My dear family,
What a week! We have seen the hand of the Lord in our work daily. We find ourselves giving everything that we have to bring about the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In this letter I would like to talk about a subject very sacred to me. I feel impressed that it will benefit someone who may read this.
I would like to call it true faith in Jesus Christ. It means that we are willing to do whatever the Lord asks us to do. We are so desirous to change our hearts and our lives that we are willing to give everything to the Lord. I am imperfect. I am tried and tested every single day. Day after day I think in my mind who I am and who I am going to be. Through these thoughts I create my desires. These desires create my priorities. These priorities shape the choices that I make. The choices that I make change my eternal destiny. I have learned in a very powerful way that my desires shape everything. I find that I am not the same person I was a day ago. I am not the same that I was an hour ago. I am constantly changing and becoming better. I have thought on various occasions about what it truly is that I want.
What are the deepest desires of my heart? If I can identify them, I will know immediately if I am happy or miserable and if I will be happy or miserable in the future. I have thought much about how the Savior of the world grants unto all according to the desires of their hearts. I have pondered much of the laments of the Savior and His servants through the ages. I find that the majority of their sorrows are when they see that the hearts of their people are placed in the vanities of the world. They openly choose to reject the Savior as they follow the after their own desires. And why? They do it as they believe that their desires are good and they understand how to achieve such goals. However, their desires, even if they are good, if they are not acted upon by doing the will of God, will not bring them happiness. I have seen this repeated times in my mission and I understand more and more who my Savior Jesus Christ really is. If you want to be happy, strong, humble, bold, courageous, intelligent, thrifty, have faith, success, loving family, etc, do the will of God. If you have righteous desires and you really want to complete them, do the will of the Father. Christ gave the perfect example of this.
What were the aspirations of Christ? What were His goals? It was the salvation of His brothers and sisters. How did He accomplish that? It gave His life to do the will of His Father. This is the difference. This is what changes someone from mediocre to exemplar. When our righteous desires dominate our minds, the will of God will dominate our actions. If this is the case, we will achieve what the Lord desires of us and we will become who the Savior desires of us. If the desires of my heart are the same as those of the Father and I am willing to give my life to do the will of my God, I have become one with God. I have become a Disciple of Jesus Christ. When this occurs, the powers of God are shown amongst His children because there is someone who will do His will. God will change our hearts, our families, our relationships when we become the means by which He will work. I call this consecration or true faith. There is nothing that will separate me from the love my God, only my own heart. I will never that that happen. My desires are His and my will is His. If my desire changes for a moment away from what they should be, pray with all the intensity of your heart so that they will return. Is it not miraculous to know that the Savior of the world was about to turn away from the cup of the Atonement. Yet He gave His desires to God. ´I finished my preparations unto the children of men´. And as the pain came with greater force, He prayed more intently. We have much to learn from our Savior Jesus Christ.
This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are the work of God. His greatest creation. We are made in His image. I know it. Christ is my Savior. I love Him with all of my heart. Have righteous desires. Know Him. It is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love,
Elder Russell
