So this week has been yet again another week filled with the
Spirit and crazy experiences! So to begin with because I got permission
to tell everyone now, I dropped a ping pong table on my foot about 2 1/2 weeks
ago and caused a massive hematoma in my right foot, but im better now so thats
good! Anyways to the spirit!
So first off I found one of the most loving and also the
most scary verses in the book of mormon this week. The loving one first:
24 He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world;for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.
25 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me?Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.
26 Behold, hath he commanded any that they should depart out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.
27 Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance.
28 Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden.
It was wonderful to see that
Jesus Christ does not keep any of us from the wonderful gift of eternal life
and exaltation, but that he invites all to come unto him and be saved.
The book of mormon read through I am doing right now is about how Heavenly
Father and Jesus Christ show their love to us and this was definitely a
crowning example of that attribute of them to love all of us with a perfect
love. And then I found the Scariest scripture:
21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
It was
scary to read that and I kind of looked on my life so far as a member and where
I have been in my paths and I definitely felt that I have been lulled away for
periods of time and seen that I have thought that "All is well in
Zion." This leads to my next thing for this week. I had a goal
this week to keep my conversations as we were walking about about the gospel or
something that we had learned or thought of that day or questions that we
had. In order for us to more fully feel the Spirit and to be focused on
the work always we have taken this goal and tried as hard as possible.
And one night on the way home from english class, elder mumford was pushing my
wheelchair and we talked about these scriptures and our lives after our
missions and what we were going to do, how much of a difference does a mission
make, and how much more of a difference does being focused on Zion have on our
post mission lives. And as we talked he brought up the idea of it should
change things lke your music you listen to, the things you do and our foucsed
on etc. I pushed it so far as saying that it even chooses your wife,
someone who is going to be by your side working as hard as they can to bring
zion to earth just as much if not more than you are! And its true, no
longer can we stand by and just be onlookers to the progress of zion.
Some general authority said (I cant remember who) that The work of the Lord
will move forward with or without our help. And I am determined to move
forward with full steam with the work of the Lord. I cant wait to get
home and continue to do the work of the lord back at home. I know that
just because we dont all wear name tags doesnt mean that we arent all workers
in the Lords vineyard. The blessings that are in store for those that not
only are in zion, but worked with all their "Heart, might, mind, and
Strength" will be richly blessed for the sacrifices that we make to bring
to pass the "Immortality and Eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39).
So this kind of leads to my next experience which was yesterday morning and
this morning.
I was
in the middle of studies contemplating my relation to Zion and how hard of a
worker I can be when I return home when this small thought came in my head of
"Nahhh... dont worry about that too much, what your doing now is
fine." Immediately I shook the thought and realized it was the
natural man within me trying to score a major battle. I quickly made the
resolve to always fight against any temptation that prevents me from doing the
most that I possibly can for the Church and the Lord. Then again this
morning I had the thought that I didnt have to go out and talk to
EVERYONE. Again shook the feeling and made an even stronger resolve to
work harder for the Lord and do what he wants. I realize that the
adversary doesnt always make his attacks so easy to notice, sometimes they are
so subtle that we dont even think about it. Sometimes the adversary hits
us with stuff that just makes it sound like its the Spirit, telling us to take
a break or work a little less harder. Other times its
"Cultural" restrictions that prevent us from sharing the gospel, like
that its bad to talk about religion at work or school (see Power of the
Everyday Missionary). We have to constantly be checking our promptings to
know whether or not they are from satan or from the Spirit. And we have
to decided NOW to follow any prompting that the Lord gives us in order to build
his kingdom here on earth! I am absolutely stoked to fight against these
temptations because I know they are going to make me into a true servant of the
Lord. A quote that someone said came to my mind this week: "Be the
type of person that when your feet touch the floor in the morning the devil
says, 'Aww ~~~~ they're up'" Something to keep our minds focused on
the work of the Lord.
Well
other than those things this week has been pretty dull working with the members
and farming and all kinds of other goodness!!! Jk It has been an amazing week
and I cant believe Im almost a year through my mission!!! I love the people and
the country and everything else sooo much and I know that we are truly doing
the work of the Lord here, calling all people unto repentance and baptism on
His name!!!
I love
all of you and have a great week!
Elder
Yamagata!
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/117955201172198470717/albums/6082495538959120017
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