Hey fam! I started writing this on paper, but that ends up taking way too long, so I just have to keep adding to it, and I just won't ever send it that way. I have some extra time today to type this up, so hopefully I can start sending some cool things I've seen and learned in addition to the daily business I've sent so far. First off, I kinda jump a lot from different topics, so bear with me. I'm pulling a lot from my journal too, so hopefully I can kinda expand a bit. And also this isn't in any chronological order, so if you get a little confused with the stuff I talk about, just ignore it. Focus on the precious things of the soul!
Anyways, warnings aside, I have had an awesome time here learning and coming to recognize the spirit more in my life here.
The first thing I'd like to talk about (chapter 1 of the gospel according to Robbie) is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's part of our missionary purpose. In 2 Nephi 31 it teaches us about the path: faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. This is a continuous cycle, we grow our faith, we daily repent, we partake of the sacrament, we listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and we keep the commandments God has given us. Another thing I noticed is that then Nephi says, "after you have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done?" He goes on to talk about faith, hope and charity. (verses 19-20) I think it's really interesting the connection between the gospel of Christ and these three things. They correlate really well. FAITH (unto salvation) relates directly to the first part of the doctrine of Christ, faith. (I have a lot more on faith coming up, so keep that in mind) That FAITH leads to HOPE. When we have have HOPE, we trust that we can rely on God, on Christ's atonement. So we repent, we are baptized, we take the Sacrament, receive the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost prompts us to be better people, to develop CHARITY. And when we love God and all men, we keep his commandments, and endure to the end. And then it starts over, every week, every day, we just try to be better more and more.
And as missionaries, we INVITE and we HELP people to do these things, to come unto Christ. We don't invite and hope, it's invite and help. That's one thing they really emphasize here. We can't just expect them to start living the gospel on their own. One example of a thing we did to help is that we gave up soda along with one of our investigators giving up drinking. It's kinda silly, but it's showing them that we are there with them and they can do it.
I loved the talk you gave me Mom, [here] about our words being part of our faith. Pretty much a lot of my study has been about it. I really liked the quote from the lectures on faith, when it was talking about "God SAID, let the be light..." read the talk to see the rest of it. Anyways, this reminded me about 3 Nephi 19. Jesus commanded the people to pray, and as his disciples pray, he blesses them. First, he prays that they can have the Holy Spirit (meaning the holy spirit of promise, I think, but I need to keep studying to be sure) and then he prays that they can be sanctified. (There's a really good talk about this by Elder Bednar, called "always retain a remission of your sins") BUT ANYWAYS, he then teaches the people in incredible words, that they understand in their hearts. He describes this as the GREATEST MIRACLE, and he didn't show it to the Jews. That was pretty stunning to me, because he doesn't say that healing a blind man, making the lame walk, or even raising Lazarus from the tomb was the greatest. He talked about the words he spoke to them. It got me thinking about when God says miracles have not ceased. I think a lot of the words we say as missionaries are miracles to these people. They can be with their families. They can overcome additions. They can know God personally, and He wants to know them. I think people are looking for a lot of the "lesser" miracles when they doubt God still is there, (I mean, he still does do them too) and forget the greatest things Christ taught.
More thoughts on faith. I listened to Elder Bednar's talk, Character of Christ. I told you all to watch it, but I had some thoughts myself about it. When I first wrote this, I kinda did a huge summary, I'll try to avoid that, go watch it yourself.
One thing that stood out was something he quoted from Elder Talmage. He said, "there would have been no atoning sacrifice without the Character of Christ." So clearly this is something pretty important. Elder Bednar teaches us that, "to exercise FAITH (remember that?) unto salvation, we must: 1. Believe that God exists, 2. Know and understand his CHARACTER, attributes, and perfections, and finally 3. Know your actions are what God wants." We need to learn Jesus's character to grow our faith. Simply put, when we would turn inwards, He turns outwards. When we would try to satisfy the natural man, he would bless others. He gives a bunch of examples, but I thought of one more.
When Jesus heard that John the Baptist had died, he withdrew to mourn and pray, but his growing popularity drew the crowds after him, and he still "had compassion on them." He then spent the day teaching them, loving them, instead of turning them away.
So who cares what you want? Elder Bednar asks. The natural man. The Lord sure doesn't. He is no respecter of persons. We need to change our habits of self centered life to one with the Character of Christ.
