Well Done Thy Good and Faithful Servant

In the time that I have spent in my local Institute of Religion through my church, I have learned more then I ever even anticipated. Since entering the appropriate age to start going to Institute, nothing but blessings have been placed in my life. Even if at the time the blessings didn't seem like they were, eventually everything came to be something worth experiencing, learning and enduring to the end from. As previously stated in the last several posts of my blog, by now hopefully I have gotten the point across that I love missionaries and I love missionary work. I honestly can not wait til the day that I can send in my papers to go on a mission myself, let alone wait for the day that I actually leave for it. So until that day comes, my goal is to learn more and more everyday, expand my love for the church, fellow members of the church, help bring people to the church and keep adding onto my testimony every single day.

The goal that I have set in my life is not only just to keep until the day I leave for my mission, but for the rest of my life. That should be the goal of every active and true member of the church, and I pray that someday it becomes the most common known goal around. That is where the scriptures Matthew 25:21 becomes relevant with this post. Matthew 25:21 says "His Lord said unto him, well done thy good and faithful servant : thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
The first time I heard that verse being recited to me was from one of the Institute missionaries that I have grown really close to. Several weeks ago Elder Jones and another Elder who was replacing the normal Elder Barney for the morning and I met for the weekly meetings we just recently set up. We were talking about how  the good work we do in this church and in this life will benefit us and bring us closer to our Heavenly Father until the day that we go back home and are back in His kingdom. Elder Jones has inspired me greatly since I started going to Institute and we even have our own secret handshake. No joke! But as the meeting went on, I shared with them this blog that I have started up and the way the spirit was filling the room, I could see tears start to form in his eyes which was when he turned to me and said something along the lines of "Mary-Kate, I can not wait til the day that I can stand before our Heavenly Father, and I can remember my mission and everything that I have done in this life and He will say to me, Well done thy good and faithful servant. It's going to be good. It'll be awesome."

That spirit affected me in such a way it felt like it lasted all day. Hearing such amazing scriptures being recited by a great missionary and feeling as if our Father in Heaven was sitting right there with us. These are the reasons why I love Institute. Moments in time like that are what keep me going. There is never going to be a time in our lives where we can spread the spirit and let His true Gospel be known to the world then the time of our youth and the Institutes around the world are what help make that possible.  So go out, live your lives for our Heavenly Father, be beacons of light and show the world what our church makes us out to be. Be beautiful, be strong, be handsome, be loving. Make friends and share your favorite scriptures with people wherever you go. Don't hide the fact that you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Because if you hide it, you'll never know how many lives you may save and people you may change. Help bring His children home. Trust me, you won't regret it.