Week 70 - Humility

The Office Staff

 It's almost Monday...Transfers, new missionaries!  AHH!

 Elder Shipley and Elder Smith...the old trainee

 Zone picture

 Fall colors

 A bird got Jeff again!  Bird Poop #2 for the mission.

Jeffrey and Elder Lopez run into kids trick or treating.

 Lot's of office love!

Birthday lunch with Elder Leon!

Dear Family and Friends,

Things are starting to get super crazy here in the office for this upcoming Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday! We are going to have 8 new missionaries sleeping in our house on Monday night and then most likely 6 missionaries that are going home will be spending their last night in the mission on Tuesday night. My companions and I have been arranging meals, new missionary trainings, airplane tickets, bus tickets, and a whole bunch of things to get ready for the changes coming this next week! It's a blast working with Elder Davidson, Elder Ray, and Elder Lopez here in the offices. 

The big downer this week was that the zone leaders that were supposed to sleep in our house on Wednesday night, including my son Elder Smith, didn't sleep in our house. I guess the assistants got jealous of all of our late night Spanish rap battles that we had in our house during last months leadership council and took all of the zone leaders to their house. Elder Lopez and I were all alone on Wednesday night and rather sad. It's alright though, next month we will invite everyone to our house for a special Christmas sleepover. 

This week went well, our goal is to get all of our office work done before lunch at 2pm everyday. It's a good goal because it helps us to leave the offices and keep on finding, teaching, and inviting people to follow Christ by getting baptized to be clean of sins. It's pretty hard sometimes because we have so much to do. Even though it's hard and there is a lot of pressure to get everything done so the mission runs smooth, I see my time in the offices as a blessing and privilege and am loving it here.

I have been thinking a lot recently about being humble and not feeling the need to be recognized for when I do a good job. As human beings, we naturally seek recognition and praise. It's a normal thing to want other people to recognize the good things we do for others or when we do a good job on a task. I have been thinking a lot about the words of the Savior that I read this week in Matthew 23, verses 10-12, when the Savior told the crowds listening him, 

''Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosever shall exalt himself shall be abased and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted''. 

I believe that humility is one of the most important attributes that we have to develop as sons and daughters of Our Heavenly Father. It really stood out to me when the Savior said that the greatest among us shall be the servant. We know that we need to follow the Savior and His words, but how can we develop humility. For many of people, myself included, it can be really hard to develop humility. However, I am grateful that King Benjamin from the Book of Mormon provides some inspired insight into how we can humble ourselves and become more like the Savior. 

In Mosiah 3:19, King Benjamin said, ''For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissve, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father''. 

What a powerful statement! In order to become more humble, we need to put off the natural man and become more like a child. We can put off the natural man daily by repenting of our sins and trying harder everyday to keep the commandments. In order to become like a child, we can be more grateful, say nicer words, offer more service, serve without the desire to be recognized, have more patience, listen more, talk less, and always act as a child or the Savior would act. 

I love this concept of the Gospel. In fact, the Savior once said that humbling oneself like a little child is necessary to be able to enter into the Kingdom of God. I have a very strong testimony of the importance of humility. I also know it is very difficult to develop. But if we trust in the Lord and always think about what a little child would do in the frustrating or challenging situations that may arise, we receive the blessing that the Lord promises in Matthew when he said we can receive the ultimate gift of eternal life with Him. 

I hope you all have a great weekend and a great week next week!

All the best, 

Elder Shipley