Well everyone, here we are again. I hope the last 7 days have treated you well, as they have me.
We
did a whole bunch of service this week, which was great. Tuesday we
helped someone with wood. Wednesday we helped someone else with wood.
Thursday we raked someone's leaves. Friday we raked someone else's
leaves. And Saturday we helped someone load stuff, such as broken down 4
wheelers and lawn mowers and dirt bikes and car parts and other
miscellaneous junk into a trailer, which we then unloaded after it was
moved to its destination. That service also included moving several
stacks of tires from one area of a dirt lot to another. And the only
sensible way to do that is by rolling them one by one of course. So that
was a fun time. It was pretty tiring though. Luckily we were wearing appropriate attire for the job.
Other
than that we were able to visit with lots of people, both members of
the Church and people who aren't members of the Church alike. We talked
to someone out in Concho, who told us that she has a grandson who is not
a member of the Church and who potentially had some interest in
learning about the Gospel. And his name is Joel, not to be confused with
Joel's dad who is also named Joel, but who also goes by Tim. Well so we
talked to Joel (grandson Joel not Tim Joel) and he said he would be
interested in us teaching him. So that'll be cool.
I really
just love all the opportunities there are to teach about Jesus Christ
and bear testimony of Him. Sometimes I look back on my day and realize
that I have missed some opportunities to share what I know, and I feel
bad about that. But something I've learned is seriously that no one is
perfect. And the Savior wants us to follow Him and be His disciple and
to participate in His work, which means more than just serving a full
time mission. And He doesn't expect that we will be perfect as we strive
to do that, or as we strive to live any aspect of the Gospel. That's
why the Savior came to earth in the first place. Because we aren't
perfect and without Him we never would be, and since no unclean thing
can dwell in the presence of God, we would all be hopelessly doomed to
be cut off from God's presence forever. But because Jesus Christ atoned
for our sins and weaknesses, we can overcome those things and become
clean and we ultimately will be able to return to God's presence. So
when we feel like we're trying our best but we keep falling short, and
we feel like we keep falling back into old fears and weaknesses, we can
take those things to the Savior and He can make our weak things strong.
He wants us to follow Him and live His Gospel and He wants us to be a
part of His work, and it is possible for us to do that even when we
might feel incapable. In the Book of Mormon there's a story of a person
named Nephi, who was asked by the Lord to go and get this record of
scripture. He couldn't see at that moment why it was so important and
the impact it would have on so many of God's children down the road, but
Nephi knew it was important that he followed this command. So he and
his brothers had tried twice to obtain that record, the second time they
returned unsuccessfully their lives were put into serious danger, and
there was no foreseeable way they could be successful if they tried
again. So they had every reason to be afraid and to give up. They had
already shown a lot of faith just by trying a second time, and so it is
no wonder that at this point two of the brothers had decided they had
trusted the Lord enough but that now they wanted to not go and get
themselves killed by trying a third time. Nephi however, had the faith
beyond what his brothers had, and beyond what most people have. It
wasn't conditional upon what circumstances would come up, how dangerous
it got, or how reasonably afraid he was. His faith was centered on Jesus
Christ and he knew "that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the
children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may
accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7) So Nephi
went and did what the Lord commanded him to do, even though he had those
fears and he couldn't do it on his own. He had the faith to go and do
even though he didn't know how it would be done. This story just stood
out to me recently, even though I've heard it many times before, and I
had a personal experience of how true that principle is. I know that
following the Savior is not an easy road. I know that we have things in
our lives that are difficult. But I know that the struggles we have, all
of which are different from everyone else's, we have them so that we
can be humble and so we can recognize the need we have for a Redeemer.
And I know that Jesus Christ has experienced every one of the struggles
we have, for each one of us personally. And because of that we can come
unto Him with those struggles, and if we have the faith to follow Him
despite the struggles that keep us from where we want to be, He will
strengthen us and give us peace and give us the assurance that He will
provide a way to accomplish the thing He has commanded us to do, that we
could never do on our own.
I just want you to know that this
is something I've learned to be true. I love my Savior and His Gospel. I
know that our Father in Heaven has a plan for us to be happy both in
this life and in the life after. And I'm so grateful for all of this.
And that is my email for the week.
See you laters alligators,
~Elder Oswald
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