One more really interesting thing he talked about at the end of his talk was the Brother of Jared, and how his story of faith relates to each of us. It's interesting to me that it's AFTER the Lord touches the stones that the brother of Jared sees the Lord's finger. We can see the finger of God for ourselves, as it touches the "stones." What are the stones? They are the peoples lives around us. We as disciples bring peoples lives to God, and watch as he touches their lives, and changes them and makes them glow. And as we bring one after another, we slowly develop a knowledge and a certainty that they will be changed, and all of this builds our faith in Christ.
In another really good Elder Bednar talk, he talks about whether we have inspiration from God, or if it's just us. He counsels us to STOP WORRYING ABOUT IT! Just be good, and do good. He shared a story from when he was a missionary. As he was serving in Germany, Elder Packer, the newly appointed apostle, came to West Germany to go into the east. He called Elder Bednar (I bet that was a big surprise) as he was the assistant to the president. Elder Packer was sitting in the airport with his wife, and needed a ride. Elder Bednar and his companion picked him up, took care of them in the mission house, and took them to the train the next day. As Elder Packer was boarding the train, Elder Bednar gave them twenty bucks (or whatever the money is) for the train ride. He said that he thought that the Packers might be hungry on the ride.
What he didn't know until years later is that as they were crossing the border, the East German security stopped their train. They were checking everyone's passports, because they wouldn't accept passports that had been extended. Well, Elder Packers passport was ok, but his wife's wasn't. It had been extended, and was not accepted by the government. As the angry policeman returned with Sis. Packer's passport, Elder Packer reached into his pocket and found the money Eld. Bednar gave him. He stuck it into her passport, and handed it back to the man. He went to run it again, returned the passport, and the money wasn't there. He gave them no further trouble and they safely arrived in Berlin. (By the way, Elder Bednar explained that this was not a bribe, it was righteous exchange! Pretty funny)
When meeting with a Bishop there, Elder Packer kind of casually mentioned this story. To his surprise, the Bishop turned pale, and explained to him that the police had been taking people off the train, and they were never seen again by their families. Elder Packer was deeply thankful for Elder Bednar.
In hindsight, Elder Bednar recognized that he was being led by the spirit, but in the moment he didn't recognize that. He thought they would just be hungry, it was a passing thought, and he didn't even remember giving the money, he just remembered the really cool story of meeting an apostle. It was only when Elder Packer told him the ending that he saw the hand of the Lord in guiding him. And so that's why he encourages us to not worry about whether we know in the moment if it's the spirit. We will know, but we need to have that patience, and just do good.
K, I also have an experience I'd like to share. On one of the first nights here, one of the sisters needed a blessing. She was really worried, and was considering going home (that's what she told us after). As my companion is the district leader, we were the ones giving her a blessing. I wasn't saying the blessing, but I have never felt the spirit so strong in a blessing I was part of giving. It felt like I was standing in a blessing next to Christ himself. I mean, I didn't really give any blessings of comfort before, but I really felt the same words that my companion was saying. It was really a testimony builder to me that God fills our mouths.
We've actually had a lot of experiences where our mouths or our ideas have been filled. Just the other day, (Sept. 14) we were talking to Alexis, one of our investigators, and I got this crazy idea to start talking about baptism. As I was talking to my comp about it after, he said he was feeling the exact same thing. About a week ago (Aug. 31) (wow, the days really have been blurring together, does not feel that long.) Elder Hable was feeling pretty down, and he just asked me for something to take his mind off home and such. I told him to say the first vision in French, just thinking it would give him something to do. As he was speaking though, we ran into a native French speaker, and he started talking to us for three minutes or so on our walk, and it totally helped Elder Hable out! In my hindsight, it was the spirit, but I didn't think that in the moment. Really cool tho.
I have really loved going to choir, and this last week (Sept. 12) we sang "Nearer My God to Thee." I really loved what Brother Egett taught us about it. He talked about how this was written as the story of Jacob. How after he had been righteous for his whole life, and had received the birthright (and right to the priesthood) from Esau, he was still persecuted, in fact Esau was going to kill him. That first night of having fled into the wilderness with nothing, using a rock as a pillow, no doubt was trying to Jacob, but because of his trials, he was able to have an incredible temple experience. Brother Egett talked about how the same thing happened to Joseph Smith in Liberty jail. There's a great talk by Elder Holland, "Lessons of Liberty Jail" about how it became a prison-temple. I have really been trying to make that a part of my life. When I have a hard day, or out in the field, to remember that we can change those experiences to lead me closer to God.
