What is My Purpose as a Missionary?

The combined class today with Relief Society and Priesthood members was presented upon our bishop's request. The section in the book Preach My Gospel  dealing with "My Purpose" brought out some interesting observations and reminders. The Church has recently change the policy about going out on a full time mission by lowering the age for young men to 18 and for young women 19. With this change comes a surge of mission ready youth who want to serve the Lord full time. There are currently 70,000 missionaries out serving the Lord full time. We can add our strength to theirs if we will follow Romans 1:16 " For I am not ^aashamed of the ^bgospel of Christ: for it is the ^cpower of God unto ^dsalvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
A question we contemplated was, "Why is the restored gospel so important?" Our Father's plan for our salvation covers this question but I think it is good for us each to think about what our answer is. How would our lives change or our family if we did not have the restored gospel (good news)? This plan of our Father's to get us back home to Him covers all aspects of our lives. We should stay away from that old thought of church is for Sundays; the gospel is for each day, all day. If we choose to follow the teachings of our Savior ( our Father's plan), we will be lead to His presence once again. God wants us to return, having made good use of our time on earth. His plan is a gift, a map home, which will unite families for eternity.
Most of us hold dear the idea of having our loved ones part of our lives in the next existence, whether we are members of the LDS church or not. That desire in itself should remind us how important this family unit is, as the light of Christ manifests itself to us.
From the Proclamation on the Family comes this quote, "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." If we ever wonder how we can improve, a study of this quote will give us direction.
One of our latter day prophets  reiterated that true Christianity is love in action. If we want the things the Lord wants for us and we truly love our brothers and sisters , let us gather courage and be not afraid to share our Father's gift with those who cross our life's path. The Lord has called all of us to serve each other. Let us never forget the basis of our love, his restored gospel, the plan of love.

I hope this is the new church video. If not, go to lds.org and type in Hastening the Work of Salvation to see what is new.
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your bloggess in action,
Janice