Consecration

    I remember when I was getting ready to go on my mission and I got the topic that I was supposed to speak on in sacrament meeting before I left...it was about consecration. I didn't really like that topic, I wanted something that I could talk about more easily, something that wouldn't take a lot of time and thought and consequently, I gave a not so great talk. I didn't prepare and because of that my preparation did NOT positively prevent my poor performance. 

    My farewell talk topic makes me laugh just a little now and think about how God really does have a sense of humor, because consecration has truly become the theme of my mission. In my very first interview with my zone leaders they asked me about the difference between consecration and sacrifice, one of the departing missionaries that I admired talked about consecration in her testimony before she left to go home, I have studied and read and focused on what really becoming consecrated means, and recently we, as a mission, took a pledge of consecration. My answer of what consecration was at that point in the beginning of my mission when I was asked about it with my zone leaders wasn't necessarily bad, but it isn't what it is now. I think that I have come to understand a little bit more of what becoming consecrated means, although I know I still have ALOT to learn about it.

Sister Mitchell, Sister Wright, and me after we had a Moroni moment in making our pledge of consecration.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught,

"We tend to think of consecration only as yielding up, when divinely directed, our material possessions. But ultimate consecration is the yielding up of oneself to God. Heart, soul, and mind were the encompassing words of Christ in describing the first commandment, which is constantly, not periodically, operative (see Matt. 22:37). If kept, then our performances will, in turn, be fully consecrated for the lasting welfare of our souls (see 2 Ne. 32:9)."

   Consecration is an enormous task! It is one that I don't think I will ever fully be able to undergo, but it is something that as I have strived to do through this past year or so I have known greater happiness than I have before. There is such great happiness, happiness that I can't even describe, in submitting my will to God's will. When I am willing to do whatever it is that God would have me do I always learn that what he has is better. When we are consecrating ourselves we have the peace and happiness that comes from knowing that we are helping our Father, the one person who gives us everything.

   How do we become consecrated though? It is such a deeply personal commitment that I don't really have an answer on the how except to share a few of the things that I have done in my efforts to dedicate my whole self, all of my talents, my will, my mind, and everything that makes me me.

One thing that a group of missionaries and I did recently was to bury our weapons of war. We took little paper swords and wrote on them what we are going to bury that is not in line with God's will. It was something physical that we could do that would help us to remember that we can leave behind our weaknesses and the things that keep us away from becoming who God knows we can be.

My Weapon of War (before I buried it)

    Another thing that I have done is a 40 day fast...don't worry It isn't 40 days without food, anybody who knows me knows that I would get way to grumpy to do anything good within the first 2 days of that... A forty day fast is when you pray and you ask Heavenly Father to help you know what things he would have you do or what things he would have you stop doing over 40 days and fast for the spiritual strength to do those things and over the forty days each morning pray for help to become better and each night give Heavenly Father an accounting of what happened and how you are doing on the different spiritual goals you have set.

    I know that yielding up your whole soul to God is really scary, I know it is really hard! I know that what we learn from trying is important and it helps us as we continue to try. I know that the journey of becoming consecrated is long and an uphill battle but there is also so much joy that comes from it. You get to see beautiful moments in your life and others lives that you know are all orchestrated by God. You get to watch others come closer to Christ and learn to follow him more closely as you have consecration as a goal, because, just like in everything else, Christ is our perfect example of consecration. He understood yielding and submitting his heart to God. His perfect example of a Thy-will-be-done attitude inspires me and gives me direction in my own path of consecrated service of God.

I hope that this week you will ponder in your heart your level of consecration and think about how you can learn to submit a little bit more to God's will. I know that in doing so you will find greater joy and peace in your life.

Service

    A couple of Days ago as Sister Wright, Sister Mitchell, and I were driving down the street we witnessed something that was truly amazing. We were driving up the road and we saw some construction. There was a blind man who was walking down the street and was headed right in to the construction zone. We were a little worried about this man and were watching to see what we could do when we noticed a very nice car that had pulled over a little bit ahead of him. We saw a man get out and run toward the blind man. It was such a testimony builder to see good people in the service of their fellow men.

 

    There is a classic scripture in Mosiah 2:17 that says "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."  

  

   How does serving others serve God? Well if we go to another scripture in Moses 1:39 we read "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." God's purpose is to bring us closer to Him, to prepare us to meet him and when we serve we are helping to bring about God's purpose in more ways than one.

   Service is an amazing tool that God has given us to bring others to Christ. When we serve others we are helping God in his purpose. When we help others with either temporal or spiritual matters we are helping them to draw closer to God. It is hard for people to focus on the spiritual when their temporal needs aren't being met. That is one reason why it is so important for us to follow the example of Christ in serving and blessing others.

    Another way we are in the service of God when we are serving is it gives us the opportunity to become more like Christ. Christ spent his whole live in the service of others and if we are to become like him and to be true followers of Christ we need to follow his example and bless the lives of others.

  

    I know that I have been blessed more than I have given when I have served. There have been times in my life when I have been grumpy or mad when I left to go to a service project and when I have come home the bad feelings were just gone. I know that as we focus outward on those around us, we become happier, the people we serve become happier, and even if it is a small way the world is changed, because we are changed. We truly do become more like Christ. I am grateful especially for these two new companions who serve me everyday!

Take a minute today to look for someone you can serve and to thank someone who has served you!