Humility

May 1, 2016

To my friends and family,

I have learned during my mission that missionary work is not always fun. Neither are you always successful in everything that you do. Fortunately, this week we weren't super successful but we did have a good amount of fun and we are happy so that is what is important. Anyway, not a ton of culture things that I learned or anything that really stood out, but for those of you who like basketball, we did a ton of that this week so that was fun. Koreans always like playing with white people, and they assume that white people are at least okay at basketball. They are wrong about this, but it’s okay haha.

Anyway, so my thought this week came from a rather ordinary experience that got me to think about a concept a little more deeply. We were walking around like we do every single day and we met a guy who said he wasn't interested at all in what we had to say, so naturally we asked him what he believes in, and he responded that he only believed in himself.

For some reason I feel like there is often confusion on the definition of humility. It is not putting yourself down. Nor is it a refusal to contribute because you do not want to appear arrogant. From the missionary handbook, Preach my Gospel, "Humility is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of spiritual strength. When you humbly trust the Lord and acknowledge his power and mercy... you are confident that you can do whatever the Lord requires of you if you rely on him." For those of you who are not confident in your responsibilities, I recommend studying the “why” before focusing on the “what.” Have faith that the Lord will help you in your responsibilities, whether it is as a parent or as a student, in a new calling, or whatever. As we truly rely on the Lord I know that he will help us. I close with a scripture from the Book of Mormon:

11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

 12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

I promise as we all rely on the lord by petitioning him for the blessings we need and also thanking him for the things he has given us, we will find more power in our responsibilities and be able to avoid the fear of failure.

I love you all,

Elder Coleman