It's kinda hard. It was mostly just normal. It rained some, the sun was then 10x hotter than usual afterwards, and the apartment is still acting like a petulant child. There are plumbing problems with the toilet (not gonna go into that; just know it involves too great of pressure when flushing, and an exit pipeline that isn't sealed...), the lights go on and off all the time, and it stinks due to the inability to get air to circulate. It's like living in the football locker room; um go team?
On a positive note, we were blessed to have 9 people to come to Sacrament Meeting this Sunday (yesterday). It was great; normally, we only see one or two. One of them, named Sewa, is a referral from a member. She's can read and comprehend well, but not so 'learned' that she refuses to allow God to answer her questions and relies on her own understanding. Her mother is about the same way, and her grandmother (she's 80!) is nice, and her little sister is interested as well. We have a good feeling about the whole family, and that's just one set of investigators! We also have Maxwell, who lives in an unfinished house that no one cares about (if the owners decide to finish it, he has to move). He's a tailor and thus doesn't have a whole lot of money, plus he can only read English small; he's very humble and wants to follow Christ. He came to Church and could feel the Spirit, and so we're following up with him; I pray that everything works out for him.
An interesting thing happened this week as well. We contacted a house (across from Sewa's, actually) and found a brother who's in IT, but jobless at the moment. He brought his brother Edmund out, and they both talked with us. We introduced them to the Book of Mormon, and things went decently well; Edmund really jumped with delight when he read that when we simply read, ponder, and pray about the Book of Mormon, God will send us the Holy Ghost to let us know that it's true. When we went back however, we found out that Felix (the older brother) and Edmund hadn't read their assignment, because they wanted to research the Church and the Book and everything before reading it. Felix said he found some stuff and wanted to ask us questions; he said that he heard the Book of Mormon testified of Joseph Smith, and proclaimed that he was a replacement for Christ. We had him read the front cover ("The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ") and asked him who it testified of. He said "Jesus Christ"; we then read a few scriptures (Hel. 5:30 is amazing for teaching people how the Holy Ghost talks to us, why we need to be reverent, etc) and he said he really knew that all the things he heard were lies, and that he would read the scriptures. He then invited his older brother out (Nana) and had him sit down with us as we read about Christ appearing to the Nephites (3 Ne. 11). We then had to re-introduce the Book of Mormon to Nana, who then opened the Bible and started coming up with all sorts of questions as to why we were able to have such a thing, etc.
To put a long story to close, we showed him James 1:5 - "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God... and it shall be given him." That was something he didn’t get; he wanted answers from man. He wanted answers without doing anything on his part. He didn't want to have to learn anything new, so he did all he could to prevent himself from having to find out if something was true. This is one of the biggest problems we face today; people are so set on not doing anything new, that they rely on their own knowledge and understanding so they can go through life without having to learn anything more. They don’t want to live a higher standard, no matter what blessings may come.
So many people say they're Christians; and to a degree, they are. They believe in Christ, and in their own tribal way, they worship Christ (somehow, anyways). But they don't want to read about Christ. Even those who can read excellently don’t want to read. The Book of Mormon has an amazing promise; it's in the Introduction. We use it all the time. God has said that, if we merely read it, think about what we read, and then ask God through Christ if it's true, He will send us the Holy Ghost to testify to us that it is.
Read, think, pray. How utterly simple is that? You can’t GET any easier in finding an answer. There is an entire book containing scripture, plain and precious, given us from Christ, that brings blessings into the lives of all who read it - and there are millions all over the world who testify of the truth therein - Read it. Those who believe in Christ already gained a testimony of Him because they read the Bible. Why would it be any different with the Book of Mormon?
It's simple; read it, think about it, and pray. If you honestly want the answer, you will get it. If you are honestly opening your heart to receive the answer, you will get it. And if you honestly love Christ and want to do all that He asks of us, you will ask Him. All who don't know from God if the Book of Mormon is true lacks Wisdom. All who claim to know that the Book of Mormon is false do so from the wisdom of men, and thus profited themselves nothing, and will fail. And all who ask God if the Book of Mormon is true will gain a testimony that it is.
