106 - Count your Blessings and other inspiring words from one of the Lord's missionaries

Day 106

Count your blessings and other inspiring words from one of the Lord's Missionaries

So, I read lots of letters from missionaries every week.  And I love it.  Usually, there is something in every letter that inspires me.  But today I read one that just spoke to me and I wanted to share it.

The following is from Elder Matthew Hodgson.  He is serving in the Washington DC South Mission

and is the son of some dear friends.

"Some news from this week is interviews. I went first with President, and he at first asked how my testimony was doing, what I was doing to keep it growing, and what 3 things I KNOW about the gospel. He then shared why: We NEED to know those. He said to imagine how Satan must be feeling now. For the first time in history, the Lord's prophet is no longer praying for more time. Rather, he is hastening the work. He is calling for more laborers. Satan must be irate! Our testimonies are suddenly becoming even more dear to us, as his strategies will soon become more pointed."

What are the three things I KNOW about the gospel?  1.  I know Jesus is the Christ 2.  I know the Book of Mormon is true and can bring us closer to God then any other book. and 3.  I know families can be together forever.  ....and I do believe he is so right on about Satan being angry about the hastening of the work and the explosion of youth getting ready to serve missions....he is probably shaking in his boots and re-doubling his efforts to find ways to test our faith and make us doubt.

"The other day, I heard a song from White Christmas (very likely the best Christmas movie of all time) and I thought I'd try something from it. "When I'm worried and I can't sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep. I fall asleep counting my blessings." I tried it that night, because I had a lot on my mind. (mission life can be stressful. Lots of things up in the air, and all these worries of things you want people to do, yet they still have agency, etc.) So, I fell asleep counting my blessings, and not only was I able to fall asleep before I hit the end of the list (not hard), I found myself waking up with the best nights rest I'd had in weeks. It was a great reminder to me of the blessings that come from gratitude. Just stop for a moment and think of everything that's going RIGHT rather than what's going wrong, and all will be well."

This is one of my all time favorite movies...and I love that song.