A Thankful Heart Is Immeasurable
Marco Guirado
I love the lessons I have learned in my life about gratitude!
Many years ago I began to cultivate having a thankful heart. It began during my experience as a full-time missionary in Mexico. Our Mission president challenged us for a month that in our prayers we should just thank our Heavenly Father for all the blessings that we received every day. In the beginning, it was difficult to omit asking for something, but after a week we just focused on being grateful for all the blessings that impacted our souls. As the month progressed I could feel a change within us. We were more sensitive to the Holy Ghost. We also found that we were closer to the needs of the people that we were teaching the gospel to, and our Heavenly Father blessed our mission with record baptisms that month. Through this experience, I learned about the power of gratitude in my life.
I have learned that gratitude invigorates my soul. It helps me overcome fear, envy, and resentfulness. It frees my heart to love others and be concerned with more than myself. It fills my heart with joy for the success of others. The deeper my appreciation, the clearer I see with the eyes of the Savior and the more my life connects with Heavenly Father.
Gratitude is an empowering virtue. I love how the Lord has commanded us to live in thanksgiving daily. I love Amulek’s teaching, that we should . . . “Humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you” (Alma 34:38).
The good I receive by developing a thankful heart is immeasurable. It cultivates feelings of reverence for God and, thereby, opens my soul to the influence of the Holy Spirit. It allows me to find joy in the here and now. A thankful heart allows me to face trials firm in the knowledge of our Heavenly Father’s love for me.
With gratitude for all things great and small, I know that I can recognize and accept adversity and blessings in my life. With a grateful heart, I can accept and embrace life’s experiences as they come. And I am filled with gratitude when I overcome or endure trials and tribulations in my life!
-Marco Guirdo
