LIVING IN LIMITS

Serving in the Rochester New York Mission is incredible, I feel so blessed to be at the historical church sites here in Palmyra New York area. How many get to walk these sacred ground each day? Or to spend so much time in the sacred grove!! We also get to meet so many wonderful people working here at the sites.
 A friendship I will cherish forever after my mission is with the grove keeper Bob. Hes is amazing. A group of us had the privilege of going on a tour of the grove with him a few days ago and he showed us some amazing things. But one of my most favorite things we did during the tour was learning how to save plants. :) These little plants grow on the floor of the grove but the grove floor is also covered in dead leaves, which causes some problems for these new growths, at times these new plants will grow up through a dead leaf and it causes the new plant to not be able to blossom, mean while all the surrounding plants are opening and blooming into beautiful creations

 Bob pointed out how frustrating it must be to be confined like this, what Bob does with these is he find these and he breaks the dead leaves off so the new one can bloom, he likened that to our work as missionaries, we find people who haven't yet found the truth and we help break them free of their past lives and help them find direction so that the can further find happiness and live up to their potential in life, often times we find people who are so restricted by their pasts they don't know how to be happy or how much they are capable of in their lives. He said that we have to search hard to find these people as we also had to do to find these leaves. often times one would be right under us and we wouldn't see it until Bob would point it out. How often we go through our lives hoping to make a change, to better another life, and to make an impact on the world, we search so hard for these opportunities expecting to find something huge, but it is right under us something so simple that will bring forth great results and we over look them unknowingly.. As he was talking about this I also realized that in times in my life I have been this leaf. I have set limitations on myself and i stop my self from progressing because of fears, self doubts, and my own self created weaknesses. a scripture i love from the book of mormon is ether 12:27  27 

 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgrace is sufficient for all men that ^dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become strong unto them.

The only one who truly knows our weaknesses is our Savior Jesus Christ, and the only time we will know what those are is if we go to him in humility and ask him how we can make them strengths, after doing so the savior will help us through, he will help change those weaknesses into strengths.
 Through the saviors atonement, grace and mercy we are able to break through the bonds of weakness we put upon our selves, he will show us our potential and then we are truly able to live, to open up and to become who we are truly meant to be. I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ, for his sacrifice so that I can truly live and grow to become my best self. with out him I would be nothing but through him I can become everything. I know that he lives, I know that he loves us, I know with all that I am that he will break us free of our bonds, whether it be from sin, temptation, heart ache, fears, doubts... no matter what our bonds may be through the savior jesus christ they can be broken, we can stretch out at last, we can grow, and we can become the women and men he needs/intended for us to be.