"no temas." ["fear thou not."]

No se pierda la oportunidad de la vida porque no aprovecharla en la vida de la oportunidad.

Mire a la ejemplo de Oliverio Cowdry.

"Ten paciencia, hijo mío, porque es según mi sabiduría, y no es oportuno que traduzcas por ahora.
Y he aquí, es por motivo de que no continuaste como al comienzo, cuando empezaste a traducir, que te he quitado este privilegio.
Ahora, si hubieses sabido esto, habrías podido traducir; sin embargo, no es oportuno que traduzcas ahora.
He aquí, cuando comenzaste fue oportuno; mas tuviste miedo, y ha pasado el momento, y ahora ya no conviene;"

[Doctrina y Convenios 9:3, 5, 10-11]

Dios le dio una responsibilidad grandisimo de ayudar a traducir el Libro de Mormon. Oliverio Cowdry empezo y el tenia confianza y fe en su Padre Celestial. Y El le dio tantas bendiciones y abilidades para que el pueda cumplir el mandamiento y la responsibilidad que el recibio.
Pero con el tiempo, el empezo a dudar. Perder su confianza. Que temer. Y el temor es lo contrario de la fe. Son como la luz y la oscuridad--los dos no pueden ocupar el mismo espacio al mismo tiempo.

Cuantas veces caemos en este categoria? Cuando permitimos que nuestros meidos revocar nuestra fe.
Por mi parte, demasiado.
Pero eso es exactamente lo que Satanas quiere.
El quiere que renunciemos. Que demos la vuelta. Que dudemos en nosotros mismos y en el Senor. Que olvidemos nuestra fe y fundacion en Cristo. Que olvidemos las bendiciones y oportunidades que ya hemos recibido. Que permitamos que nuestros miedos tiene mas fuerza que nuestra fe.

Pero no necisitamos preocuparnos. Porque el Senor mismo dijo, "No temas, porque yo estoy contigo; no desmayes, porque yo soy tu Dios que te fortalezco; siempre te ayudaré; siempre te sustentaré con la diestra de mi justicia." [Isaias 41:10]

El quedara con nosotros. El no va a dejarnor caer. Solo tenemos que recordar la fe que tenemos y en El debe ser.

 ________________________________________________________________________

Don't miss the opportunity of a lifetime because you didn't seize it in the lifetime of the opportunity.

Take the example of Oliver Cowdry.

"Be patient, my son, for it is wisdom  in me, and it is not expedient that you should translate at this present time.
And, behold, it is because that you did not continue as you have commenced, when you began to translate, that I have taken away this privilege from you.
Now, if you had known this you could have translated; nevertheless, it is not expedient that you should translate now.
Behold, it was expedient when you commenced; but you feared, and the time is past, and it is not expedient now."

[Doctrine and Covenants 9:3, 5, 10-11]

He was given this huge responsibility by God to help translate the Book of Mormon. He started out trusting in his Heavenly Father and having faith in Him. And he was given many blessings and abilities from God so that he was able to fulfil this commandment he had been given.
But as time went on, he started to doubt. To lose his trust. To fear. And fear is the opposite of faith. They're like light and dark--the two cannot occupy the same space at the same time.

How often do we fall into this category? Where we let our fears overrule our faith.
On my part, way too often.
But that's exactly what Satan wants.
He wants us to give up. To turn back. To doubt in ourselves and in the Lord. To forget our faith and our foundation in Christ. To forget the blessings and opportunities we have already been given. To let our fears become stronger than our faith.

But we shouldn't worry. Because the Lord himself said, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." [Isaiah 41:10]

He'll stand by us. He won't let us fall. We just have to remember the faith we have and in whom it should be.

expections.

Today Hermana Dodge and I were talking about the expectations we've had over the last few months from the time we sent in mission my papers until now.

I was thinking about how I so thought I knew what I was doing. But at the same time, I had no idea. But I was comforted in the fact that I wasn't only putting in mission papers, I was also putting all of my trust in the Lord.

Thinking about all of this made me think of this pre-mission post:

"i can't even adequately express how excited i am for this. i am so incredibly amazed that heavenly father knows me so well. and he knows the people who live in the tennessee nashville mission and he trusts me enough to go and share his gospel with them. it's overwhelming. not going to lie. but i am so ready. well, maybe not completely. but as ready as i'm going to get by myself. i know that with the lord's help and with a worthy heart and willing hands i can help spread the gospel to my brothers and sisters who are ready to hear it. i'm so stoked. and that's not even a good enough word.
the gospel brings me so much joy. so much more than i ever thought possible. it never ceases to amaze me. and i am so excited to help others come to know our savior and experience the joy that this gospel brings into the lives of those who come to know it's truths.
bring on the next eighteen months."

I wrote this the day after I got my call.

When Hermana Dodge and I were talking this morning, I had already forgotten what I had gained a testimony of. Even if it was only six months ago. I had forgotten to keep all of my trust in the only two people who know me better than I know me--my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ. I just remembered that this truly is Their work. That the expectations that They have for me and for the people here in Tennessee who need Them in their lives is far greater than anything I could ever begin to imagine.

Expectations are an interesting thing. And I know that there are a whole lot of things that lay in store that I haven't ever thought about before. But it's a good thing to know that if I put my whole heart in His work, and my whole life in His hands, and all my trust in His wisdom that is far greater than mine, I'll be good. We all will. But even more than that, so will the people we meet.

It's amazing how our Heavely Father knows each of us. Individually.

He knows what we need. He knows how to get us there. And He's going to put us in the places and put people in our paths that will give us the best possible shot at godhood.

So I'll end this in the same way I did the last one:

Bring on the next 13 months.

Trust in the Lord.

I've been thinking a lot the last few days about the amount of trust that our Heavenly Father has in each of us. And I've come to the conclusion [and this is just based on things I've witnessed] that it's a massive amount.

As we anticipated our transfer calls on Saturday I found myself worried and trying to guess what would happen. And when we finally got the call, I was pretty instantly overwhelmed. I honestly didn't think that I would be able to take over the area after only being in the mission for six weeks. I still don't know very many people here and I was legitimately afraid that if the area was left in my hands, it would just crumble.
My fear only got worse when I heard that I was going to be the only one of four of us missionaries in our branch to be staying.

As I knelt in prayer that night, I asked my Heavely Father for His counsel; for anything that could help me feel more peace about the next six weeks to come.

My answer was not one that I expected, but it was one that brought immense peace.
I, almost instantly, received an answer that everything was going to be okay. That I didn't need to fear. That my Heavenly Father was telling me that He has full confidence in me, so I should too. My life, especially as a missionary, is completely in His hands, and I know that He will lead me to where He needs me to be.

5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.

[Proverbs 3:5-6]

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said it this way:

"Faith in the Lord is trust in the Lord. We cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing. As a result, no matter how strong our faith is, it cannot produce a result contrary to the will of Him in whom we have faith. Remember this when your prayers do not seem to be answered in the way or at the time you desire. The exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is always subject to the order of heaven, to the goodness and will and wisdom and timing of the Lord. When we have that kind of faith and trust in the Lord, we have true security and serenity in our lives."

The Atonement and Faith [April 2008 Liahona]

I know that as we put our trust in the Lord and align our will and desires with His, we will be able to do all things that we are asked to do. They will be hard. And we may struggle. But with our struggles, we grow stronger. We learn. We progress. We gain more trust from and in our Heavenly Father and the plan He has for each of us.