"The Fight was Won by Jesus"
- Lacey Wallace
- Apr 19, 2022
- 4 min read
Another week somehow passed me by.
I'm not a fan of how fast time goes haha. But it's all good.
This was a week of mixed emotions for sure. I also think I learned what love actually looks like, which sounds kinda cheesy, but true.
It's interesting, because at the beginning of my mission I mainly thought of myself and random thoughts about life at home and family and friends. Now of course, I'm not perfect and I still have those thoughts, but this week I realized most of my thoughts are of the people we teach and the members we work with. It was so cool to recognize that change in myself. I've learned to love the people enough to sacrifice for them.
Love honestly looks like sacrifice. If we think about Jesus and his love for us, it began and ended in sacrifice. Most of the time, anything worthwhile involves some kind of sacrifice. I think that's why the more I've sacrificed on my mission, the more love I've developed for those around me, myself, and most importantly, for the Savior.
This week, we had to teach a few of the commandments to someone we are teaching. It went well, but could've gone better. They realized that being baptized is more than just being washed clean from sin and entering into a church, but it's a commitment that requires sacrifice. It killed me to see this person have such an inner battle: the feeling of wanting to be baptized, but also the feeling of not being ready to give up some habits. It was cool though because I realized how much love I have for them, and how that love was manifest in me wanting to see them make changes to more closely follow Jesus Christ.
Once again, love involves sacrifice. When we love Jesus enough, there are commandments he expects us to keep and promises he expects us to uphold. God has high love for us, but he also has high expectations when we commit to being his servants. These expectations aren't to make us miserable, but to show us who we really are and how we can grow to become even better.
Let's just say I left that lesson pretty heavy. Our friend decided they had lots to think about, and I decided I would need ice cream to recover.
The next day was full of nothing working out and me trying to just work as hard as I could. I kept a pretty good attitude, but by the end of the day was pretty worn out. At times in life, it's easy to feel that nothing we do is really making a difference. But I know that the Lord truly sees and loves our effort. I think he gives me days where everything falls through to test me to see if I will really keep working hard and not give up.
That night, we called our recent convert, Alicia, only to discover she's been in the hospital. She hasn't been doing well, and can use all the prayers she can get. We've been pretty worried.
As I crawled into bed by the end of the week, I felt heavy. Ironically, it was Easter, and on what should be the most hope-filled day of the year, I felt burdened by the world. Thoughts of our friend and Alicia and my purpose here and my own inadequacies kept swirling through my mind. As I prayed, I gave everything to God and asked him to take the weight away, it wasn't immediate, but I eventually felt relief. I ended my prayer feeling refreshed, grateful for a Savior who makes this all possible.
The only reason I could leave behind my feeling of heaviness, and the only reason any of us can do that, is because Jesus Christ felt all those burdens. He knows your pain, sorrow, guilt, regret, and sickness. Anything and everything you can imagine that has been felt by the world, one man bore alone.
Because of Him, we don't have to ever bear the weight alone. When we feel we've exhausted our best efforts, and have given everything, the Savior can take the heaviness and replace it with light.
It's kinda what he does best.
I hope my thoughts made at least a bit of sense. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord each day and give him everything I've got. He's given me everything, the least I can do is sacrifice even a little for him.
Don't forget that Jesus loves you,
Sister Wallace
Check out this link to my Facebook to hear the song lyric this week :)
pics:
1-2. Happy Easter selfies! Have I mentioned I love this girl??
3. Our friend Sally and her horse Fabio
4. Our fav mission office missionary, Sis Kabel
5. This dang good bowl I got today
6. Blurry pic of the pretty yummy gluten-free pancakes I made
7. Our cute friend Shelina
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