Taking His Name Upon Us

Hola todos! 

I hope you are all doing well and had a fantastic week! It was a very quick and Spirit-filled week here in Arizona. 

Last week, we had Zone Conference. Zone Conference is always so uplifting and motivates me to be a better missionary and disciple of Jesus Christ. It's always great to hear from our mission leaders and other missionaries. Everyone has different experiences and things that they have learned in life, so there is so much that we can learn from each other. 

We were able to talk to lots of new people last week! On Saturday, Hermana Curbelo and I felt prompted to walk down a street called Cholla Street and talk to people outside in their yards. As we were walking, we saw two men working on a car in their driveway. We stopped to ask them if they would be interested in learning more about Jesus Christ. One of the men, whose name was Andrew, walked up to us then yelled back to the other asking if he was interested. When that man said no, Andrew turned back to us and said "Okay, what do you have to tell me?" We told him that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love him and want him to return to live with them again. We also said that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of His children to be able to live with Him again. Andrew told us that his daughter is in the hospital right now, and he was going to visit her later that day. He asked if we had something for him to give to his daughter that she could read. We were able to give him a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet about the Plan of Salvation. We explained a little bit about both, and he was so excited to give them to his daughter. I know that Heavenly Father guided us to Andrew so that we could bring hope and peace into his life and the life of his daughter. 

Last weekend, we had Stake Conference. The Saturday night session was focused on member missionary work and showing our love for others by sharing the gospel with them. Elder Jeffrey Parker, one of the Area Seventies, talked about overcoming our fear of sharing the gospel. He showed a video of Elder Holland. In the video, Elder Holland stated that every form of missionary work is hard, and there will be days when you ask yourself why it's so hard. He said that he believes that missionary work is hard because salvation is not a cheap experience. We cannot expect it to be easy for us when it was never easy for the Savior. There will be people who reject invitations to learn more about Jesus Christ, but we cannot let rejection keep us from loving and inviting. Whether we are missionaries or members, we stand shoulder to shoulder with Jesus Christ as we invite people to come unto Him. At the end of the meeting, Elder Parker asked all of the missionaries in the stake to come to the front and sing Love One Another. He then asked the congregation to sing it back to us. The Spirit in the room was incredibly strong. We are all united in the greatest work on earth. I was reminded once again of the importance of trying to love everyone as God does because we are all His children.

I listened to the general conference talk That They Might Know Thee given by Elder Jonathan S. Schmitt in October 2022. In this talk, Elder Schmitt talks about a life changing experience that he had in a sacrament meeting. He says "As the sacrament prayer indicated our willingness to 'take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ,' the Holy Ghost reminded me that Jesus has many names. This question then came to my heart: 'Which of Jesus’s names should I take upon myself this week?'" This question really touched my heart. It can be difficult to know how to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ because there are so many ways to do it. Yet, as we study His many names, we can better understand specific ways to take the name of Jesus Christ upon us. Some of His many names include Light, Rock, and Friend. As you spiritually prepare for General Conference this weekend, I would like to invite you all to study the names of Jesus Christ. I would also like to invite you to study the Christlike attributes that go along with those names then decide which names you would like to take upon yourself this week. I know that studying the names of Jesus Christ and the accompanying Christlike attributes will help you to come to know Him better and the ways in which you can take His name upon you. I testify that Jesus Christ loves you. We are on this earth to learn and become more like Him. He wants you to have joy now and forever, and the only way to do that is by following Him. I leave you my testimony in His name, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

I love you all!

Con Amor,
Hermana Kendrick





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