So I learned a ton this week! There was a lot of good that happened! It was
a tough week. None of our investigators will set a return appointment, our
baptism dates dropped and they aren't sure anymore, and yeah. It's a busy time
of year though with school starting up so we'll keep working!
One quick thing that they do out here that Utah needs to adopt. They do
"Tax Free weekend" where all clothes and shoes are tax free for back to school
shopping! That would be nice!
So one more thing before I get into what I learned I'll share some quick
experiences. We had one great teaching experience out in Washington. I was on an
exchange with Elder Garner from South Jordan and we felt like we needed to get
out there and see him. We drove out there and he was standing outside his house.
We talked to him and we just began teaching. Preach my Gospel says, "Instead of
asking if they have a minute so you can share a message, immediately start
teaching," so that's what we did! We taught him the restoration. He said he likes
learning about different religions, and was telling us about what he knows.
Anyways he said, "I just hope the spirit was with those who were on the council
compiling the Bible. Who's to say they didn't leave something out that they
should have kept in?" We got so excited when we heard that! We gave him a Book
of Mormon and explained how we got it and why it's important! He said he'll read
it and pray about it. His name is Tracy. He's the husband of Janette, the lady
that we talked to last week. He let us pray with him a while ago and he said
something along the lines of "I already go to a church but I guess you can come
back." We get that a ton. "If you guys can catch me then you can come back I
guess." Then we'll go back like 5 times and they'll finally tell us they aren't
interested. That darn Okie Hospitality!
The other cool experience was this morning we had the opportunity to do
some service. The Spanish family that I think I've written about, well, we
finally got contact with them. Turns out their house is basically empty and they
have almost nothing, so we had a member in our ward who had a bunch of stuff
from a garage sale that he didn't sell (things like pillows, blankets, plates,
cups, knives, etc...) that we went and gave them! It was really cool and so much
fun to see how thankful they were for it! They're such a nice family!
Ok last one which is more funny. So remember that lady who stood up for us
to her husband? Well we went and knocked on their door and her husband was
sitting there and we could see him and he's like shewing us away. Well Elder
Owen and I both just started looking around. Like anywhere but at him so he
finally came to the door and started cursing us out and we just stood there,
wait for him to finish then said, "Is Carolyn here?" He wasn't too happy.
Well anyways we tried back a couple days later and he has some bounce in his step! He hopped right out
of his chair to come curse us out! So we just waited, asked if Carolyn
was there, then left. It was pretty funny how fired up he is about us not
teaching Carolyn! We might just send him a letter asking for his permission
to teach Carolyn. I dunno just to show respect toward him. We'll see how that
goes I guess.
So this week was temple conference! The temple here is really really small.
But it was so sweet! President Walkenhorst and I talked a ton. We talked a ton
about basketball, all the experiences and places he got to go and fun things he
got to do then all the things I got to do. He really wants to come back and
watch me play I guess! That will be really fun! He's such a cool guy
though! I learned something amazing from him. He read 2 Nephi 2:4 to us and told
us what he thought Lehi was telling Jacob. His interpretation was, "Jacob, I know
you didn't see all those miracles we had. And you won't see Jesus either. But
the spirit is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The spirit will testify of
these truths, and you will feel the same feelings as the people who will walk
beside Jesus, touch him, and witness the miracles he performs. That same spirit
will testify to you. So you don't need to see Christ. You don't need to see
Joseph Smith or the Gold Plates. The spirit you feel testifying of it's truth
will feel the same as if you are seeing it." I thought that was really
cool!
The next thing I learned was that people really don't know our purpose
here. In Ecclesiastes there's a verse that says, "Our spirits will return to
God." That's not exactly the wording, but it says return. Question. How can we
return somewhere we've never been? Boom. Pre-earth life! Ok but hold up. What's
our purpose here? Well let's see. If it's just to be with God and Christ, then
why did we come here in the first place? Analogy time!
You have $100. You worked hard for this money, and you love this money.
Would you give it to me hoping that you'd get the same $100 back, but knowing
that most likely you're going to get maybe $70 back if you're lucky? That
doesn't sound like a smart business deal... Isn't God supposed to be
smart?
Now would you give me that same $100 knowing that you were going to get
some jewels, and some diamonds, and some gold out of it? That seems smarter to
me.
