WEEK 77- Where There Is No Vision, The People Perish

January 5, 2015

Morning scripture study

Fellow missionaries in my Zone!

Hey everyone,

2015. Where in the world did the time go? We have to make the most of every single day of our mortal lives and not "procrastinate" anything! The time to do what we need to do, is NOW! :) (Alma 34:32-34)

We are currently working with multiple individuals and they are all progressing at different rates. We are lucky to be working with a few recent converts and helping them get to the Temple! Lots of people (including people we are teaching) are finally getting back in town from the holiday so we plan on finding a ton of new people soon! :)

Over the past few weeks, probably because of the new year, my studies have often taken me to the topic of goals—or goal setting. A few months ago I was lucky enough to come across a book from D.I. called "Success Is..." by Paul H. Dunn. If by any chance, you can get a copy of this amazing book, I would invite you to do so and read it!  Within a total of only about 50 pages, this book will change your life if you apply the principles taught!! I wish to share a few points that Bro. Dunn makes in the wonderful book.

He makes it a point to lay out how the world views success and how God view success. While the world usually views success through external goals and achievements, God views success on the internal goals and achievements.

Bro. Dunn makes another good point that while pretty much all Latter-Day Saints (and non-Latter day Saints) have great intentions while setting goals such as daily scripture study/prayer, church/temple attendance, reading the entire Book of Mormon/Bible within a certain amount of time, etc., those are are external goals. The goals that we should really be making are internal goals. Goals such as to increase our character to be more like Christ, to build our relationships with God/family/friends, to build our faith/testimony/conversion, to increase our knowledge of God, etc.. The external goals we usually set are the steps we must take to achieve these goals, but should not be our ultimate goals. We must see beyond the external goals we usually set. Read the book, you won't regret it!!

A senior couple missionary gave a great training to our zone this past week on goal setting. He outlined S.M.A.R.T. goals:

Specific

Measurable

Act

Realistic

Time Frame

If a goal we set does not have each and every one of these principles, we are most likely not going to achieve that goal we set. An example would be...

Specific - I wish to increase my charity (internal goal) so in order to do so I will do 5 hours of service for my neighbors (snow shoveling) every week for the month of January.

Measurable - Yes. 5 hours.

Act - Snow shoveling.

Realistic - Yes. I have all the supplies I need to achieve this goal.

Time Frame - Every week in January.

It takes practice to make SMART internal goals, but when you get it down, you will be so much more effective in achieving things in life.

“I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.” -Elder M. Russell Ballard (PMG Chapter 8)

We must set goals and make plans. That's what God did. He had and has the goal to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39), so he made a plan that we know as The Plan of Happiness! A SMART goal! And now he is doing all he can to achieve it. Everything in the Gospel just seems to fit right together :)

I know that as we set goals, the Lord will help us achieve them. We must humble ourselves and ask for his help. With Him, all things are possible.

Love you all, keep up the good work. Stay close to the Lord and I promise he'll bless you.

Love,

Elder Carroll

"Where there is no vision, the people perish..." (Proverbs 29:18)

"There is not effort without failure." -Theodore Roosevelt

"If the Savior stood beside me,
Would I do the things I do?
Would I think of His commandments and try harder to be true?
Would I follow His example?
Would I live more righteously if I could see the Savior standing nigh,
watching over me?

If the Savior stood beside me,
Would I say the things I say?
Would my words be true and kind if He were never far away?
Would I try to share the gospel?
Would I speak more rev’rently if I could see the Savior standing nigh,
watching over me?

If the Savior stood beside me,
Would my thoughts be clean and pure?
Would His presence give me strength and hope and courage to endure?
Would His counsel guide my actions?
Would I choose more worthily if I could see the Savior standing nigh
watching over me?" 

~If the Savior Stood Beside Me, Primary hymn