Last week we meet Dorivaldo. He went to church a few times in salvador a while back and long story short he has been looking for relief spiritually and physically, we were able to bring the peace that he wanted into his life by teaching about the power of baptism and atonement of Jesus Christ, he already knew most of the lessons and was ready to do whatever it takes to feel the burden of sin taken from him. Most people, when we teach about the word of wisdom, have problems with the reality of this commandment; but this man just said without blinking an eye that we was ready to stop using whatever to feel the sweet spirit in his day to day life even with a habit of smoking. He had shown the most humility that I have ever seen in another living person in my life and I'm tearing up writing this because I realized that we all have room to improve, but are we ready to accept our weaknesses and do something about it or just ignore it? That's the difference between most people; are we willing to put down our pride, even just for a moment to condsider the possibility that we are doing something wrong, without rationalizing, without considering our own wants/desires. We all have pride, so what are we doing to fix it? That's what I love about Dorivaldo, his sincere desire to follow our saviors call, no matter what, because he is more important than us; which only makes it more beautiful for us because the Savior already loves us more than we can comprehend through the atonement. I love being a missionary. I love sharing the gospel, not for personal gain (this is hard work), but the reward really is so great, its eternal, and I wish it for everyone to experience.
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Love Elder Barton's perspective and am grateful for his reminder for myself. Two thoughts came quickly to me as I read. The Savior's last supper when he tells the disciples that one would betray him and they all began to ask him "Lord, is it I?" (Matthew 26:21-22) That's humility! Also came to mind one of my favorite "classic" talks President Benson's "Beware of Pride". Thank you Elder Barton!
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