Fogo Nos Ossos!!

While I was in Sousa, the four of us Sisters who lived together had a saying that we always said as we left our apartment to go to work.  We said, "Sorriso no rosto, fogo nos ossos, e Livro de Mórmon na mão!"  (Smile on your face, fire in your bones, and Book of Mormon in hand!)  Everyday, it's what we said to get ourselves pumped up to head out in the burning sun and preach the Gospel!  My favorite part about this saying is the part in the middle, "fogo nos ossos!"  The interesting things about this saying, is that the prophet Jeremiah also used this terminolgy to describe his passion for the Gospel.  During a very difficult time in his life, when he was imprisioned, mocked, and persecuted, the prophet Jeremiah became discouraged.  In Jeremiah 20:9, he expresses his feelings of wanting to give up, but then he says, "but his word (the word of God) was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones...and I could not stay!"  I love this description!  Even amidst his trials and persecutions, the prophet Jeremiah burned with the energy and power of the word of God.  The key to obtaining this same passion for the Gospel in our own lives, is found in the very same scripture; "The word was in mine heart."  Everyone of us will feel weak at times, but where do we find our strength - in the word of God - the scriptures!  When we truly have the word of God written upon our hearts, we too will have 'fire in our bones' to serve the Lord, and conquer the trials we are called to bear.