"Stuck" in the World of Potential

Do you ever feel like you are "stuck" in the world of Potential? Growing up playing sports, I think this was the way my coaches tried to motivate me. They would say a positive thing to me about something that I did to build my confidence and then they would back that up and say, "Elder Stringam, you have so much potential." The first few times that I heard that I thought to myself, "I do have a lot of room to improve and a lot of potential to achieve. However, after I heard this over, and over, and over from my coaches my thought changed to, "Will I ever reach my potential?" I've thought more and more about that since I've been here in Tennessee. "Will I ever reach my potential as a missionary?" I know that I am not alone in this. I've asked a few of my companions about what they think about the whole potential thing and they feel the same way. I remember about 10 months ago I was sitting in the Mother's lounge of the church building in Nashville having an interview with President Hutchings. I was struggling with being a missionary. It felt like all the work that we were doing to help people just wasn't coming together. People weren't keeping their commitments, none of our investigators were progressing in the gospel, and we were working our tails off, all for nothing....so I thought. President sat me down in the chair and said, "Elder, what's wrong?"
"President, nothing is happening in our area and I'm fed up with it. We are working so hard that I have blisters on my feet and I don't get why everything is falling thru."
He said, "Are you ready to feel the Spirit?" I nodded my head. "You aren't out here for the Lord right now, you are out here for you. This is HIS work and HIS glory."
He taught me some other things in that interview, and among many things that I learned, I will share two. Number One, I have the upmost respect and admiration for President Hutchings. He is a Man of God. Number two, if we think that we have reached our potential and get complacent in our progression back to Heavenly Father, we have failed. How could we become like our Heavenly Father if we don't have potential to achieve? We must ALWAYS have some potential to achieve because we are not living with God yet. None of us should get down on ourselves if there are areas to improve in, because there always should be! From that point on, I've looked at life in a whole new light. I've looked at weaknesses and trials differently as well. How grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father who teaches thru our own experience. I cannot wait to see Him again someday. To talk with Him, to joke with Him, to learn from Him, to hug Him, to thank Him, the list goes on and on.
I Stand All Amazed....at being "stuck" in the world of potential!

The Blessings of Scripture

I saw this video on lds.org and I really liked it. Elder D. Todd Christofferson is the man! I think he is one of my most favorite apostles and he talks about the sacrifice that went into bringing us the Bible today and also talks about how more revealed scripture from God can help all of us out in our lives.

http://lds.org/pages/the-blessings-of-scripture?lang=eng

So I know that this is short, but I'm very grateful for the scriptures that God has given all of us. And I'm very grateful for the men that stood up for what is right to give all of us the blessings of the scriptures.
I Stand All Amazed...at the word of God.
PS There is a link to an Ensign article that talks more about the translation of the King James Bible... http://lds.org/ensign/2011/08/400-years-of-the-king-james-bible?lang=eng&query=king+james+bible

