Who Are You? Why Are You Here?

Magandang Umago po sa inyong lahat!

This week we were visited by the area authority of the Philippines and it was very enlightening. He told us that people who are apathetic towards the gospel need to understand, through the spirit:

1) Who they are in relationship to God

2) Their purpose in life

 I have been  thinking about this a lot and as I have applied it in my work I have wanted to share my thoughts: 

I would add that in order to have motivation and fulfillment in life you need to be consciously aware of these 2 things. Not just passively know it. 

So who are we in relationship to God? 

We are spirit children of Deity. We have divine DNA. A lot of our personal struggles and discontentment come from being a divine being  in a mortal body and a fallen world. We have a loving, merciful, all powerful Father who is watching over us and desires our success and happiness. 

What is our purpose in life?

We learn in Ephesians chapter 1 that God blessed us with spiritual gifts and foreordained to us to certain callings on this earth. You were called to a certain time, place and family for a reason. You were given certain assignments. You may have accepted to endure a certain trial, have a certain number of children, or to a certain calling in the church. Our test on this earth is to see if we will (and to what extent) we will fulfill those assignments and how faithful we are to God. You were born in a time and place where you have had the opportunity to hear the Gospel (I assume since you follow a mission blog you at least are familiar with the restored Church of Jesus Christ) So in Ephesians 1 the Apostle Paul was talking about YOU. You were chosen to come to earth in "the fullness of times" because of your faithfulness in the preexistence. That is such a huge blessing and responsibility. 

What made this real for me, or helped me be consciously aware of who I am and why I am here, is I imagined my life before coming to earth, I imagined accepting certain assignments, including being born into the family I have and being called on a mission, and then I imagined receiving a priesthood blessing from my Heavenly Father before my departure. I then opened my eyes and read my patriarchal blessing. Every line took on a whole new meaning. 

I would invite all of you who have patriarchal blessings to try the same exercise. 

And no matter what place you are in life, a faithful member, someone who is struggling with their testimony, or someone who doesn't want anything to do with the church, I would invite all of you to more fully and to consciously understand who you are in relationship to God and your purpose on earth. Notice how it affects how you act and your outlook on your blessings and trials. 

I testify that a clear understanding of these things, given through the spirit, can fix feelings of apathy, replace them with motivation, and help you get out of any "rut" you find yourself in.

Send me an email with your experience.

Love you all !

-SIster Gray

P.S. I have 0 pictures this week so I give my mother permission to add any pictures from the past 4 months that she wants here: