Sunday, December 13, 2015

Words from Sister Abbie Waite in Texas

Dear all,

How glorious is the work of the Lord! It brings me such great joy to be an agent of the Lord; serving Him with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. The miracles are never ceasing!

This week, while I pondered things that I could work on to be a more effective servant, my train of thought led me to realize the many great purposes our Father in Heaven has for all that He does. There is not one single thing that He has ever done that serves no purpose or one purpose only. Missionary work is not an exception to this. Some purposes for missionary work that I've come up with are: 

1. To invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel
2. To spread the light of the gospel in order to counteract ever increasing availability of wickedness
3. To strengthen the stakes of Zion
4. To increase our vision
5. To hasten the work and purposes of the Lord
6. To prepare the future leaders of the church physically, mentally, emotionally, and especially spiritually for the challenges they will face 

There are so many more! God does not create anything without a purpose. If so, He would cease to be God (see 2 Nephi 2:12). I used to only see one or two purposes for missionary work. Over my mission, my vision has expanded and been raised higher than ever before. Before I served my Master, I did not know Him. I surely thought that I did, but how little did I actually know! HE LOVES US. HE HAS SUCH A VISION. I can hardly wait to know Him even more. (see Mosiah 5:13)

This week was one of miracles! We met so many people who are willing to continue learning, our investigator on date is on fire with the gospel, members are bringing family members and friends to church and sharing the gospel, and the work continues onward!

I was privileged to give a training to the new missionaries and their trainers at a special meeting this week. It was incredible to feel of God's love for His children as I studied and prayed and pondered and prayed some more about what it was that HE wanted them to know. This work is truly led by Him. I do not remember most of what I said while giving my training, but I know that it was what He needed them to know. It was neat to listen to them ask questions and to be able to answer them. It was sort of a weird double vision thing: I could see how much I have grown and how much these Elders and Sisters are sure to grow. Incredible! 

The TSAM is full of remarkable missionaries. I will be ever grateful for the call to serve here in this wonderful work with these wonderful people. I can imagine no greater call nor place! 

I was reading in 3 Nephi 11 this week, and had one of the sweetest spiritual experiences of my life. Oh, how I look forward to the day that my ears will hear the voice of my Father! For my ears will be open and I will look steadfastly to Him! I once had someone ask me what I would do if Christ walked into the room. I had a hard time deciding exactly what I would do. But this is my answer now: I don't know that I would have the power to do anything BUT fall to the earth and worship Him! He is my Savior! However, I do know, also, that He wouldn't let me stay there for long. He would tell me to arise and come forth unto Him. To come to know Him as the Savior, just as He did with the Nephites. What a joyful day that will be! Praise to the Lord!

Love, 
Sister Waite

P.S. Have a glorious Thanksgiving! At the risk of sounding incredibly cheesy, may I also add: Gratitude is an attitude! :) 

"Could I suggest that we see gratitude as a disposition, a way of life that stands independent of our current situation? In other words, I’m suggesting that instead of being thankful for things, we focus on being thankful in our circumstances--whatever they may be."
-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Grateful In Any Circumstance, April 2014 General Conference

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