The Great Commandment-Love the LORD!

LOVING the photo-album my family sent me!

Hey Everyone! Wow, the end of 2013 is finally here! This past year has definitely been one of the best years of my life. It has flown by WAYY too fast, but as I reflect back on it, I have truly enjoyed every moment of it!

But this past week was pretty good! It was AWESOME to talk to my family on Christmas and hear their sweet voices! We had a great Christmas and spent it with some wonderful people. By far my favorite part of the day was volunteering at the Salvation Army and helping to serve lunch to the homeless and less fortunate here. It was so amazing to see how many Christ-like people there are in this community and to see so many families give up their Christmas to serve God's Children. Sister Blair and I were assigned to serve one table that was full w/ about 15-20 people. Every time we brought out a tray for each person they all just genuinely thanked us and had the sweetest smiles on their faces. One man from our table came up to us and said, "I knew the moment that you girls served all the Women first that you had a Mother who raised you right! THANK YOU for your service!" It was such a tender moment that I'm not going to lie, brought a few tears to my eyes. So THANK YOU MOM for raising me right and teaching me how to serve others through your own example :)

Christmas Eve w/ Jeremy & Jared!

But this week was FULL of service and it truly taught me about the true meaning of Christmas! We spent about 5 days helping one family pack and move and I couldn't think of a better way to spend this Christmas Season. On the day after Christmas we took a lunch break w/ this Family and just sat on the ground, used boxes as our tables, ate Little Caesar's Pizza w/ the door open, and the warm sun shining in. DEFINITELY one of those moments where I thought to myself, "I'm in California?!" It was again, another one of those tender mercies that truly helped me feel the love that the Savior has for all of His children.

During this time of the year I have spent a lot of time reflecting on some things that I can do in 2014 to come closer to my Savior and become a better missionary. Then I read this talk by President Ezra Taft Benson titled "The Great Commandment-Love the Lord" https://www.lds.org/ensign/1988/05/the-great-commandment-love-the-lord.p18-19,27

As I read it I thought of the things that I have put higher on my priorities list in the past than loving the Lord and it truly made my heart ache! There have been so many times where I would just come up w/ excuses to not stay for all 3 hrs of church, or to not read my scriptures, or to not pray, or to not go to Church activities, etc. I have realized that there is NOTHING in this world that should ever interfere w/ our love for the Lord and keeping His commandments. And that includes work, school, homework, recreational activities, addictions, and even pure laziness.

I totally understand that its not easy to keep all of God's commandments and that during this life we have many things that consume our attention. But I love what Pres. Benson promises us.

"When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or dropout of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities."

For me, that says it all. When we put God first, He ALWAYS blesses us and helps us to have even more capacity to accomplish the demands of life. I invite you all to think about these things and prayerfully apply them in your life. I know that for me, it has truly helped me to change my perspective on the rest of my mission and will help me to come closer to my Heavenly Father.

I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful week! Talk to you next year! :)

xoxoxo Sister Morgan