With
missionary coordination meetings, and no family greetings, because
loved ones aren't near, it's the most trunkiest time of the year.
But while there is no place like home for the holidays, the mission field comes as a pretty close second. In all seriousness, I'm not at all trunky, or in other words, I don't want to go home. I just thought it was a funny title.
It
can be a difficult time of the year though, being away from home and
not being with family, however as much as I miss my family, I am so
grateful for everything I've learned and everything I'm doing. I
wouldn't trade that for anything. And besides, we actually have a lot of
families here who we get to spend time with for the holidays and I'm
grateful for those people who show their love to us as well. So it
really is the most wonderful time of the year, even being away from
home. And while the weather outside is (relatively) frightful, the (Gospel) is so delightful.
Okay I'm done with the Christmas song references.
Now I'll quickly update you on the week:
Thursday we had Zone Conference/Christmas Devotional. So that was a fun-filled, inspiration-infused, spiritual-stuffed day.
Saturday we helped assemble a cabinet and then unloaded a literal ton of wood pellets.
Sunday,
at Church, someone named Steve who's been coming to church for months
but who hasn't felt like he could be a "good Mormon" approached us and
said "I'm ready to be baptized." So that's super exciting! We're meeting
with him soon and we're gonna get the ball rolling with him. I just
think it's so cool because it isn't that all of a sudden he feels like
he can be a "good Mormon" now. There's no such thing as a "good Mormon."
In fact there's no such thing as a "Mormon" because the correct name of
the church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. But
beyond that, the idea of a member of the Church being so seemingly
perfect, is so false. It seems like many people have that perception of
these perfect families walking into church on Sunday and they just have
everything together and everything's just awesome. But that's not the
truth, even if there are some members of the Church who try to give that
appearance. And that's not the point of coming to church either. If
everyone were perfect we wouldn't even need to go to Church. But none of
us are perfect and so we go, not to show off to each other about how
great of Christians we are, but to come humbly to worship the Savior and
strengthen our faith in Him and receive the spiritual help we need in a
atmosphere of fellowship where we can gain strength and support from
each other. Its as Ephesians 4:12 says "For the perfecting of the
saints..." not for the already perfect saints. I've heard it described
as an auto shop. Cars go there not because they're showroom quality, but
so that they can eventually become showroom quality. And to carry this
analogy farther than necessary, Jesus Christ is the ultimate mechanic.
And through Him our dents will be repaired, our tires will be as good as
new, and our scratches will be painted over by a fresh coat of
forgiveness. And beyond just going to Church, as we do all kinds of
other things that help us strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ such as
praying and studying from the scriptures, and truly doing our best to
follow Jesus Christ by living the Gospel and serving and loving those
around us, we can be forgiven and strengthened and eventually He will
make us perfect in Christ.
Til next time. Have a happy pre-Christmas week!
~Elder Oswald
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