WHY God, WHY religion?

August 04, 2020

WHY God, WHY religion?

HELLO ALL

This week was insanely crazy and BUSY but it was awesome!! We started teaching lots of new people who have great potential!! One of them has actually started texting US to tell us when he's free to talk about God!! Let me tell ya a little bit more about him;) His name is Cesar and he is 21. He moved to the U.S. about a year ago and he still only speaks Spanish (usually young adults his age here speak English) so he's had a hard time getting to know people. We've been talking to him for a few weeks now, but this past week he told us about an internal struggle he's had for a long time that I feel is super relevant to a lot of people nowadays. He said, "I just really feel like all I need to do is be a good person... I don't really need a specific religion or anything to help me... but I don't get why I feel like that?" It's a good sorta question right? WHY God, WHY religion, WHY Jesus Christ?

The world tells us that happiness comes in a lot of different ways... having lots of money, security, friends, a nice place to live, stable job, fun weekends, nice car etc, etc... But honestly, usually those things have an end point to making us happy. Luckily, God's message that we share as missionaries is that there is a way to live which brings you a deeper reward than just the fleeting happiness you find through those other things:) Jesus Christ was the perfect example of how to live more fully and God has given us a path in which we can follow Christ's example. This path is full of covenants such as baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and a marriage sealed by God... We also learn that if we read, ponder and apply principles from the scriptures, pray daily, and attend church God is then able to bless us with gifts both temporal and spiritual (Mosiah 2:41). And what do we get if we choose to live in this way? Our living prophet, President Nelson says this:

"I promise that you will be blessed with additional power to deal with temptation, struggles, and weakness. I promise miracles in your marriage, family relationships,

and daily work. And I promise that your capacity to feel joy will increase

even if turbulence increases in your life."

So... why have religion in your life if you feel like you're already a good person? Look at the blessings! The world tells us it's OK to be comfortable right where we are... but the Lord tells us we can have deeper joy and be truly happy no matter what is going on!! We don't have to just "go through the motions" of this life, we can ENJOY it as we come to know the purpose of what we're doing here. We talked to a young couple this week who said they feel so blessed to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives because they know what the next step is, the goal they're working toward and they're not just wandering along in the dark. God wants us to progress, to grow, and to become like His son, Jesus Christ. He's designed us to have joy... so why shouldn't we take advantage of the blessings He is offering us?!

I've determined that I have the coolest job ever because everyday I get to hear about all the different ways people feel God's love in their lives. People from all over the place who have many different backgrounds. Whether it's sharing my testimony of this gospel with members of Christ's church or with new friends who we're teaching, I can feel my personal testimony of God's love growing each day.

I love you all and if anyone wants any special prayers sent their way I know a little blonde missionary in California who would love to help:) Just email me with your request...

Happy week everyone!

Hermana Leonard