So, this week was General Conference! It was awesome. I
loved it. We watched it Saturday evening (they showed the Sat. Afternoon
Session); Philemon came to that one! It was great. Br. Bonsu also came! We were
4 of about 10 people; kinda sad.
But! Sunday was much better. They again showed the Saturday Afternoon Session, due to the sustaining of Church Leaders, etc, and then showed the Sun. Morning session. I liked Pres. Uchtdorf's talk, that everyone else has already talked to me about; haha. It was greatly needed by many people here. However, I must admit, if his sermon could be summed in two words (Stop it!), the whole Conference could be summed in two words from Elder Holland: Step Up! I loved his talk as well; it was such a wonderful talk.
I also loved what E. Hales said about preparing for the future. He said, "By avoiding debt and saving money now, we prepare for full-time service in the Church in years to come." I loved that comment. Temporally, it's true, because debt is enslavement. It reminds me of Lehi's teachings, that we are "free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil" (2 Ne. 2:27). Debt brings us into captivity, which can take years - many of them spent tearfully treading a dangerous precipice between life and bankruptcy - to get out of. It's so much better to steer clear of debt and to "bridle all [our] passions" (Alma 38:12) and learn to "live within our means" so that we might find joy in the necessities of life, rather than the luxuries. What hit me, however, was the spiritual side of that. Many choose to 'sin now, repent later.' Some simply choose to sin. This brings about spiritual debt, and causes us to be "encircled about by the bands of death, and the chains of hell" (Alma 5:7). What pain and suffering we go though because of that! However, "by avoiding debt," meaning sin, "and saving money now," meaning learning charity and service, "we prepare for full-time service in the Church in years to come." We cannot serve God if we are bound by the chains of debt, and we cannot serve God if we are bound by the chains of death and hell through sin. We must do all we can to live upon the meek and humble things of life, sacrifice the luxuries for the necessities, and prepare ourselves to serve God anytime He may call.
Finally, I loved the talk E. Baxter gave to single parents, especially mothers. It was wonderful; I suggest every single parent - and especially mother - read it, pray over it, and read it again. We taught a sister who's husband died a while ago - she's only 30 something, and he died some years back - and we read Alma 58:9-11. It really helped her; she started to cry, and shared how hard things have been since her husband passed away, and thanked us for sharing that scripture with her. I recommend you study both E. Baxter's words and that passage of scripture while you seek for guidance and comfort.
Apart from conference, I was able to meet Br. Adams today! [from McCarthy Hill II - first area] We went to Kaneshie Market to buy some cloth for some Ghanaian clothing I wanna get. It should be awesome; I'm excited. I also have Br. Fiifi - from Teshie - making me the Teshie Ward Choir shirt. I should get that soon. It was awesome to meet him. We met at the chapel, and guess what he was doing when we came in? He was teaching some younger boys there about the Gospel and invited them to meet the missionaries and testified of its truthfulness; haha. It was awesome. He also reminded us to give the sisters we bought the cloth from pamphlets. "The shepherds always feed the sheep. We've given them money, now we must give them food." It was awesome. I'm so happy for him. He's preparing to be endowed soon! His children are doing well; he's still working on his wife and eldest daughter. I pray all goes well there.
Anyways, things are going well. Well, sort of. We're having a hard time getting our lessons, and other challenges are coming up, but we're doing our best to resolve them. Everything should work out fine in the end, and we're doing our best.
I love you all! Take care, have a great week, and read the Book of Mormon daily! 1 Chapter!
--Elder Collings
But! Sunday was much better. They again showed the Saturday Afternoon Session, due to the sustaining of Church Leaders, etc, and then showed the Sun. Morning session. I liked Pres. Uchtdorf's talk, that everyone else has already talked to me about; haha. It was greatly needed by many people here. However, I must admit, if his sermon could be summed in two words (Stop it!), the whole Conference could be summed in two words from Elder Holland: Step Up! I loved his talk as well; it was such a wonderful talk.
I also loved what E. Hales said about preparing for the future. He said, "By avoiding debt and saving money now, we prepare for full-time service in the Church in years to come." I loved that comment. Temporally, it's true, because debt is enslavement. It reminds me of Lehi's teachings, that we are "free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil" (2 Ne. 2:27). Debt brings us into captivity, which can take years - many of them spent tearfully treading a dangerous precipice between life and bankruptcy - to get out of. It's so much better to steer clear of debt and to "bridle all [our] passions" (Alma 38:12) and learn to "live within our means" so that we might find joy in the necessities of life, rather than the luxuries. What hit me, however, was the spiritual side of that. Many choose to 'sin now, repent later.' Some simply choose to sin. This brings about spiritual debt, and causes us to be "encircled about by the bands of death, and the chains of hell" (Alma 5:7). What pain and suffering we go though because of that! However, "by avoiding debt," meaning sin, "and saving money now," meaning learning charity and service, "we prepare for full-time service in the Church in years to come." We cannot serve God if we are bound by the chains of debt, and we cannot serve God if we are bound by the chains of death and hell through sin. We must do all we can to live upon the meek and humble things of life, sacrifice the luxuries for the necessities, and prepare ourselves to serve God anytime He may call.
Finally, I loved the talk E. Baxter gave to single parents, especially mothers. It was wonderful; I suggest every single parent - and especially mother - read it, pray over it, and read it again. We taught a sister who's husband died a while ago - she's only 30 something, and he died some years back - and we read Alma 58:9-11. It really helped her; she started to cry, and shared how hard things have been since her husband passed away, and thanked us for sharing that scripture with her. I recommend you study both E. Baxter's words and that passage of scripture while you seek for guidance and comfort.
Apart from conference, I was able to meet Br. Adams today! [from McCarthy Hill II - first area] We went to Kaneshie Market to buy some cloth for some Ghanaian clothing I wanna get. It should be awesome; I'm excited. I also have Br. Fiifi - from Teshie - making me the Teshie Ward Choir shirt. I should get that soon. It was awesome to meet him. We met at the chapel, and guess what he was doing when we came in? He was teaching some younger boys there about the Gospel and invited them to meet the missionaries and testified of its truthfulness; haha. It was awesome. He also reminded us to give the sisters we bought the cloth from pamphlets. "The shepherds always feed the sheep. We've given them money, now we must give them food." It was awesome. I'm so happy for him. He's preparing to be endowed soon! His children are doing well; he's still working on his wife and eldest daughter. I pray all goes well there.
Anyways, things are going well. Well, sort of. We're having a hard time getting our lessons, and other challenges are coming up, but we're doing our best to resolve them. Everything should work out fine in the end, and we're doing our best.
I love you all! Take care, have a great week, and read the Book of Mormon daily! 1 Chapter!
--Elder Collings
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