Ok so why would we have come here if our goal is to confess Christ and be
satisfied with life? Don't get me wrong, that's part of our purpose, but why
would we want to go back to live with our Heavenly Father the same way we came?
Shouldn't we want to go back with a body, having done everything that we can to
improve, gaining as much knowledge as we can, becoming LIKE Him? Why would he
send the children He loves so much down here, knowing that some wouldn't make it
back. I think that there's a really really good reason for it.... The only
reason I can think of that would be good enough is if we came back able to have
all He has. That's the only thing worth the risk!
Next thing is I've been wondering a ton about what it means to be saved.
Everyone here "got saved when I was 13" or "I was saved when I was 25". Saved
from what? Well thanks to True to the Faith I know! So confessing Christ
does mean we're saved. But we are saved from 6 things and not all of them can be
done just by confessing Christ.
1) We are saved from sin. Not saved IN sin, but FROM sin. That means that we
can't just keep sinning. The girls we were teaching know repentance to be ABC.
Admit, Believe, Confess. Well when I heard that I was like, "Ok can we put a D in
there?" They were confused, not knowing what the D could stand for. I said
"Don't do it again!" Haha but yes confessing Christ does save us from sin.
However we are never fully done with being saved from sin until we become
perfect or die. Most of us will die first.
2) We are saved from death. This means that because of Christ's atonement,
and because of the resurrection we will be reunited with our bodies. Everyone on
earth gets that gift.
3) We are saved from a second death. This means that if we confess Christ we
won't experience a spiritual death after the resurrection. Almost everyone will
be saved from this.
4) We are born again. I didn't really understand this prior to this morning.
We are, as Jesus and the Book of Mormon teach, born again when we are baptized
BY THE PRIESTHOOD AUTHORITY OF GOD. That part gets overlooked out here. Everyone
must do this, or else you cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. (It's like being
pulled over by an ice cream truck vs being pulled over by a policeman. One you
won't pay the ticket because he doesn't have the authority to give you a ticket.
The other is one you are going to pay because they had that authority given to them. Same thing with the priesthood. We believe that authority has
been physically given to us through Joseph Smith by Peter, James, and John, who
received it from Christ himself.)
5) We are saved from ignorance. We are saved from not knowing the truth
because we know, and accept the full restored gospel. Because of all this
knowledge we are saved from ignorance.
6) We can inherit the kingdom of God (aka the Celestial Kingdom or Heaven).
We cannot obtain this until the judgement day. No mortal can obtain this. So
yeah, no one on this planet is saved like this.
So these are the 6 ways we are "saved" (see Salvation in True to the
Faith). So yes a lot of people out here are partially right. Most everyone
has already been saved in at least 2 ways, and 3 ways if they're Christian. But
the blessing the Church gives to us is the opportunity to be saved the other 3
ways. THAT'S WHY PEOPLE SHOULD LISTEN TO US!!!!! Hahaha but oh well.
Well I hope that you guys learned something from all this. A lot of this is
just thoughts and I guess personal revelation I received this week. And I wrote
it down so I wouldn't forget it!
Well the work that we've been doing has been great- it truly has! But we in
the Oklahoma City mission believe the Lord has a greater work for us to do!
(D&C 35:3) Sorry I wish I had my scriptures with me so I could give you guys
more references so you didn't think I was making all this up. But I pulled them
out and replaced them with shorts, a shirt, and my shoes! We about to go hoop!
Haha but I love you all! I get so fired up about this stuff because I want
everyone to have these blessings, and I don't see why people turn them down.
It's not that I want everyone to be a Mormon. I want everyone to be baptized
into our church so they can truly be saved! And all the blessings of family and
love and all that other stuff that I didn't even begin to touch on in this
email. I'm sure you all have heard Dad's thoughts on love! If not ask him about
it because it will give you quite the perspective on life! Haha
Well we gotta get going. Just know I'm being taken care of very well out
here! The people here are amazing! I love being here and I'm excited to see what
this week brings! Like one of the apostles once said, "Come what may, and LOVE
IT!" 2 Nephi 2:27 "Adam fell that man might be, and men are that they might have
joy." Everything in this life is for our joy! Things that are hard and sorrowful
only teach us how to be more happy. So be happy! That's why everything happens
to us!
Love you guys!
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