Avatar: Firebending

Next up is Firebending!  (By special request of Elder Trey Williams.)  The bending style of Fire Nation. 

Firbending is the ability to control and create fire.  No reliance on outside sources of their element to bend, they can create fire using their internal heat source.  But, they can also control flames already existing.  Fire is the element of power; firebending represents energy and life.  This style is very intense, quick, and the most aggressive of all the bending arts.  Simple, direct, and powerful.

To be a successful Firbender, one must have self-restraint (or self-control), breath control, and "inner-fire" (inner-drive).  Firebending isn't merely a matter of directing the element, more controlling the element.  When mastered, this style is not only powerful, but beautiful, comforting, and creative.

What I love love love is the "inner-fire" that a Firbender has to have.  Without that inner-drive they become weak.  There are sooo many times where I find myself leaving things half done or just not done as well as they could be simply because I had no drive to do it.  On the flip side of things, when my "inner-fire" is a-glowin', you can't stop me.  I will do whatever it takes to get the job done or to become the best.

Each of us has great potential.  It's the truth.  Our potential is infinite.  Heavenly Father has given us the chance to become like Him.  Seriously!  How incredible is that?!  But, we have to have the drive to get there.  We need the drive to be obedient to God's commandments.  Drive to learn more about His church.  Drive to be Christlike people.  In essence, we need "inner-fire" to ever even dream of becoming more than what we currently are.  So, become like a Firebender.  Dig deep and build up that "inner-fire!"

Turn Up the Fire!

The past few weeks I have had the amazing opportunity of serving with a brand new missionary.  There is something about a new missionary that just gets me excited!  Fresh out of the MTC and ready to go.  This eagerness is often referred to as the "greenie fire."  But, from my experience, I prefer to call it the "greenie inferno."  It is an attitude that, sadly, a few missionaries lose after being out for a while.  It all just starts to become "old hat."

Myself and Sister Tucker

Likewise, I have found this attitude common when it comes to living the Gospel.  We become casual with our worship and our personal fire begins to slow.  It is easy to take something for granted when it is something we become accustomed to.  But we cannot become casual nor should we forget that it is the small and simple things that matter most!  Saying a prayer, but not putting any thought or feelings behind it.  Reading your scriptures just to say you read them, but not getting a single thing out of them.  These things are still good, but without that fire behind them, they are hollow.

Something I have stressed with my new companion is trying to be exactly obedient to the missionary rules.  Plain and simple right?  But it is by these simple things that we receive great blessings as missionaries.  Spencer W. Kimball, who was a former president of the church, once said "The day obedience becomes a quest and not an irritation is the day you gain power."  When we master doing the little things because we want to do them, we will be blessed beyond comprehension.

If you have lost the fire, get it back.  If your fire is dwindling, put more wood on it!  Build up your fire until it is an inferno!