Attitude Changes Everything
Posted on 8:29 AM by Elder Bergloff
Anyone who knows me knows that I am kind of a pessimist. Meaning that I don’t always look at the bright side of things, it’s pretty hard for me to look out my window and see rain and not be upset. On the other hand I have had many friends who are able to look at the bright side of things and when they see rain they think of the blessing that it is for us not to be in a drought.
Throughout these experiences in my life I sometimes just look at them, and in my mind I say, “Really.” You really think that?
As a missionary I have been grateful to meet so many wonderful people who have been able to teach me, through their example, about how attitude changes everything.
On December 22, 2011 Elder Bessey and I were driving to an appointment to one of the members homes of our congregation. On our way there we got a call from our Mission President informing us that we were going to be training a new missionary who would be part of our companionship. This missionary was going to be waiting for his visa and wouldn’t be here in the Pennsylvania area indefinitely.
After getting off the phone with the Mission President I started to think of all the problems this was going to create. What if this missionary didn’t want to be here and he was dragging his feet everywhere, what if he didn’t like the people we were teaching, and on and on I thought of these problems.
Then one week later me and Elder Bessey piled into the car and began our drive to the Mission Home to pick up the new missionary.
The new missionaries name was Elder Siebert. Elder Siebert is from Orem, Utah and was first assigned to go to Taiwan where he would speak Mandarin Chinese.
Elder Siebert was waiting for all of his paperwork to go through so that he could go to his mission in Taiwan.
Well my pessimistic thoughts were pretty much all wrong. Not only was Elder Siebert happy to be here, but felt that God had a work for him to do here in Philadelphia and that he would stay here for as long as the Lord wanted him to. He emulated the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants section 51:
16. And I consecrate unto them this land for a little season, until I, the Lord, shall provide for them otherwise, and command them to go hence;
17. And the hour and the day is not given unto them, wherefore let them act upon this land as for years, and this shall turn unto them for their good.
He truly treats every day like he is going to be here a year. Like I said at the beginning attitude truly changes everything. As his attitude was positive and happy, even though he wasn’t serving in the mission he was called, the Lord blessed him to love those he taught and to feel inner joy and peace in his circumstances.
Attitude changes everything. Even when we are in the worst of circumstances, if we look at life with positive eyes those circumstances suddenly become a whole lot better.
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