.: "You cheat yourself when you don't believe in yourself"

This week I went on an exchange with my district leader, Sister Jin. Sister Jin is from China and she is an incredible missionary! In China the gospel of Jesus Christ is not allowed to be taught, so Sister Jin was not baptized until she was 15. I am very grateful to her for her faithfulness to serve the Lord. I know that part of her mission here on Temple Square is to help the sisters of the mission; one of them being me.

I have been having difficulty these past two transfers with feelings of inadequacy. I have been easily self-conscious of what other people and sister missionaries thought of me. Through Sister Jin's divine example and her strong testimony, I was able to overcome this challenge and learn to fully love myself. Heavenly Father created each and every one of us differently so that we could be happy. Unfortunately the world, ultimately Satan, sometimes persuades us otherwise. Do not allow Satan to make you feel anything less than a precious son or daughter of God! He envies your happiness because he will never have it for himself.

Sister Hampton gave me a cute book full of quotes that she made herself for my birthday! One of the those statements was made by a guest we met on Temple Square a couple of weeks ago. She said, "You cheat yourself when you don't believe in yourself!" Heavenly Father spent precious and sacred time to create us individually; and I learned from Sister Jin that I was denying these gifts by not believing in myself.
If you are a member of the church and have your patriarchal blessing, I invite you to read your blessing and write out the promised blessings Heavenly Father has given you. For those of you who do not have a patriarchal blessing I invite you to write down all of the strengths and talents you have been given and then hang it up in a place where you can always see it. If you are like me and sometimes have difficulty making this list, say a prayer to God asking for His help.

I know that Heavenly Father is aware of each of our fears and insecurities. Talk with Him, cry out to Him for strength and He will relieve your pain. Everything is in the Lord's time, but I promise you that relief will come. The Atonement of Jesus Christ did happen. When we believe in ourselves, we believe in the atoning sacrifice of the Savior. I know the family is a creation by God. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Sister Aquino