Principle #7: Be One; Work Together






I've learned a lot about teamwork while here in Costa Rica. Besides taking personal initiative to figure out the needs of this area related to Self-Reliance and contacting Church members to know how to help them, Natalie and I have practiced working as a companionship and as a team with our Area Self-Reliance Manager! (Sounds a lot like a mission, right?)



Here are some examples of our teamwork:

  • Natalie is excellent at making meals from whatever random ingredients we have at home; I'm great at eating them. ;)
  • I teach English classes in the Seminary and Institute Building while Natalie works one-on-one with our manager to update records and make phone calls, especially to recently returned missionaries who we invite to our bi-monthly seminars.
  • Natalie and I both like making friends everywhere we go! We have had multiple dinner invitations from kind people we meet on the bus.
  • Rodrigo (our manager) is a fireball! He has this entire country to take care of as far as promoting the Self-Reliance Initiative, including the stake Self-Reliance groups and training leaders, as well as overseeing the Perpetual Education Fund and looking out for all of the recently returned missionaries and following up with them on their lives! He gives us little assignments to help out and we are happy to lift his burden a little.
Becoming one with other people as a part of becoming self-reliant sounds like an oxymoron, but I like to think of self-reliance more like self-empowerment. In the Gospel, self-reliance is not about isolating yourself or obtaining as much wealth or goodness just for own purposes. Instead, it's about taking action to become a better person and be able to contribute to the well-being of others. Heavenly Father put us on this earth with different strengths and weaknesses, and He expects us to share and to build each other up, so we can eventually return to him as well as enjoy the relationships we've developed. 


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Principle #10: Integrity

Image
Integrity is a quality that I think is sometimes hard to measure, yet defines so much of our character. It is tied to virtue. In Preach My Gospel it says, "What you choose to think and do when you are alone and you believe no one is watching is a strong measure of your virtue." Natalie and I have been flying solo as a companionship for the past 2.5 months. It was up to decide how to act. Now Natalie is back in the United States with her family (she got permission to return early for an important family reunion) and I'm on my own! I am happy to find myself studying the scriptures, exercising, and completing my self-reliance commitments on my own. I know I can continue to improve my integrity and virtue by being more reliable and responsible in all I do.
Read more

Principle #3: Be Obedient

Image
Natalie and I have learned a little bit about obedience here in Costa Rica... that the buses are disobedient to the schedule, birds are disobedient when you tell them to quit squawking early in the morning, monkeys are not disobedient to the rules about not stealing tourists' food out of their bags, and the rainstorms don't obey anyone one but God. We've also learned that being obedient to the principles we've learned at home, at church, on our missions, in the self-reliance groups, and in the temple truly blesses our lives. Being two American girls alone in Costa Rica is a challenge, but we've been able to stay happy and safe. In general, as we seek for blessings in life, whether it be a getting a job, learning in school or having peace in our homes, we need to be obedient to the principles that lead to those promised blessings . We can all evaluate what we want and need, and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are overjoyed to help us do what we need to
Read more