Good morning 'Merica, and all other countries in this beautiful world we all call home! This is Elder Z.S.Weber, reporting in once more from the Prairie Ridge/Taft Canyon Wards. I'm very glad to be here—mostly because it means I didn't die from my cold this last weekend. Honestly, there were a couple times where it was so bad I thought that I might lay my head down on my pillow and wake up in the Spirit World. However, the cold is pretty much all gone now, and I am feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready for another great week as a missionary.
Now, I must apologize, but this week I don't have as much to talk about. I know, you guys don't like hearing that from me, but there just wasn't a lot that happened this week. Not for lack of trying, though. At the beginning of the week, we had a lot planned out. As this was likely to be our last week as companions, we wanted to go out on a high note and work as hard as we could to leave a good, lasting impression for the next set of missionaries to come into our area. However, over the week, pretty much all of our plans flew out the window, our appointments were cancelled, and we were left on our own.
Now, that's not to say that we didn't do anything this week. Most of our week ended up getting consumed by different service opportunities. Brother McKenzie, the member Elder Anderson and I are living with, had a lot of yard work he needed to take care of before the 'big' spring storm rolled in. And with two sets of missionaries readily available to help out, the yard work went by fairly well, once we were all coordinated. And, once more, we helped out with the distribution of food from the Bishop's storehouse. However, for the most-part, this past week was pretty slow for us in terms of missionary work.
So much for going out on a high note.
After all the service opportunities came to an end, and all of our appointments fell through, we finally found ourselves at Saturday evening, the moment we had been waiting for all week. Transfer information finally came in, and what a change was to be had. First of all, the entire Zone is getting changed up, with even our Zone Leaders, as great as they are, getting swept out and two new Zone Leaders getting swept in. As I had suspected, Elder Anderson and I are soon to no longer be companions, and Elder Anderson is headed up to Riverton, Wyoming. My new companion is another Elder by the name of Elder Pember, whose name sounds familiar, but I haven't a clue who it might be.
So, yeah, that was my week. Again, I'm sorry that there isn't more to report on, but that's just how this week went. Some weeks just are slow ones, though we wish it weren't so. However, even with the slow week dampening our mood a bit, I still have a quick spiritual thought to share with all y'all.
A few weeks ago was the 186th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I've always enjoyed the talks given during the conferences, and often reread ones that have a great impact on me in my life. This week, however, I've found myself thinking about the talk given by Bonnie L. Oscarson, the Young Woman General President. In her talk, she spoke of a young boy who was being sent to the hospital due to terrible pneumonia. His mother was flying in the helicopter with him, and could hear that her son's condition was truly dire.
"In this critical moment, [the young mother] noticed they were flying directly over the Draper Utah Temple. From the air, she looked out across the valley and could also see the Jordan River Temple, the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, and even the Salt Lake Temple in the distance. The thought came into her mind: “Do you believe it or not?”" (Bonnie L. Oscarson, Do I Believe?, 2016 April General Conference)
Recently, as Elder Anderson and I have gone about with our missionary work, we often come in contact with less-active or inactive members. Though often friendly towards us, as we talk with them we find that the spiritual light of the gospel has disappeared from their eyes. They often say that they believe the church to be a good 'institution', but that the information they give as truths aren't real. They believe that the Book of Mormon, while having good moral truths in it, didn't actually happen. Some even go so far as to disbelieve in the existence of a Plan of Salvation, a Savior, and even a Loving Heavenly Father.
As I listen to these men and women who have turned away from the church, I find myself asking the same question that came to the young mother in Ssiter Oscarson's talk. "Do you believe it or not?" I am so proud and so grateful that I can say, without any doubt in my mind, that I DO believe it. I know, with absolute certainty, that the Book of Mormon is truly God's word given to us, and that every event spoken of in its pages truly happened. I know that there truly is a Plan of Salvation, written by our great Heavenly Father above, to bring about the eternal happiness and salvation of mankind. I know that my Savior lives, and that someday soon, he will return to reign in power and majesty.
For those of you who don't know as surely of these truths, I would ask that you seek them out. Our Father in Heaven is a being who loves us dearly, and is willing to shower knowledge and blessings upon our heads, if we are willing to receive them, and seek them out for ourselves. Read the Book of Mormon, pray to understand it, and watch as the secrets of our God are unfolded before you. I can promise you that if you do seek after these truths, you will come to know them for yourself. This I bear jubilant testimony of, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
—Elder Z.S.Weber
No comments:
Post a Comment