Love and Service

Hey family and friends!

Its good to be able to write you all every week. Things are going really well here in Iowa. There are many things that someone could be frustrated with but my parents taught me how to be grateful.  We are still teaching Aide, Diana, and Alma. Unfortunately, none of them made it to Church yesterday which was rough, but it was still a great day. Aide will be coming for sure next week as she was in Minnesota over the weekend. Diana has to work Sundays until March and Alma just flat didnt come because her 2 daughters were being rebellious...which is why they need to come to Church! haha Hopefully next Sunday, we will have a better turn out.

Well I have been feeling a little stressed out concerning my responsibilities as a zone leader. Its been a long time and sometimes it just weighs on you making all these decisions that affect the lives of others, especially when everybody turns to you for the answers to their problems lol Having prayed and talked to Heavenly Father about these things, I went to my favorite chapters in the scriptures to seek comfort and understanding. In the Book of Mormon, there is a righteous king named Benjamin and he gathers all the people to talk to them right before he is about to die. He talks about how he has done his best to serve the people as their king and to work with his own hands so that he didn't have to tax the people. Then he says this which powefully stuck out to me this morning, "Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God.And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn ^awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the ^bservice of your ^cfellowbeings ye are only in the service of your God."

Boy, it hit me pretty hard that I'm not just serving missionaries in my zone and trying to help them feel happy and successful, but I am really just serving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And thats what its all about!!! There is no better way to draw closer to Christ than to serve Him, through serving others. Why? Because you become like Him in the sense that you have increased capacities to have compassion on others and desiring their welfare puts you on your knees in humble prayer. I love serving a mission here in Iowa and I know that everyone can "lift where they stand" meaning serve wherever or whatever they're doing. My sister-in-law Lindsay wrote a note in the journal I took with me out here and I have really come to cherish her comments. The quote is from Martin Luther King Jr. I believe and it says something like,"Anybody can be great because anybody can serve." Thats very true and deep within each of us is a heart that is enticed to serve others because you love them. My love for Christ motivates me to serve my brothers and sisters. So even though its hard almost all the time, its what brings true joy :) Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He came not to be served, but to serve us because He loves us and laid down His life so we can rise again. I love you all and hope you look for opportunities to love and serve others like Christ would this week! 

Love, Elder Seth McGinn

 

ps picture of the Iowa City zone on P-day! They are all studs and we have a lot of fun serving together. (I hope I didn't already send this picture but I cant remember)