What Would You Sacrifice?

            Watching General Conference today was amazing! I love that every single time I hear exactly what I need to. I know that whatever questions you have, they will be answered by the prophets and apostles of the Lord during General Conference.

            This week, I contemplated a lot about the story of Alma and Amulek in the Book of Mormon. In the city Ammonihah, Amulek feeds Alma, who is a prophet of the Lord, and is converted to the gospel. Because Amulek starts preaching of Christ among his friends and family, who are very hard-hearted and reject the message, Amulek loses everything. Alma 15:16 reads, “And it came to pass that Alma and Amulek, Amulek having forsaken all his gold, and silver, and his precious things, which were in the land of Ammonihah, for the word of God, he being rejected by those who were once his friends and also by his father and his kindred;”

            Amulek had to sacrifice a lot to remain faithful to the Lord. He gave up literally everything He had—his home, riches, friends, and family. I have often imagined in my mind what hardships and trials I might have to go through—losing my hearing or vision, having a close loved one pass away, losing a child. I know, it’s awful to think about. But I imagine a scenario and think to myself, “If this happened, would I still be faithful and rely on the Lord?” Usually I think, “It would be very hard, harder than I can ever imagine, but I will learn a lot, be humbled, and rely more on the Lord.” I hope by imagining this I am preparing myself to rely on the Lord no matter what happens. But then I thought, why do I have to wait for something big and traumatic to happen before turning more to the Lord? Why can’t I start small and give up what little sins and bad habits I already have? I know I am not perfect and have a lot to improve on, and I can already have the help of the Lord and build a closer relationship with Him. I encourage you all to listen to conference tomorrow with a question of how you can improve and be better in your lives. I know you can start making small sacrifices now—no more TV on Sunday, no more losing my temper—that will help you grow closer to the Lord and strengthen you for whatever the future might bring.

Readiness Meter

            I have one more week until I receive my mission call! My thoughts have turned to missionary work as I’ve been studying the scriptures. In Alma 17, my Book of Mormon professor taught us about the “readiness meter.”  By this, he asked, “how ready was King Lamoni to receive the gospel?” He was at a zero. He had just killed a bunch of his servants who had failed to watch his sheep properly. Perceiving that the Lamanite king is not ready to hear the word of God, Ammon becomes his servant—even though he was offered the king’s daughter in marriage. Ammon has no idea how long he will have to wait for the King’s heart to be softened, but he dutifully serves the kings by taking care of his flocks with the other servants. After the epic scene in the Book of Mormon that involves a lot of arm-chopping, Lamoni‘s “readiness meter” switches to 100%. Ammon is then able to teach him the gospel, and Lamoni tells Ammon in Alma 18:23, “I will believe all thy words.”
   

I love how this relates to missionary work. Sometimes people are not ready to hear the word of God when you first meet them, so all you can do is serve them and wait. As they see your dedication and love for them, their hearts will soften and they may accept the message you have to share with them. I know that a mission is hard, but I know with patience and faith in the Lord, I will be able to conquer every hardship I come across. Whenever you want to touch the heart of someone, serve them with diligence and have patience.