Enduring

First and foremost, this roller coaster looks like an epic one. This is in Japan. I dunno where or what it is called but it looks legit! Lately, I've been thinking about the gospel principle of enduring to the end. All of us are at different stages of our lives. Some of us are young, in junior high school. Others are attending college. Some of us are parents with 4 kids who are the cause of a lot of grief and break things around the house, but are the source of so much joy. Some of us are grandparents that faithfully write their grandson on his mission and never get a letter back because he is awful at writing letters. I dunno who that would be or anything....just using examples here.. And some of us are in the sunset of life just about to move on to the next stage that Heavenly Father has beautifully prepared for us. I am gonna talk about where I am right now, and that is on a mission. As missionaries, it is easy to get into a habit of just going thru the motions. You find the way the you want to do missionary work and the way that you think is best to do things. We go to meetings to get motivated by our leaders and we try to have uplifting experiences that change our outlook on our missions, but those stirring feelings seem to only last for a few hours, maybe a few days, and then things are back to normal again. This vicious cycle results in what I call "coasting." Coasting thru to the end of your mission, just doing the minimum and not really putting too much feeling or effort into it. I see missionaries all the time struggle with coasting. We get complacent with where we are at and we just decide to ride the roller coaster till we step off the plane at the end of our mission. I too have felt this way at times, and that is one of the worst feelings that I have ever felt. It is easy to go thru the motions, that's why its so appealing! Its easy to just ride the coaster! But when we do step off that plane at the end of wearing the black tag, what will we have learned? Maybe a few scriptures, how to deep-fry ANYTHING (seriously, people will deep-fry sticks of butter out here and eat them plain...), and maybe a few people skills, but will we have learned how to endure to the end? Or better yet, to ENJOY to the end? Will we have learned how to sacrifice everything like the Savior did? Will we have learned how to love God and to magnify our calling for Him? I honestly don't think that we would, and that's what scares me. Now, I'm not saying that we should be maniacs and become over-bearing missionaries, but I do know that there is more for us than to just go thru the motions of everyday missionary work! And I know this applies to more people than just missionaries! When is the last time you, yes YOU, took a second and realized what matters most? When is the last time that you took things off of auto-pilot for a minute and looked at the beautiful creations of our God? When is the last time that you have served a member of your family to bless their life in an extraordinary way? I know that as we step off of the roller coaster and step onto the pathway of Life, we will ENJOY this Journey instead of just experiencing it. We will realize that we have learned how to find happiness in this life and how we have become more like the Savior Himself, who was a perfect example of endurance. I hope we all can take a second and step off of the roller coaster today and really try to enjoy this journey.
I Stand All Amazed...at finding JOY as we endure.

Rocky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oDTNEEu3Rw&feature=related

I had to do it! I love Rocky IV! I think Dad got me hooked on this series because this was one of his favorites. This movie has been my all time favorite one outta the Rocky series. Its just epic. Here is this Ivan Drago character who has everything handed to him, and then you have Rocky who has to work and fight for everything he's got. Its the true underdog story. Drago kills one of Rocky's best buds, Apollo, and then the stage is set for Rocky to fight Drago and avenge his buddy's death. Its a showdown of the ages. This video is Rocky getting ready for the big fight, in Russia. This is the ultimate pump up video for anything. I remember before sports games, I used to listen to this on my ipod or I would watch this segment on the TV. (Yes, we had it recorded and saved on the TV) Listening to this would get me "in the zone" for the upcoming game and it became a "sports superstition" of mine to listen to it. If I didn't, I wouldn't play well. That's just how it is. With that being said, how does this apply to the Gospel? Easy. Rocky is a perfect of example of enduring to the end! His goal was to beat Drago. That was his vision and he set his mind to it. That workout wasn't easy haha. That looked like it would've killed me! But he finished it. During the fight, he was cut open, bruised, and broken, but he won. He achieved what he set his mind to. This directly correlates with our lives. Our goal is to live with our loving Heavenly Father again. We have set our mind to it, this is our vision. Keeping the commandments can be not be so easy to keep at times. This is our killer workout! During this fight against the devil, we are sometimes beat up and pushed down, but in the end, we know that we will win. This is enduring to the end. That is why I'm so grateful for a Savior that picks us up when we get pushed down and heals our wounds when we need it. If it weren't for Him, there would be no hope in this world. I love Him. He allows us to be able to "Enjoy the Journey" of life. In Him there is hope and in Him we can be healed. I know that we will finish this fight. And just like Rocky, we will rejoice as well. Satan will not prevail. Remember the inspiring words of the Prophet Joseph,"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progression;...the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done." I hope all of us can be like Rocky and endure to the end.
I Stand All Amazed....at the heart of Rocky and the principle of Enduring to the End.

Team Hoyt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z22s5DzqQdQ&feature=related

Before you read the post, watch the video.....
A father's love. When a first saw this video a couple of years ago, it brought me to tears. I could not believe the love that this man has for his boy. I can only imagine the sacrifices that Dick Hoyt has made in his life to help bring his son happiness. I have never met this Dad before, but I have the upmost respect and admiration for him. I have been fortunate in my life to have a wonderful Dad who pushes me along thru the hard times of life. I have the upmost respect and admiration for him as well. He too has made sacrifices to bless my life and the life of my family. I love him. He hasn't pushed or pulled me thru a triathalon, but he has taught me how to become a Man of God, because he is one. Our family is Team Stringam. May we all have a more appreciation of the love of our Fathers after we watch this video.
I Stand All Amazed...at the love of a Father.