No Good Effort Is Ever Wasted

Sometimes we may feel like we have failed or not done something as well as we would have like too. For example you are baking some brownies with a friend but you leave them in the oven too long because you forgot about them, and they got burnt. You may get a feeling like you have failed and the brownies are ruined. True the brownies probably won't taste good. Another example you are trying to help someone understand a principle. You explain it to them in the simplest form you can but they still don't get it. There is nothing more you can do to help them understand it. You may have felt like you could have done better or like you failed that person. We often give out efforts to help someone or to help ourselves but sometimes they are not enough. Remember no good effort is ever wasted. Going back to the brownie story. K so you burnt they brownies, bummer, tough luck, but make something out of it. Cut a piece out of the cow-pie and through it at your friend, get a laugh out of it. Your good intentions of making some delicious desserts failed but your effort in trying to have a good time with a friend wasn't wasted. You got a laugh out of the situation and probably strengthened the relationship with your friend. Now going back to the other scenario. The person you were trying to help didn't understand the principle when you were explaining it to them. You did your best and that's all you can do. You may not ever find out but later that person may talk to someone else or read something from their textbook. Then they will get it. If you weren't to have tried to help them they wouldn't have been able to get the principle. They understood the principle because of how you explained it and because of their second effort in learning the principle. Again the good effort wasn't wasted, plus you may have helped yourself because you probably understand the principle a little better now. In both of these situations the initial effort was thought to be a waste but in reality they weren't. This kind of thing happens all the time, especially in missionary work. We think that we have failed because we weren't able to get something done our first try. But really we learn from them, whether it be to set an alarm so we don't forget the brownies, we better understand a principle and can now explain it a little better or, when to use the scriptures. Just remember that no good effort will ever be wasted.

Elder Morrison

Never Give Up

Never giving up is extremely hard. It's hard just to get through the day sometimes, even just get out of bed. It's hard for mothers to put up with their kids every day. It's hard for a student to stay focused near the end of the school year. It's hard to pay the bills sometimes. But how rewarding is it to look back when you have conquered that difficult task and know that you finished it. Every day we are faced with challenges and sometimes we want to give up because we think they are too hard. We must not give up we must press forward everyday. When we press forward and have faith in Jesus Christ He will help us overcome our obstacles. I know He will, he has helped me get over some big hurdles. Last summer I got in a little bit of trouble and had some consequences for my actions. When I was taking care of the ramifications, which I deserved, I needed help, I wanted to quit. It took me a while to finish all of it. Often I wanted to give up and go home, but our Lord helped me endure to the end. He gave me strength when I was the weakest, he assured me that I could complete the task no matter how hard I thought it would be. Without him I wouldn't have been able to finish what needed to be finished and I would have dug myself into a deeper hole. God helped me push through the hard times and I gained experience from them, and I know that he will do the same for you. After we get to the top of the ladder we look back on how hard it was for us to get to the top. When we do we get that great feeling of accomplishment, like we are kings and queens of the world and we can do anything. So when the times get rough or you're just having a bad day, remember our Savior and know he loves you and will help you press forward until the end, and we will be able to climb that ladder.

Elder Morrison

Change

Change. I'm not talking quarters nickles and dimes, I'm talking about a change in your life. Change can be a good or a bad thing. Recently in my life I have had an enormous change. I went from skiing about four times a week, hanging out with my friends every night and sleeping in until almost noon, too everyday serving our Lord. I am a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As you can tell that's a rather large change in a lifestyle. At first it was difficult for me to give up skiing, my friends and especially sleeping in. It's still rough but I am getting the hang of it. Some people would ask why would I want to give up a lifestyle like that? It sounds fun and let me tell you it was. But I made such a dramatic change in my life because becoming closer to God and Jesus Christ has made happier. As a missionary I go around upstate New York and try to talk to everyone I can about Jesus Christ's Gospel. I do this because I want everyone to be able to find more happiness in there life just like I have. I get discouraged by the time I retire to my quarters for the evening because I may not have talked to as many people I may have wanted to, or not as many people will have listened to me. But I know that the Lord is happy with my efforts. I know that the next morning when I crawl out of bed even slower than a sloth The Lord is going to help me share his message. What I am trying to get at here is that change is a good thing. I changed my life and became closer to God and Jesus Christ. Because I have done this, life has become easier for me. I am more patient, I don't get as mad as easily, and best of all I am happier. But when a change happens to anyone's life they should look at the bright side, which could be hard depending on the change. They should take the change and grow from it. For instance if you were to save all of you change from your expenses in one jar, after a month or so you may have enough money to fill you car up with fuel. If you learn something new from each change in your life by the end you will be a better, stronger wiser person.

Elder Morrison