"Thy days shall be spent in the service of thy God"

Happy New Years to everyone that still reads these emails! It is 2017!!! I can't believe 2016 is over already! As I was looking back at this last year my mind kept thinking of this scripture and that's kind of what I would like to talk about today. The scripture is found in 2 Nephi 2:3. This is when Lehi is speaking to his son Jacob. The scriptures goes, "Wherefore, thy soul shall be blessed, and thou shalt dwell safely with thy brother, Nephi; and thy days shall be spent in the service of thy God. Wherefore, I know that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer; for thou hast beheld that in the fulness of time he cometh to bring salvation unto men."

The main part I want to focus on is the underlined part. I remember reading this a while ago and thinking, wow, all his days he will be serving God? That's a long time! Then I had a thought, as a missionary that's exactly what you do for these 2 years that you are out here.  You are spending your days in the service of God. In 2016 I had the privilege to be in Japan the whole entire year. To be able to devote all my time and energy into serving the Lord just as Jacob was going to do. I will be honest, it has been very difficult at times but it has been one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences I've ever had. 

Since this time of the year with Christmas being so recently it seems that everyone has this extra spirit of giving and service. One thing I hope for is that we all don't lose it! It is so easy to kind of forget to be as generous or render as much service since it is not the Christmas season anymore. However, if we keep that spirit of serving others as this new year begins we will continue to be in the service of our God and we will be helping so many others along the way. And just like it says in the scriptures, "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." So let's keep on serving others! The joy you feel helping others and being involved in service is unlike any other happiness you can feel. 

That being said, I'm so happy I get to spend the majority of this new year devoted to serving the wonderful people of Japan. I know that the service we are rendering here really is changing people's lives and not only helping those we try to serve, but helping us to become even more like our Father in Heaven. I love this work and I love all of you! See you next week! 

Love, 

シェリル長老