Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Blessings

Hello everyone,

This week was a week of blessings, both of received and given.  This week I have had the opportunity to give five (5) Healing Blessings.  It was a great experience that really tried my faith.  The funny part is for the Healing Blessing there is two parts: the anointing and the sealing.  The anointing is the prep and the sealing is the where the blessing is given.  Every time we were asked if we could give a blessing either I or Elder Bahian would ask, Who would you like to give you the blessing?, They would point at me and say, you.  It was very humbling that they thought of me that highly to ask for a blessing from the Lord and ask me to give it.  Oh side note I gave the blessings in Tagalog, a lot harder to say, but easier to follow the spirit.

On the receiving end of blessings I have been very fortunate.  We found some new investigators, from referrals and through our own finding efforts.  We picked some Less active families that we wanted to focus on that we feel that they are ready to come back we just have to show them how and that they can.  The work is challenging but very rewarding.  I can't explain how happy I feel when an investigator or less active comes to church or how devastated I feel when they don't come or don't read.  I am really trying to lose myself in the work.

This week in my study, I have been studying our covenants, from Baptism and Confirmation to the Endowment. In the June or July issue of the Liahona, there is an article about our covenants.  It is worth the read.  My main study has been the covenants we make in the Endowment.  I learn why all missionaries are endowed, it is because of the nature of our work are exactly the covenants that we make.  So as missionaries we can more fully receive the blessings from on high.  What I have really been studying is the Law of Sacrifice.  I have a talk that I will send.  I learned that we need to give up the things of the world that aren't necessarily bad, but that can very easily become time wasting or distracting.  I'll send you the talk so you can understand better, but a scripture in D&C 98:11-15, is a good summary of the Law on Sacrifice.

Love you all.  Stay safe and always remember to pray.

Love,
Elder Hatch 

The Law of Sacrifice - Ensign Oct. 1998 - ensign