Success?

This week I studied enduring to the end. And one thing my mission president said was that we really just need to endure till sunday... and then do it again, and again... we can do that, right?

In James 1:5 it says "we count them happy which endure." But in Spanish it is a little bit different. It says "tenemos por bienaventurados a los que sufren" which actually translates to we consider blessed those who suffer." Thats interesting isn't it? But it made me think about those who have suffered hardships and how their testimonies have become stronger and how they can see God in their lives. But I think they are blessed when they choose to turn to God and endure to the end, else they are sliding down the hill.

During our last zone conference my mission president explained the difference between repetitive, and iterative. Repetitive is when a train is driving in a circle on the same plane. But iterative is when the train is driving in a circle climbing a mountain. If my definitions don't make sense... sorry... I'd recommend looking it up. But when we are enduring to the end it's an iterative process. If the train isn't exerting energy to make it up the hill, it's going to slide down. Even putting the train in "park" requires effort. Friction. :) We have small simple ways to make this effort so we don't slide down the hill on the way to our Heavenly Father: Scriptures, prayer, church. And these things lead to us growing our faith, repenting, making and keeping covenants, and listening to the Holy Ghost... which helps us climb the hill.

One more scripture: psalms 112: 7 - "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord." I want my heart to be fixed. I don't even want to look down the hill. 

This week I also was studying in Preach My Gospel, and it was about missionary success. It asked how both Ammon and Abinidi were successful missionaries even though the first results were different. And I think we can apply this to our lives. Success will look different for each of us. We can define what our definition of success is. This leads to my question for the week.

The weather here is kinda crazy, I can't predict it haha. We had another tornado warning. The skies changed within 10 minutes. It was blue skies with some clouds to it looking nearly like night! I'm grateful for mountains at home!!

Also it's finally happened. I am an official missionary. I was asked last minute to speak in church! Only for 5 minutes and about missionary work- but it's happened!

My question of the week is: What have you decided it means to be successful? What do you NEED to be a success?