Monday, August 11th, 2014

One thing I have thought a lot about in the past couple of days is how central the family is in the gospel. Heavenly Father’s plan is all about families. We need to understand that and communicate that to our brothers and sisters. Knowing that should change how we treat, serve, help and love one another. We are all connected, and we cannot do it alone. We need each other. Understanding this also points us to the temple.

As part of Elder Cheney's training, we were watching some material about using family history in missionary work, and it struck me how much our focus must be on the family. The work of salvation is the work of bringing families together forever, so it should be focused on families. I am so grateful for how much the gospel truly has blessed my family and that we are sealed together forever. When our missionary work is focused on the purpose of bringing others unto Christ so that families can be together and happy forever, it will make our efforts so much more powerful and centered on the needs of those we serve and love. The family history training video had a lot of clips from people in the Oakland/San Francisco mission. They showed the temple a lot as well as the family history center on the grounds. Temples are so awesome. I miss them a lot.

I think that I really want to make family history work and the family in general a much bigger part of my missionary work. That is very much the direction I feel the Lord would like us to go. It is all indeed the great work of salvation. I know that the family is sacred and of divine design and origin. That is a very profound truth to know. We truly do need each other.

We will be having a mission tour by Elder Dyches from the Area Presidency this week, so that should be really exciting. I am sure I will learn a lot. The mission tour by Elder Kearon we had last year was probably the most inspiring meeting I have ever attended in my life. Everybody is coming back from vacation this week, so we should be seeing a lot of people again and there are some people moving away. Norway basically shuts down during the summer. I am grateful for the inspiration we are able to receive every day and for the Holy Ghost. The Norwegian word of the week is ferie, which means vacation.

Love,
Elder Ankenman