Staying Positive

Hello friends and family!  Merry Christmas once again.  It is really great to be a missionary during this great time of the year where we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and thank our Heavenly Father for the great gift He gave us through Him.  What a wonderful time of the year to spread the Spirit of Christ and His Gospel to people, and help them reflect upon the Light of Christ that is in them.  Well, being in a singles ward, everyone is getting their things and heading home for the holidays, so we've been having a jolly good time finding what we should do with our days.  Although many of our investigators are busy with finals, and leaving for home soon, the Lord continues to provide work for us to do, and people for us to teach.  One person we are still teaching is Simone.  One thing that is great about Simone, and our ward, is that even when her friend who originally brought her to church isn't around, Simone still comes to church, and even spends time hanging out with members of the ward during the week.  I've seen her change a lot.  She's had to make some hard decisions, because her mom is against her joining the church, but she has held faithful, and is more committed than ever to be baptized and continue to endure to the end.  So that's the main thing going on for us right now.  It's funny being a missionary, because for some reason everyone feels like they can tell you everything about their life.  So, being in a singles ward, everyone tells us about their relationship woes and asks us for advice for what they should do.  Usually we tell them to read their scriptures and ask Heavenly Father, haha.  But I think this break will be really good for everyone in the ward. :)
     So, spiritual thought of the week is all about staying positive.  I'm sure you've heard many times about people who become interested in the Gospel because they said a member they saw had a glow about them.  Well, one of the reasons we have this glow about us is because we, or at least we should, have a perfect brightness of hope that comes from our faith in the Savior and the Atonement.  Now, I've not always been the best at this, in fact, I'm probably one of the worst at it. But lately, with the struggles and trials that we all face in life, I've had to make the decision to turn away from myself, and focus on others and making them happy.  I realized that almost every time I get down in life or as a missionary, it is because I am too focused on myself, and what others think of me.  Instead of doing that, or every time I am tempted to do that, I think of ways I can serve others, and make them smile for a while.  Accepting people for who they are right now, including myself, has allowed me to have more of the Spirit, and when people feel the Spirit, He can testify to them how they can change in a way that we never can.  And then we make progress, and it happens without us dwelling on ours or others weaknesses, or the negative things that they do. When we focus on the positive things that people do, it consumes them more and more, and it drowns out the negative parts of their life. I promise as we strive to be positive, forgive people for the bad things they have done, and accept them for who they are, we can make a great difference in the world, and people will want to be better, and they will want to change.  I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week.  

Godspeed, 
Elder Chandler Kendall