Anyways, sorry this has been so long in coming, but I hope it can inspire you guys to read and study for yourselves. Love you all! Vous me manquez!
Elder Marsh
Anyways, warnings aside, I have had an awesome time here learning and coming to recognize the spirit more in my life here.
The first thing I'd like to talk about (chapter 1 of the gospel according to Robbie) is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's part of our missionary purpose. In 2 Nephi 31 it teaches us about the path: faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. This is a continuous cycle, we grow our faith, we daily repent, we partake of the sacrament, we listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and we keep the commandments God has given us. Another thing I noticed is that then Nephi says, "after you have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done?" He goes on to talk about faith, hope and charity. (verses 19-20) I think it's really interesting the connection between the gospel of Christ and these three things. They correlate really well. FAITH (unto salvation) relates directly to the first part of the doctrine of Christ, faith. (I have a lot more on faith coming up, so keep that in mind) That FAITH leads to HOPE. When we have have HOPE, we trust that we can rely on God, on Christ's atonement. So we repent, we are baptized, we take the Sacrament, receive the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost prompts us to be better people, to develop CHARITY. And when we love God and all men, we keep his commandments, and endure to the end. And then it starts over, every week, every day, we just try to be better more and more.
And as missionaries, we INVITE and we HELP people to do these things, to come unto Christ. We don't invite and hope, it's invite and help. That's one thing they really emphasize here. We can't just expect them to start living the gospel on their own. One example of a thing we did to help is that we gave up soda along with one of our investigators giving up drinking. It's kinda silly, but it's showing them that we are there with them and they can do it.
I loved the talk you gave me Mom, [here] about our words being part of our faith. Pretty much a lot of my study has been about it. I really liked the quote from the lectures on faith, when it was talking about "God SAID, let the be light..." read the talk to see the rest of it. Anyways, this reminded me about 3 Nephi 19. Jesus commanded the people to pray, and as his disciples pray, he blesses them. First, he prays that they can have the Holy Spirit (meaning the holy spirit of promise, I think, but I need to keep studying to be sure) and then he prays that they can be sanctified. (There's a really good talk about this by Elder Bednar, called "always retain a remission of your sins") BUT ANYWAYS, he then teaches the people in incredible words, that they understand in their hearts. He describes this as the GREATEST MIRACLE, and he didn't show it to the Jews. That was pretty stunning to me, because he doesn't say that healing a blind man, making the lame walk, or even raising Lazarus from the tomb was the greatest. He talked about the words he spoke to them. It got me thinking about when God says miracles have not ceased. I think a lot of the words we say as missionaries are miracles to these people. They can be with their families. They can overcome additions. They can know God personally, and He wants to know them. I think people are looking for a lot of the "lesser" miracles when they doubt God still is there, (I mean, he still does do them too) and forget the greatest things Christ taught.
More thoughts on faith. I listened to Elder Bednar's talk, Character of Christ. I told you all to watch it, but I had some thoughts myself about it. When I first wrote this, I kinda did a huge summary, I'll try to avoid that, go watch it yourself.
One thing that stood out was something he quoted from Elder Talmage. He said, "there would have been no atoning sacrifice without the Character of Christ." So clearly this is something pretty important. Elder Bednar teaches us that, "to exercise FAITH (remember that?) unto salvation, we must: 1. Believe that God exists, 2. Know and understand his CHARACTER, attributes, and perfections, and finally 3. Know your actions are what God wants." We need to learn Jesus's character to grow our faith. Simply put, when we would turn inwards, He turns outwards. When we would try to satisfy the natural man, he would bless others. He gives a bunch of examples, but I thought of one more.
When Jesus heard that John the Baptist had died, he withdrew to mourn and pray, but his growing popularity drew the crowds after him, and he still "had compassion on them." He then spent the day teaching them, loving them, instead of turning them away.
So who cares what you want? Elder Bednar asks. The natural man. The Lord sure doesn't. He is no respecter of persons. We need to change our habits of self centered life to one with the Character of Christ.
One more really interesting thing he talked about at the end of his talk was the Brother of Jared, and how his story of faith relates to each of us. It's interesting to me that it's AFTER the Lord touches the stones that the brother of Jared sees the Lord's finger. We can see the finger of God for ourselves, as it touches the "stones." What are the stones? They are the peoples lives around us. We as disciples bring peoples lives to God, and watch as he touches their lives, and changes them and makes them glow. And as we bring one after another, we slowly develop a knowledge and a certainty that they will be changed, and all of this builds our faith in Christ.
