Nov 10 Charity. . . . Don't pray for it!

Well this week was wonderful! So to start off I was talking to some sisters and they told me about the parable of the Loaves and the Fishes and how Christ asked them to give all that they had... and it was not enough... at all but then he blessed it and made it more than enough! That is how our missions are and our lives in general if we give all that we have and are to Him... it wont be enough but he will bless it and make it more than enough. So when you are feeling down and like your all isnt enough... remember he will bless you and make it enough! I just loved this and thought maybe you would like to hear it! So next this week has been fantastic we had 2 investigators come to church, Sarrita and Adam! Sarrita is doing so amazing and knows she needs to get baptized but she is holding off a bit because she wants to make sure she is doing this for her and not for chris (her boyfriend) so hopefully she prays and realizes that this is what she needs to do! but she is just amazing reading the book of mormon everyday and enjoying everything we teach her and it all "makes sense".... so logically she should just get baptized lol!! Then Adam he is already through Helaman!!! crazy I know and he believes the book of Mormon is true and he believes in Joseph Smith but he has some serious disagreements about the churches stance on homosexuality so we have tried discussing that with him a little bit but he gets argumentative so we are just teaching the other lessons and hopefully Heavenly Father will soften his heart, but he came to church and really enjoyed it and said he is coming next week so that is way excited and he has so much potential... there is just a minor bump that we will flatten in time, no worries! and those are the really exciting things happening! Other than that thursday was probably one of the most amazing days of my mission because of all the realizations I had. It was district meeting and we were asked to study Charity and Love in preach my gospel so I started off by doing that and then I went to the dictionary and I have come to realize that charity and love are not the same thing that is why they are always BOTH mentioned in the scriptures. Love=loyal concern and affection, Charity=understanding! Charity is the pure love of Christ. In preach my gospel it talks about how to have charity you have to understand that person's point of view. No wonder Christ has Charity and it is the Pure love, because he literally felt everything we feel, He knows EXACTLY what we think and feel, he has a pure understanding of our point of view!! So to have charity for someone is not just unconditional love but to put yourself in their place and understand their point of view! I dont know I just thought that it was super neat and I realized I have a lot of work to do in order to develop charity! also that we have to sanctify ourselves or become pure in order to love purely.... just something to think about then later that day I realized that I have had a lot of walls built up around my heart and for a really long time and I apologize to you all for not letting you have all my heart. I am going to try to more fully give my heart to those around me so that they can love me fully. I also learned a neat thing about companionship study that it is not just to create unity but we have to help us receive revelation. There have been many times where the only way I was able to develop fully the revelation I was receiving was by talking to Sister Barley and discussing things together. Heavenly Father created us to help each other.... thats why you get married and thats why you have a companion on the mission and thats why you have a family etc... we all need help in our lives! and lately I have been reading a talk and it talks about whether we know who we want to become? are we progressing towards light or towards darkness? If we dont know who we want to become and a plan of how to become that, then we will not progress towards the light... just food for thought :) So when I first got out here I was scared to pray for charity because then you know a trial is coming but I know it is something that I need to develop so I finally prayed for it and..... Yes there are challenges what a blessing it is that Heavenly Father trusts me to develop this attribute (it will be a lifelong process) but I need to take advantage of this opportunity to become more like my Savior. In a testimony this week at MLC someone shared that "Our imperections are a gift and we should use those imperfections to come closer to God." what a neat perspective..... Well I love you all!! Stay strong. and Remember I love you all so much!!  :) 

Love Sister Hamilton