Weird to be twenty...... I am going to miss the teens...
1. Birthdays in Ghana are somehow boring... Fufu is still the main meal
2. Teaching in zone conference is not all that great.
3. the sun beats me and then the rain hits me
I am so happy to be able to talk this week. I love all of you and am so happy for all that people have been doing. I have loved looking back recently and being able to see how revelation is able to do so much when it seems to do so little. Many times in my life I have searched for what God would want me to do. Only to be left "unanswered" as I would put it. However, as I have looked back (especially at the past year and a half) I can really see how God was making me into something and testing me at times to make sure I knew I was ready for what came next. Many times in life we look down roads as far as we can and then ask God what he wants, too often we forget that we are here to use our agency, when we ask and do not receive an answer, we still have to act. Mostly when our heart is in the right place we will be led to where God needs us to be.
Now I want to talk about how a smile changes everything! A few weeks ago I went on exchanges with the assistant to the President of the mission. When we went out the goal we set (or one of them) was that we need to smile. Often I find myself not smiling throughout the day. not because I am unhappy but because I do not always feel the need to smile. Lately I have been trying to do better at it. As I have gone around with a purposeful smile I have felt a change. Sometimes to not be Laman and Lemuel we just need to wear a smile. We forget that the simple acts are the way God works. By small and simple means great things come to pass. We are even told that some miracles may seem small to us but are great to God. The one I have come to know better is that a smile is a miracle from God. To be able to be happy and show it to others completes the commitment to let our light so shine before men. This is one of my favorite scriptures. We are meant to be a light. Now as a missionary I have a white handbook that has a lot of rules written inside of it, one of them talks about our appearance and how it is the first thing that many people see. We forget (or at least i do) that it is referencing more than just the clothes we wear. A smile can make a difference. Even in the play "Anne" there is a song that talks about how it is "what you wear from ear to ear, and not from head to toe" that matters. To smile can change a day from bad to good. To go about with the warmth of a smile can make all the difference.
Though I am still forgetful about smiling I know that when I remember, my day changes. Though it will still be hard I will see the good in it. and that means i can make it better for everyone.
Smile!
Love, Elder Edison
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