Elder Jace Yeoman: Faith to Move Mountains

Hola!!!!!!

I hope you all have had a nice, cold week up north ;) haha! This week has been great, very busy getting ready for transfers but it has been a good week! Not a whole lot has changed. I am still here in the offices with the same companion (Elder Lyon), and I don't think that will be changing for a while, so no changes there either!

The biggest thing to talk about from this past week is a meeting we had with President this past week as a zone, and we talked about some very important things that really helped me...faith, desire, and the atonement. I learned so much, probably one of the best meetings I have had my whole life! I came out of that meeting so inspired and uplifted, and I want to share some of the things that I really loved.

In Preach My Gospel, 2 things were shared that really stuck out to me. One was "As you increase your understanding of the atonement of Jesus Christ, your desire to share the Gospel will increase." And the other is "If you have faith in Jesus Christ, you will accomplish what the Lord wants and needs you to accomplish."

These 2 things really hit home with me, and helped me to think in a way that I really haven´t ever thought before. Things that are very simple, but sometimes overlooked. The only thing stopping us from accomplishing everything the Lord needs us to accomplish is our own faith. And my question would be, how do we truly build our faith to the point that we can accomplish all things? And that is something I have been thinking about all week! One thing that I learned is that faith is a gift from Heavenly Father. Sometimes we ask Him for more patience, maybe a little more charity, safety and protection, but how often do we ask Him to help us increase our faith? If our level of faith is the only thing impeding us from accomplishing what the Lord needs, I think it would be something very important to pray about. From then on, in every prayer, I always pray to be able to increase my faith!

Now, another thing that plays a big part in this are our desires. Our desires to get better, to be more like Christ, and to help other people. I have seen in my time on the mission, how much desires really can change as you truly come to know your Savior, and truly come to understand at least a little more, the atonement. And this knowledge and change of desire has defined my mission, and made it very personal! I am so incredibly thankful for the atonement of Christ, so that I can always improve, and keep going up in the process of becoming. I want to understand everything possible about the Atonement of Christ, so that these desires can always keep getting better and better, so that I can be the missionary that I need to be, and accomplish everything I have been sent here to do. However, this does not only apply to missionaries, but to everyone in our lives! As we understand more fully the Atonement, our desires change! And I am positive of that! The Savior died for me personally. This is nothing general. He died for every single one of us personally, and knows everything we need to progress and be happy!

I read a talk by Bruce R McConkie that is titled "The Purifying Power of Gethsemane" and near the end he says; "I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears. But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way."

I know that Christ lives, that He died for me so that I never have to suffer, and that I will live eternally with my family. I know that some of those drops of blood in Gethsemane were mine, and for that, the atonement of Jesus Christ is personal, and carries me!

I love my Savior, and I know that He loves you all, and wants every single one of you to be happy, and has provided the way for that to happen..my challenge for you all is to recognize this week that the atonement wasn't just for everyone, but for you personally!

I love you all!! Have a great week!

Elder Yeoman