Goals And Plans

Feliz Año Nuevo! 

Happy 2024 everyone! I hope that you are all having a happy new year. 

Hermana Shefchik and I had the opportunity to speak in the branch Sacrament meeting yesterday. The branch is already pretty small and lots of people were out of town for the weekend, so it was us and about 10 other people. Thankfully, it helped me to not feel quite so nervous while speaking haha. We were asked to talk about how to share the gospel. It was amazing to reflect on some of the things that I have learned on my mission that have helped me to share the gospel in normal and natural ways. Before my mission, one of the hardest things for me was to know how to invite people to learn more. One of my favorite quotes from Preach My Gospel states that "Often, inviting simply means including our family, friends, and neighbors in what we are already doing." We can invite people to church activities just as we would invite them to go watch a new movie or attend a sporting event. I've learned that sharing the gospel really is simple and that when we truly love something, we naturally want to share it with others. 

Last week was a little crazy. We found out that our friend Yoander is going to be moving back to Venezuela, and our friend Blanca may be moving back to Mexico with her family. Baez has been super busy with work because of the holiday season, and we haven't been able to have many lessons with him. We still need to teach him some more things before he gets baptized, so we had to push back his baptismal date a little bit and we're not sure exactly when it will be yet. 

We had an amazing lesson with the Romero family. They've been taught by missionaries for a little while, and they come to church almost every week. The wife and kids are usually pretty quiet during our lessons, and we've been praying to know how to help them open up more. We felt prompted to start doing more activities and object lessons. During the next lesson with them, we did an activity to teach about the Holy Ghost. They all got involved and loved it! It was a big miracle that the whole family participated and talked to us afterwards about what they learned. 

As I have been preparing for the new year and thinking about goals that I want to set, a quote came to my mind from Elder Tad R. Callister. He said, "I do not think the Lord expects immediate perfection of us, but I do believe he expects immediate progress." The only way to become more like Jesus Christ is to continue progressing, and we can't progress without setting goals. To reach our goals, we must make plans. Elder M. Russell Ballard taught that "Some have difficulty differentiating between a goal and a plan until they learn that a goal is a destination or an end, while a plan is the route by which you get there... Goal setting is essentially beginning with the end in mind. And planning is devising a way to get to that end. A key to happiness lies in understanding what destinations truly matter—and then spending our time, effort, and attention on the things that constitute a sure way to arrive there." Goals and plans are interrelated - we need both in order to progress. As you set your goals for the new year, I would like to invite you to also make plans. Each of us has divine potential. God knows who He wants us to become. It is through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that we are able to change, make goals, and set plans that help us to become a little more like Him each day. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you. Heaven is cheering you on, and you are never alone. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

I love you all! Have a great week!

Con Amor,
Hermana Kendrick












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