DAY 193 -- One Step At A Time

If you want to eat an elephant, you should take one bite at a time.  If  you want to move a mountain, do it one shovel full at a time.  That is unless you want to move a mountain as is reported in the Book of Mormon by just using your faith.  If you want to swim the ocean, then  you would start out with one stroke at a time.  If you want to be a millionaire, then save one dollar at a time.

You get the idea, right?  Using that idea as my standard, then since we want to serve a mission next June, we need to plan each step.  One bite at a time, right?  In two days, we will have bitten off the following steps:  June, July, August, September, October, and November.  Six months.  Six left to take.  Referring again back to the Book of Mormon, in Ether where it says that the Brother of Jared commanded the mountain Zerin to be moved, and it was.  It is reported in that great chapter about faith. 

I guess if I had that faith, I would say, before I finished eating this elephant, be thou consumed and we would go tomorrow on a mission.  But I am not that faithful I guess.  In Helaman 10 Nephi is given a blessing from God telling him that his calling and election was made sure.  He was promised that whatever he asked in prayer, it would be given him, for it continues, "for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will."

Now again I am paraphrasing but he said that whatever Nephi asked, would be granted.  I want to become like Nephi and never ask anything that would not be Father's will.  If I was the same as Nephi, I doubt I would command all our obstacles to be removed like the mountain Zerin.  For I am not sure that the obstacles we have are not for our benefit.  Father knows best.  We must learn from and over come our challenges.  Due to those challenges, there are a certain number of bites, steps we must make to realize our dream of a mission. 

There are many smaller goals and dreams.  Time will tell if we ever realize those along our path to June.  But whether we do or not, I need to recognize that we are making progress, taking one bite at a time and moving forward.  With all those bites put together, then perhaps the mountain Zerin will be removed from being the obstacle that is preventing us from our mission today. We hope that by June, this mountain will be gone, the elephant will be eaten, and we will have realized many, if not all our dreams in preparation for this mission. One step at a time.