High 5!
1. We had our best week yet in El Dorado! We broke our
record for lessons taught and found some solid, new investigators. Our area is
BOOMING :) (finally)
2. Coby Anderson is getting baptized on February 6th! This
is especially exciting because his dad will be the one to do it and he has been
less active for 10+ years. We can't wait to see their family in the temple!
3. We are teaching a recent convert's younger brother. He is
a 15 year old Navajo boy. His name is Stetsin. They recently lost their mom :(
We are excited to watch his life change though, just like his sisters did about
a year ago.
4. We were invited to a non-member family's home the other
night to teach them. They are neighbors with some members and are looking for a
church. The member neighbor came with us and it was awesome :)
5. We had stake conference this weekend where a member of
the 70 came and spoke to us! We all felt really uplifted and our mission
president and his wife spoke in the Sunday session. We always love hearing from
them.
Down Low, 2 Slow.
1. The Spanish branch in our stake is struggling so they
have taken a few families out of our ward to serve there for a while.
2. We found a less active this week who we have been looking
for since we got here who did NOT want to see us. He yelled at us, to say the
least, and told us that Brad Pitt should be our prophet. Sad. (kind of amusing
looking back, haha)
I love studying the Atonement because there is always more
to learn! I read an article this week that compared the story in Numbers about
Moses raising the staff with the serpent on it to how we are healed
today.
"Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have
sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the
Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a
pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh
upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent out of brass, and put it upon a
pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld
the serpent of brass, he lived." (Numbers 21:7-9)
All that the people were asked to do were to LOOK at the
staff, and they would be healed. I know that today, we are asked to do the
same- turn away from our sin and our pride, and LOOK to Christ. In 1 Nephi
17:41 we learn that, "[...] because of the simpleness of the way, or the
easiness of it, there were many who perished."
None of us are beyond the reach of our Redeemer to heal us.
Our best efforts may be limited but His are not. All of us can be made whole
through a Savior who had no debt to pay and had committed no wrong, but who
still took upon Him all the pains,afflictions, temptations, sicknesses, and
deaths of His people. He suffered these things so that He would know how to
succor, or give aid to us. (Alma 7:11-12) I love the picture in my mind that
Elder Oaks paints in this quote. "Having descended below all, He is
perfectly positioned to lift us and give us the strength we need to endure
[...]."
I know that "many are the afflictions of the righteous:
but the Lord delivereth him out of them all." (Psalms 34:19) We all face
difficult times that test us, but I invite you to change your perspective and
align it more with our Savior's. If anything else, press forward through your
unique trials so that you, like the Savior, might be able to help others who
later, face similar challenges and you can say, "I know what it's like;
let me help you". This is our duty, as members of the church and as
children of God. Studying the Atonement will help you as you seek to help
others and point them to Christ.
Like the good Samaritan, when He finds us wounded at the
wayside, He will bind up our wounds and care for us. (Luke 10:34) My favorite
hymns to go along with this are Where Can I Turn For Peace, #129, and Abide
With Me, #166. I invite you to read the lyrics and ponder the message they
contain about our Savior's everlasting and healing Atonement.
God speed!
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