Unless We Make It Holy
Aloha Family a me Friends :)
A bible is only a book unless we make it holy. A temple is only a white building unless we make it His holy home. A Sunday is only a day unless we make it His holy day. A home is only a house unless we "transform [it into] a [holy] sanctuary of faith" (Russell M. Nelson, General Conference October 2018).
When we choose to take seriously the covenants that we made at baptism, we choose to have His spirit to be with us always; we thus are able to rise up to a newer, holier way of living. We become true disciples of Christ and like Elder Jeffery R. Holland said to just "jump in and swim" instead of becoming imobilized with what technique we are going to do. Just simply go and do. Go and serve. Go and do what our innate spirits long to do, which is to help our fellow beings. On Thursday, Sister Lowe and I jumped in and helped the Elders assist an elderly couple move from the Bronx to Harlem. The couple was surprised to see us Sisters actually moving these large pieces of furniture or even more attempt to put up blinds and put together a bathroom shelf, in which was much sharper than we had anticipated and we both cut our fingers and got blood all over the ground lol.
Nevertheless, to make our work (whether missionary work or not) holy, it all begins with us. Just as Sister Christina B. Franco taught in the general women's session this past conference, our service is "not about the [action itself] but about the love behind the action" and that truly is the secret ingredient and what makes our work holy. By doing so we allow God to work miracles of love in AND through us to help those around us.
To bring it full circle...general conference is only people lecturing to us unless WE make it holy people edifying us. Six months ago I admonished that we needed to take to heart and action the lessons learned at General Conference. And six months later, I am still consistent in my promptings. These men are literally called of God and God literally wants to talk to each one of us. He literally does love us and "His love is greater than our fears, doubts, sins, and loneliness" (Robert C. Gay, General Conference October 2018).
Sooo. Don't delay God's guidance, get on lds.org today!
And as Aunty Marialani says..."Go check em go check em go" ;)
Randoms:
1) Our friend, Jose, told us that if he continued to come to church that his family would disown him :( BUT MIRACLE. After a ton of prayers and what not, Sister Lowe and I talked to his mom over the phone and she said that he could come back!!! Jose was quite surprised himself seeing as every other time he would talk about the church she would hang up on him haha but as we know God performs miracles even today!
2) We are in a trio now!!! Sister Kurokawa is from Nagoya, Japan and will be here for the next six weeks and then will go back to Temple Square! She is so cute and actually had my dear Sister Felix as her district leader at temple square before she came outbound! Small world :)
3) This cute Mexican family that we are working with were supposed to watch General Conference with us on Sunday but got the times all mixed up and showed up at 9am to church. We talked to them and they said they would come back later on. When we texted them, they told us that they didn't have the funds to make it back to church but would come next week. We. Were. So. Heartbroken. Sooo. That night we went over to their home, taught them and even put them on bapt date for December 8 :)
4) A girl we are working with told me that I'm just like "Bubbles" from the Powerpuff Girls. Lol. And moreso in my interview with President, first thing he wrote down was "very upbeat today". What can I say the gospel makes me happy
5) Saw someone wearing a Ku Kiai Mauna Shirt on the side of the road. Stopped the guy. He is from Harlem and told me he honestly couldnt remember where he got the shirt from. Regardless, I was so surprised and stoked haha.
6) We went to Costco today. Sister Lowe bought food to last her the rest of her mission (i.e. waffles, poptarts, muffins, lucky charms, saimin noodles). I bought Vitamin C to last me the rest of my mission. And Sister Kurokawa was sad there was no sushi at this Costco.
Me ke aloha,
Sister Ellis
Believe, Love, Do
(P.S. ^^ I like to think Elder Uchtdorf inspired me to step up to a higher, "holier" quote ;)