Consecration

When Joe first left on his mission and I couldn't call and talk to him whenever I wanted, I wasn't sure missions were a good thing. But from the very beginning, he has written letters have shown me how much the Lord blesses you when you commit to serve Him and do His will, and I quickly gained a testimony of missions. Reading about Joe's experiences always make me want to do better at being in tune with the spirit.

I went to the temple last week with Cindy Solgere and was impressed by the teachings on Consecration. So I came home and decided to study that topic a bit--not the law of consecration, but the act of spiritual consecration. I found a talk by Neil A Maxwell, who said the "ultimate consecration is the yielding up of oneself to God" and "The best way to valiantly testify of Jesus is to become steadily more like Him, and it is that consecration that carves out the emulative character". No wonder Joe has such amazing experiences on his mission and we have see so much spiritual growth in his letters. He truly has consecrated himself to the Lord, and the blessings are evident.

So my goal for the rest of the year is to work on consecrating myself and becoming steadily more like the Savior. Hopefully that effort will bless me as well.