Obedience is the Price, Faith is the Power....

Well this week has been rough. Yesterday I caught the stomach flu so that has been fun! Also we lost 2 progressing investigators, but found a new investigator and should have another one today! Priesthood blessings works wonders. Elder Plymell gave me one yesterday and I woke up today and you could not tell I had the stomach flu yesterday. Though my stomach still feels weak I am surviving. We had zone conference this past week which talked a lot about desire. And to continue to increase our desire to become like our Savior we must increase our understanding of Him. Which I thought was interesting.

Yeah I have realized I am not a morning person. I am a zombie until study time rolls around. My stake president from BYU-I emailed me and gave me this awesome quote.

OBEDIENCE IS THE PRICE.
FAITH IS THE POWER.
LOVE IS THE MOTIVE.
THE SPIRIT IS THE KEY.
CHRIST IS THE REASON.
JOY IS THE REWARD.

Hope everyone has a great and safe week! I miss you guys!

Elder Harris

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Elder Jorvik Ty Harris
Rancho Cucamonga, California

Jorvik loves his Stake President from BYU-Idaho. I am really glad that he wrote him.  That was nice.  I think that people don't necessarily know how important it is for missionaries to get mail.  It makes them feel loved!! I wish that there was a way to ensure that they get mail - but, alas, there is not.

The quote that his Stake President shared is from President James E Faust, in 1999.  He was teaching the importance of a positive attitude in missionary work.  Some things he said that I really like are:

Even when someone rejects the message, missionaries need to learn to have a positive attitude, because the message is still true, whether accepted or not.

In order to do well, missionary work has to be totally positive.

Obedience is the price that produces faith, love, access to the Holy Spirit, and, ultimately, access to the celestial kingdom. It is the first law of heaven.

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel. Faith in Him is more than acknowledgment that He lives. It is more than professing belief. Faith in the Savior consists of sure and complete reliance on Him. As God, He has infinite power, intelligence, and love. There is no human problem beyond His ability to solve. He descended below all things. He knows how to succor His people according to their needs. We must have “unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save” (2 Nephi 31:19). Faith in Him means that even though we do not understand all things, we know that He does. We must look to Him “in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (D&C 6:36).

One way we can experience a greater confirmation of God’s love is through keeping our hearts and minds pure. Jacob exhorted:

Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause. . . .

O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.[Jacob 3:1–2]

The Savior knows us perfectly. Through the Atonement He knows how to succor us (Alma 7:11–12). When one receives a prompting regarding a question asked in prayer or a feeling of love for another person or if one has a confirming feeling during a person’s testimony, where do those come from? One should recognize first of all that the Holy Ghost is at work. In addition, since the Holy Spirit represents the Savior, one should also recognize that the ultimate source of those feelings or those promptings is the Redeemer Himself

Christ is the basis for all that we do. He is the reason we do missionary work. Without the Savior and His Atonement, there would be no good news to spread. Without Him, temple work would be in vain. Our progress would stop. But He did partake of the bitter cup and “finished [His] preparations unto the children of men” (D&C 19:18–19). As we come to know Him and to “learn . . . that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ” (Alma 38:9), we become better students, we have a stronger influence on others, we serve more faithfully as missionaries, we raise better families, and we become worthy to enter the Holy City, following the footsteps of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.