The Spirit of N-O-W

What a week.  I think I should start off by saying thanks for all the support and yes, my week was better.  I think the key now is going to be better time management.  This last past week, statistically, wasn't much better, but I did get to learn new things at zone conference that gave me new insights on how I am to do this work better.  The zone conference was extremely helpful and I learned a lot from both President Kretly and Elder Hamilton.  President Kretly talked about two servants of prophets in the Old Testament and drew many lines to the fact that one was grateful for the miracles and humble, while the other was not and sought for the honors of men.  Really interesting and I am still learning from that information.  I know that President Kretly is an inspired man and that he is helping a lot of people in this mission.   Elder Hamilton talked to us about basically what we wanted to talk to him about.  He asked us what were our concerns and problems and then we discussed them.  There were quite a few topics on which we discussed, but I felt the one that applied most to me was when he talked about time management and how it affects motivation and drive, among other things.  I felt that was directed at me and that I needed to do a better job at setting meaningful goals rather than finding myself going through the motions.  So it takes work. 

Fast forward to this Sunday... after we had been working all week, our zone leaders call us in and sit us down and they said to us that they had been watching us and how we were doing the work lately and they said, "We love you guys, but as a friend, I am telling you that you need to work harder than ever before."  It was like something changed because usually when someone tells me something like that I get mad or frustrated, which I did, but it was more of a frustration with myself because I knew that that was exactly what I needed to hear.  For some reason, I just needed someone to tell me to get it in gear and quit worrying about other things and just go to work.  I think I am a person who relies heavily on motivation.  If my motivation to do something is low or I don't feel like I have a reason to do something (or I'm making any difference at all),  I won't do it all the way or with enough effort to get it done.  Those words from our zone leaders were what I needed to hear.  Basically, get it in gear!  It was just so simple that I felt embarrassed that I had let it get to that point.  It's humbling, but rewarding at the same time.  I don't know if that makes sense.  Anyways, since that night I have felt a new drive to get things done to push myself and go to the edge.  My zone leaders also gave an inspired training that really helped with a quote from Elder Holland, here it is:

"Brethren the spirit of this work is urgency, and we must imbue our

missionaries and members with the spirit of now. N-O-W. We are not just
waiting for natural slow growth. We must move more rapidly. We must take
things up a notch. If we have to call down miracles or angels, then call
them down. The drama is unfolding and we must do whatever it takes to
ratchet up the work.

I feel an incredible sense of urgency. I feel such a sense of urgency in my
chest that I can hardly breathe. Every dispensation begins with a vision. We
must have a vision. We are the church that dreams dreams. We are the church
that has visions. We must believe in miracles... We must believe and build
on what our forefathers have done. We are just going to putter along, be
average until we wind up to the level when our heart is up in our throat
and if we opened our eyes, we would expect to see angels.

If this is God's work, and if He still lives, then the miracles and angels
are still there. We must live up to our potential. God will bless us with
whatever we need, God wants us to just see what he sees and know what he
knows. He wants us to ratchet up the vision. God is easy to please and hard
to satisfy. This is not convenient easy work.

We have got to take things to the edge. We have to move into the realm of
the miraculous. We have to live in such a way that we cannot do it alone
anymore, where we will resort to the Lord where we will cry, without thy
help I will fall. Help me fly; Go to the edge where miracles happen. Move
into the realm of the miraculous. Welcome to the apostolic work."
-Jeffrey R. Holland, 1995 in Paris, France

 I love that man and the way he sees this work,

 I know I haven't written that much and again, I am under the gun for time, but I LOVE YOU GUYS!   Thank you, Mom, for the quote by that professor at BYU.  It was way cool.  Also, I got the rest of my package and the jerky was delicious.  I like the long sleeved shirt.  I will wear it on the plane ride home (it doesn't have a pocket). It's good, though.

I will write more next week,

Love, Elder Proksch