Christ is a Good Receiver

By Brandon Page

Hello everyone and Happy Monday! A few weeks ago, a friend of mine named Becky was sharing her testimony of the Savior and shared that Jesus is a good receiver, and that touched me a lot because it taught me that the Lord is grateful for my efforts to follow Him and serve those around me and I feel more confident to give my best knowing He will receive my gift with love.

Two weeks ago, I was working at my new job as a teacher’s assistant for one of my engineering classes and I was feeling very unprepared. I was the only TA in the room with about 13 students asking me questions that I had no idea how to answer and there was still 40 minutes of me having to be there. I left that room in despair because of how little I was able to help the students, and I was also not finished with an assignment I needed to to turn in for the next class I was heading to. Along the way to my class however, I ran into two of my friends, Sterling and Mathias and both greeted me warmly. Then to my surprise and relief, my professor announced that the assignment I hadn’t finished was pushed back a day. Although I was not as prepared as I should have been, the Lord was merciful towards me and prepared a way for me to escape my feelings of helplessness.

This past week I had the opportunity to study in the New Testament with my Aunt Rosahura, and we were learning about the beginning of the Savior’s earthly ministry. There were a few verses that talked about how the Lord invites everyone to repent and follow Him. The verses then compared us to trees and said that every tree that doesn’t bring forth good fruit will be burned. My aunt, who is an avid gardener and loves plants, was taken back by this verse and contested that even though a tree doesn’t bear fruit, at least it gives shade and that was reason enough for her to preserve the tree. I can imagine our Heavenly Father having similar compassion towards us and I am grateful we can repent through our Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord wants to preserve all of us, and through Him we can overcome all of our sins and shortcomings and find joy!

What does being engaged mean to you?

By Juliana Lemos

As part of my Career Development class, we are encouraged to teach friends and family members about the principles that would help us become better professionals. In week four, I studied about being engaged and decided to share some of my thoughts with my youngest brother Daniel who is preparing to serve as a full-time missionary.

It’s been two years since I returned from my mission, and I couldn’t express my gratitude for those beautiful eighteen months preaching the Gospel, serving, and making eternal friends. It’s hard to put into words what this precious time meant to me: it not only gave me experience and good memories but changed the course of my whole life! Among the things I could share with my brother, I know the principle of being engaged would help him somehow to have a meaningful experience.

So I did it: I went to his room, where he was playing video games while talking to his friend João on the phone. Brandon and I met João at the movies a few weeks ago when he was visiting Brazil.

After greeting João and talking to Daniel a bit about the purpose of our conversation, we shared some feelings about his mission. João was listening and actively participating in the conversation, and I felt good that my brother could say some things about missionary service. That weekend, João visited our Ward and participated in our Sacrament Meeting! He got so excited that he came to the choir rehearsal that afternoon.

I am grateful to share these experiences with my brother, and I know he will be a faithful missionary. To me, being engaged is about promptly taking these small opportunities to serve. And you? What can you do today to be more engaged? 🙂