Selbstvertrauen, Mut und Entscheidungen.....Week 5 in Klagenfurt

Ich begrüße euch herzlich! ( I cordially greet you) What a wonderful season to be a missionary eh? Christmas is the best... for so many reasons! So many! Christ.... totally the biggest part! As a missionary I'm keen to point that out! Although its harder in German cuz Christmas is Weihnachten. But still, people here are way into that kind of thing... just not from us. But were improving that daily! Then... Mas... in Spanish I believe it means 'more'... meaning that... we want.... CHRIST-MORE! See what I did there? To be honest I came up with that one off the top of my head too. Not even in my planned thoughts! Man I'm getting wiser as the days go on. Na Servus!

This week is titled... Self Confidence, Courage and Choices. We finally got our Conference Edition Liahona this week so I was able to read some talks. The 4 that I read all went along these themes. First the talk by Elder Jörg Klebingat, then by Elder Lynn Robbins, then by Elder Quentin Cook and also President Uchtdorf! All of these talks struck me a ton when they were given, therefore they were the first ones that I returned to.

What strikes me so deeply about them is the way it addresses the power of the individual. I make my choices. I choose. I can be happy. I can be self confident. Its not about relying so heavily on the opinion or choices of others, rather its relying on yourself and on Christ.

I choose whether I have a good attitude

I choose whether to repent

I choose if I want to go to church today

I choose who I will marry

I choose how my attitude toward anothers actions affects me

I choose to forgive

I choose if I will talk to this person about the Gospel

I choose to stand up for my beliefs

I choose to have appropriate thoughts

I choose to exercise faith and trust in the Lord

I choose to say no

I choose to say yes

I choose my future

Its all about the power of the individual... who receives power from on high.... who can be strengthened through Christ.... who has been given the heavenly ability to choose for himself. Its now just up to us to learn how to make proper and wise choices and how to use our agency to bless our lives and to bless the lives of others. When we start doing this and recognize the power that one can build up through righteous choices, we gain self confidence. We learn that we have worth in the sight of God and that we are capable to act for ourselves.

With the increase of self confidence comes an increase of courage. We will be able to withstand more, and say no in harder situations. Courage is strengthened because we know that to please God is always the right choice. I know that because I have had experiences with it. I have been the recipient of promised blessings from the Lord because of my obedience to His laws. I've seen how powerful my decisions can be when I know who I represent and when I know which way I'm facing.

This can all come through CHRIST and His Atonement. What a beautiful message to share with the world. How lucky am I to be serving in Austria and to get to share this message of self worth with these people. His power, atonement and grace is sufficient to help every person on this earth. But we choose whether we accept that help. We choose to follow Christ.

Isnt this Gospel the best ever? So great!

It's December now. I've been inspired by a story of Invitations. I've been inspired again through Conference. Now I guess I'm the one who chooses what I'll do with this inspired feeling. I hope that I can choose to go out and share it with everyone. I'll choose that right now.

I wish you all the best start to the Christmas season this year! Make it memorable! Have a great week! I love you all so much :) Thanks for being there for me! You are loved <3

Elder Rodgers <3