In another really good Elder Bednar talk, he talks about whether we have inspiration from God, or if it's just us. He counsels us to STOP WORRYING ABOUT IT! Just be good, and do good. He shared a story from when he was a missionary. As he was serving in Germany, Elder Packer, the newly appointed apostle, came to West Germany to go into the east. He called Elder Bednar (I bet that was a big surprise) as he was the assistant to the president. Elder Packer was sitting in the airport with his wife, and needed a ride. Elder Bednar and his companion picked him up, took care of them in the mission house, and took them to the train the next day. As Elder Packer was boarding the train, Elder Bednar gave them twenty bucks (or whatever the money is) for the train ride. He said that he thought that the Packers might be hungry on the ride.
What he didn't know until years later is that as they were crossing the border, the East German security stopped their train. They were checking everyone's passports, because they wouldn't accept passports that had been extended. Well, Elder Packers passport was ok, but his wife's wasn't. It had been extended, and was not accepted by the government. As the angry policeman returned with Sis. Packer's passport, Elder Packer reached into his pocket and found the money Eld. Bednar gave him. He stuck it into her passport, and handed it back to the man. He went to run it again, returned the passport, and the money wasn't there. He gave them no further trouble and they safely arrived in Berlin. (By the way, Elder Bednar explained that this was not a bribe, it was righteous exchange! Pretty funny)
When meeting with a Bishop there, Elder Packer kind of casually mentioned this story. To his surprise, the Bishop turned pale, and explained to him that the police had been taking people off the train, and they were never seen again by their families. Elder Packer was deeply thankful for Elder Bednar.
In hindsight, Elder Bednar recognized that he was being led by the spirit, but in the moment he didn't recognize that. He thought they would just be hungry, it was a passing thought, and he didn't even remember giving the money, he just remembered the really cool story of meeting an apostle. It was only when Elder Packer told him the ending that he saw the hand of the Lord in guiding him. And so that's why he encourages us to not worry about whether we know in the moment if it's the spirit. We will know, but we need to have that patience, and just do good.
K, I also have an experience I'd like to share. On one of the first nights here, one of the sisters needed a blessing. She was really worried, and was considering going home (that's what she told us after). As my companion is the district leader, we were the ones giving her a blessing. I wasn't saying the blessing, but I have never felt the spirit so strong in a blessing I was part of giving. It felt like I was standing in a blessing next to Christ himself. I mean, I didn't really give any blessings of comfort before, but I really felt the same words that my companion was saying. It was really a testimony builder to me that God fills our mouths.
We've actually had a lot of experiences where our mouths or our ideas have been filled. Just the other day, (Sept. 14) we were talking to Alexis, one of our investigators, and I got this crazy idea to start talking about baptism. As I was talking to my comp about it after, he said he was feeling the exact same thing. About a week ago (Aug. 31) (wow, the days really have been blurring together, does not feel that long.) Elder Hable was feeling pretty down, and he just asked me for something to take his mind off home and such. I told him to say the first vision in French, just thinking it would give him something to do. As he was speaking though, we ran into a native French speaker, and he started talking to us for three minutes or so on our walk, and it totally helped Elder Hable out! In my hindsight, it was the spirit, but I didn't think that in the moment. Really cool tho.
I have really loved going to choir, and this last week (Sept. 12) we sang "Nearer My God to Thee." I really loved what Brother Egett taught us about it. He talked about how this was written as the story of Jacob. How after he had been righteous for his whole life, and had received the birthright (and right to the priesthood) from Esau, he was still persecuted, in fact Esau was going to kill him. That first night of having fled into the wilderness with nothing, using a rock as a pillow, no doubt was trying to Jacob, but because of his trials, he was able to have an incredible temple experience. Brother Egett talked about how the same thing happened to Joseph Smith in Liberty jail. There's a great talk by Elder Holland, "Lessons of Liberty Jail" about how it became a prison-temple. I have really been trying to make that a part of my life. When I have a hard day, or out in the field, to remember that we can change those experiences to lead me closer to God.
Anyways, sorry this has been so long in coming, but I hope it can inspire you guys to read and study for yourselves. Love you all! Vous me manquez!
Elder Marsh
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