Chapter 72: Unity

"If ye are not one ye are not mine."

Doctrine and Covenants 38:27

Well it seems as if January has already come and gone as today is it's final day; already an entire month into the year 2022 which is hard to believe. This month has been incredible: incredibly busy and stressful but additionally incredible for my growth and conversion. I feel as if little by little my deepest desires are becoming more and more refined into recognizable righteousness. Very slowly, very subtly, I feel progress is being made. This is very good for me to feel because honestly, I've struggled to recognize or see how my individual efforts have resulted in any real change. I guess as I approach the sunset phase of my mission, I will hopefully be blessed to see the changes that have occurred in the proverbial "day" of service I have given to the Lord. As the bright, ever-present, and sometimes blinding sun begins to dim, perhaps I will be permitted to see just a bit more clearly who I have become. Time will only tell.

This week I learned a lot about unity. We had some great exchanges, and also were able to lead some training meetings for the District Leaders and Zone Leaders in the mission to help them more fully understand what their role is as leaders and help them feel more confident in themselves with the trust they have been given. Recently, we have been talking a lot as Assistants to the President about how we can help the other leaders in the mission take on more responsibility in order to help the mission become more united. For some reason unknown to me, and for as long as I can remember, the Assistants in the mission have been responsible for practically everything. This has put a lot of pressure on us, and I feel has limited the mission in the sense that we simply cannot know the needs of individual missionaries in the ways that other leaders can. As we move forward, we are hoping to allow the Zone Leaders, Sister Training Leaders, and District Leaders more room to fully realize their potential by encouraging them to take greater initiative in their leadership without the fear of being cut down.

In this powerful scripture we learn that when we fail to be united with each other, we are distanced from Christ. As we learn in John 15, it is only through service and love towards others that we are able to abide in Christ and more fully access his power. I love this truth. I love how God loves us so much as his children, that the only way for us to really understand that love and become close to him in both proximity and character is through loving his other children. It just makes so much sense, and yet, it isn't easy is it?

For many reasons, it can be hard to love God's children, to love each other. It can feel awkward to reach out, to serve, or to sustain, especially when those hands we are reaching out to lift up are the hands of strangers or even enemies. What I love about being on a mission though is that I have learned how to work with so many different types of people. I've had companions who were complete opposites of me, who were the type of people that before my mission I would've, to say it plainly and honestly, resented and probably never would have wanted to talk to. Just from appearances alone. These people are now some of my greatest friends. How? Well, I have learned, through both humbling hardship as well as happiness, that when we reach out to others in genuine kindness, meekness, and love, we become connected to Christ. Then, as we are sustained by His power, by His grace, and by His love, we are blessed with a greater capacity for joy amid the hardest of struggles and unity among the greatest of differences.

Jesus Christ is the one who makes all things possible, and if we must love, serve, and cherish one another in order to be called His, I can think of no greater reason to get outside of myself and reach out across the chasm of what is comfortable to fulfil such a charge. There is a reason why loving our neighbor is the second great commandment, and I believe that, in part, it is because it is the only true way we can keep the first. We cannot truly love God if we do not love what he loves, or who he loves, even all of his children.

I hope that this mission can experience such a pure sense of unity. I don't know what is going on in the world right now on a large scale, but I pray that everyone might come to understand this in some way. I really encourage you to try and apply this principle; I know of no greater peace that I have felt in my life to know I am united with those around me and therefore more united with my Saviour and my Heavenly Parents. I hope to grow where I am lacking in this and strive to look outwards always. That's what The Saviour did perfectly.

Life is good.

God is wise.

Don't give up.

Elder Childers

Not many pictures this week but here is a great meal we had with our good friend David Broadly from Glasgow