well, hello!
This semester AJ and I have the wonderful opportunity to take a New Testament class together (and i loooooove having class with him). This class has been incredible and has helped me grow significantly in my understanding of the scriptures. and boy, do i love it. i love going to class each tuesday and thursday and being able to feel the spirit as we listen to sister platt.
Anyways, Sister Platt has asked us to do a project titled the "Inconvenient Samaritan." The premise is this: service is not meant to be convenient. Service should come as some kind of sacrifice, whether physical, financial, or psychological. She asked us to look inward and determine a plan to serve more effectively and, hopefully, inconveniently.
So, thus I begin a two week period of conscious service. I plan to post my experiences each day to track my efforts.
today.
Today has been incredible. I started my two-week process by searching for something uplifting to post on Facebook and then reading a General Conference talk that ties along with it.
You might be wondering... grace, this is not inconvenient in any way! But it really is for me. Today's gospel message takes me out of my comfort zone and pushes me a little bit to share with others the things that make me the most happy. Oftentimes I don't want to share the gospel with others because I am afraid of how others react. While I thought if a way for me to do this project I realized, why should i be worried about how people will react if i am taking time to share happiness and sunshine?
and thus begins my search.
In my search I found a talk by M. Russell Ballard entitled, Be Anxiously Engaged. It talks a lot about service and how sometimes it feels like the things we do aren't enough. i experience those feelings a lot. So when it feels like my miniscule efforts for service are too little to matter, Elder Ballard reminds us that even the small acts of service add up and we will never know how much they contribute to the whole. In a hive of honey bees, each 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey is necessary to build up the hive's whole store. Just like honey bees, each person's efforts to service are desperately needed to add up to the world becoming a better place.
this makes me want to serve more. When I feel insignificant, I need to remember that it is not my job to single-handedly change the world. Instead I can work with others to make sure good things happen everyday.
i think i just found a new motto...
make good things happen every day.
i can do that.
c:
much love,
g
