Today we got to visit a cave called La Grotte di Frasassi,
which is a massive and absolutely beautiful cave filled to every corner with
stalagmites and stalactites. The ceiling continuously drips mineral-packed
water that creates beautiful pillars and rock-cicles over the course of
thousands of years. It's an absolutely gorgeous sight and being surrounded by
these unique structures and marveling at their many colors is certainly an
exciting experience. I'll attach a picture here of one of the largest ones in
the cave. It stands as tall as a six story building! It's amazing how many
beautiful things there are in this world.
This week we had a lesson with a man named Giuseppe. He has
been smoking for years and we are working with him to help him quit. We've
tried various approaches to help him develop the internal drive to leave
cigarettes, but, despite the facts that he wants to quit and knows that smoking
is hurting him, he has failed to make any noticeable progress towards quitting.
This week we met with him and talked to him about the importance of goals and
planning. He told us that planning and goal setting weren't things he normally
did, but rather, that he mostly just went with the flow and concerned himself
with the present rather than worry about the future. We taught him about the
importance of the principles of good planning and goal setting and helped him
to understand that rarely does positive personal change ever take place without
both of those elements.
Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the quorum of the
twelve apostles once said, "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." Without good goals and
proper planning to accomplish those goals, we are likely to reach "but a
small part of our full potential" by the end of our lives. If we want to
accomplish something in our lives, whether it be running a marathon, quitting
smoking, or enhancing the lives of other people, we must set goals. A runner
must prepare and must have a plan of action in order to become physically fit
enough to run a 26.2 miles in one go. The same is true for any other goal. We
can't simply sit around wishing to do that thing we've always wanted to do, or
visit that place we've always wanted to visit, or become that person we've
always wanted to be. If we want to realize our dreams, we must do it by way of
goal setting and planning.
So we helped Giuseppe understand these principles and he has
begun to take the first steps to turning his desire to quit smoking into a
goal. After all, goals are no more than desires and dreams with a plan! I
believe in that lesson we helped Giuseppe to start thinking more about his own
personal commitment and duty in achieving his own aspirations. We helped him to
understand that no one can make him achieve a goal without his own personal
involvement.
In this life, we are to prepare ourselves to meet God.
Christ Himself gave us the inspired commandment to be "perfect, even as
[our] Father which is in heaven is perfect." If we are to accomplish that
enormous task, then we can't simply overlook goal setting and planning. The
Lord will magnify our efforts as we display our sincere desires to become like
Him. And while we may never reach the Lord's standard of perfection while we're
still on the earth, with goals and plans we will be able to get closer. And
thanks to the atonement of Jesus Christ, this lofty goal of perfection is achievable!
We are able to become perfect in the end, but it requires sincere effort and
trust in Him. We can show that effort and trust by setting and achieving goals
and in return He will bless us to do and become far more than we ever could on
our own!
Set great goals and don't forget to have a great week!
-Anziano Jake Wilkinson
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