Filling the Mantle, Resolution #2
Today I met with the Stake President for just a few minutes as a check-up of sorts I suppose. He gave me a manual that he had prepared for returned missionaries, put together in a similar manner as the ‘Preach My Gospel’ manual that missionaries use today. Just FYI, I served a mission back in the 6 Discussion days. A long time ago, but just a moment ago. There was a little sentence in there that struck my mind in a very thoughtful manner. He says that on your mission, ‘You chipped away at your weaknesses by working to be better each day than you were the day before’. I found that I asked myself if I had been doing that since my return.
After only a month in Japan, we had the very special privilege of having Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visit our mission. It was my first up-close and personal meeting with an Apostle. An Apostle is no small calling, and he emphasized that in his opening remarks when he very boldly said that this day he came to teach us not as just a church leader, but as an Apostle, fulfilling his calling to testify of the Savior around the globe. That instantly changed the mood in the room, and has been a comment that has stuck with me all these years. It has increased my reverence to those 12 men plus 1 that hold that calling. One of the most impressive places I have stood has been in the Church History Museum, in the room where they have painted portraits of all the Apostles of this last dispensation. Just looking and realizing the faces of the men that I looked at was awesome. I’d like to go do that again.
In his lesson, which lasted several hours, Elder Scott taught us about learning from and by the Spirit, the nature of our callings as missionaries, and how we ultimately become the missionaries that we are viewed to be. All missionaries, whether the greenest Junior to the seasoned Senior, are viewed as Spiritual Giants by the members and people that they teach. I promise you that most of the time you feel inadequate to the calling. Elder Scott drew on the board a large shape of a man and commented that this is how missionaries are viewed. Then, inside that man, he drew a small stick figure and said that that is most likely how we feel. He then posed the question of how we go about filling that space, filling that mantle of responsibility that rests on our Souls. For hours he taught us about studying with the Spirit and growing our actions, our testimonies, our souls to fill that mantle. Grace by Grace and after time and dedication, we ultimately fill that mantle with the missionary that we become.
This is the question that I pose to myself, and to you. As the years go by, do you find that you are chipping away at your weaknesses and filling the mantle of the life that the Lord has prepared for you? Are you shaving off bad habits and thoughts, serving more diligently, improving your testimony and habits daily and ultimately allowing the Atonement to fill your life? Or, do you find that the same habits from years ago still haunt you, and sadly have even gained ground on you? Do you often look back on years past and wish you are as good now as you were then? Have some things just taken control of your life altogether?
My resolution #2 of 2008 is to no longer have regrets like that in my life. I choose today to have a strengthened resolved against my weaknesses, and chip them away. I choose today to seek, to study, to focus and to live so that the Atonement can take full effect in my life, dictating every ounce of my character. There is nothing more important, nothing more valuable, nothing more life-changing than allowing the Atonement to transform your life. EVERYTHING hovers on that one great act, and I need to let it act in my life in greater power.
