.
One of my favorite Hymns that remind me of this is Hymn number 241 Count your many blessing and it reads
When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings; name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. …
A quote that i would like to leave with you is this one from elder Uchtdorf and it says this
“Have we not great reason to rejoice?”15
How blessed we are if we recognize God’s handiwork in the marvelous tapestry of life. Gratitude to our Father in Heaven broadens our perception and clears our vision. It inspires humility and fosters empathy toward our fellowmen and all of God’s creation. Gratitude is a catalyst to all Christlike attributes! A thankful heart is the parent of all virtues.16
The Lord has given us His promise that those “who [receive] all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto [them], even an hundred fold, yea, more.”17
Brothers and sisters, I invite you again to do the things I've asked you to do and the things the Lord has asked us to do. I know I will definitely begin applying this into my life not only for me but for my friends and family so that they can feel and learn of God's love through gratitude.
I bear my testimony that this works
End in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
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