One of the biggest things here is that there are billboards all over the place saying "Prophet Kwami" or "Prophet Awusi" or something like that. There are thousands of people here claiming to be prophets. Christ knew this would happen. He told us that many false prophets would arise in the last days. He also said that 'by their fruits ye shall know them.' Every prophet has been given fruit, or rather, proof, so that we may know they are prophets. Noah was given the Ark; Moses was given the 10 Commandments; Joseph Smith was given the Book of Mormon. Christ told us to check their proof and ask God, through Him, if they are true prophets. Anyone who refuses to read the Book of Mormon - which was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, preserved by God, and translated by that self-same power - is refusing to follow the council of Jesus Christ. While this may seem hard for many to take, as the prophet Nephi said,
"And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center. And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us" (1 Ne. 16:2-3).
The council is simple: quit relying on the wisdom of man, which wisdom faileth, and start relying on the wisdom of God, which is given to all men liberally, who asketh with faith, being doers of the word, and not just hearers only. Read, ponder, pray to know if it's true. Be specific; God can't answer a question if you don’t ask it. Many here have gained their testimonies through prayers as simple as "Dear Heavenly Father, is the Book of Mormon true? In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." It's truly that simple; that is all God asks.
Who among us, knowing God, would cast off such a wondrous blessing, all because we are too prideful and uplifted in our own supposed knowledge, that we would refuse to follow God's council and let Him give us the answers to our questions?
And who among us, not knowing God, but knowing of all the wonderful blessings those who have this knowledge, would not wish to simply take 5 minutes out of their lives, and discover a truth that will put them on the path to more wondrous blessings than they could ever imagine?
"Thus on to eternal perfection the honest and faithful will go, while those who reject this glad message will never such happiness know."
That Hymn is not lying; there is greater joy and happiness in knowing Christ's Restored Gospel than anything else in this life could ever bring. That is perhaps one of the greatest truths we as missionaries learn more than ever before in our lives. We, as humans, attribute happiness to so many vain things; television, sports, games, sleep, foods, drinking, fornication, driving, hanging out with friends. All of these things - sins or otherwise - have the ability to fail us; at some point in our life, they almost certainly will, to some point or degree (especially the sins, which WILL fail us). But then we look at the lives of Missionaries. We have no television, we play no sports, we play no games, the food is often less than desirable around the world, we don't hang out with friends, and we don't sleep the day away. We do nothing but Work in the name of the Lord, doing His Work, all the time, for 18 or 24 months. We have nothing but our families, our Lord and Savior, and the Christlike love for the people that keeps us going. We have nothing but Christ's Gospel and yet, despite all the complaints and the hardships that bring about murmurings of the flesh and sink the hearts of the imperfect, at the end of the day, how joyous are our souls! How glorious are our experiences! How wonderful is the Work! This Gospel is the only thing that will last forever; it will never fail. And while that is all we have out here, never before has such joy entered our lives in such a capacity and source such as this! This is Real Life. This is the Works of the Savior. This is what Christ meant when He said 'ye shall have fullness of joy'! All these wondrous things come about from the Gospel; nothing else! All other things are nothing but luxuries, added upon the joy we receive based upon our obedience and acceptance of the Lord's Everlasting Gospel.
True and everlasting happiness comes from the Gospel; all else are just temporary spurts of mortal excitement. We are blessed with friends, we are blessed with games, we are blessed with foods, and sports, and sleep, and all other manner of things, based upon our obedience to the Gospel. It truly is the foundation upon which all joy is built. Why, then, would anyone ever want to risk going through life without that?
That is why we are out here; because we want to do our best to let everyone, everywhere, be given the chance to build their lives, and thus their joy and happiness, upon that everlasting spring of blessings.
This Gospel is true! Those who build upon it build upon the Rock of Christ! All else build upon the sand, and will surely be washed away in due time.
May we all choose to build upon the Rock of our Redeemer. Take care, and God bless!
Read the Book of Mormon!
--Elder Collings
[hmm - maybe I should have put this weeks letter in Jacob's "Point of Ponder" blog . . .! Every once in a while a sermon comes out]
I'd like to read your Book of Mormon. There is no verse 30 in chapter 5 of my book's Helaman.
ReplyDeleteIn my Book of Mormon there are 52 verses in Helaman Chapter 5. Verse 30 reads, "And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul— "
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