Sister in Russia mentioned she got to go back to Smolensk. Really cool to hear. I had the chance to go on exchanges to Zaandam. My 3rd area. It was cool. Saw the old place. talked to some people I knew when I was there before. Really cool..
We had another mission leader Council this week. The sisters in my MTC group went home the beginning of this month. Really weird to think they're already done. I mean, we just started!
Time is like money I feel. Everyone Always wants more of it, so they can use it, but it's Always running out, and you never have enough...
This transfer, our theme is Ch. 4 of PMG. About the Spirit. I've been thinking a lot about it.
With the experiences I have had in my not so long life, I have seen that for most people, being able to feel and recognize the |Spirit is the most difficult part of conversion. Technically speaking, the Spirit testifies of what you teach them. But for them to recognize that for what it is, and to accept it, is something that can eat at people. Why is it so hard? Because you don't see God. There is rarely ever a booming voice or vision that testifies of the truth of each principle of the gospel. Man must learn to trust what he feels to be right. And then base his whole life, and his whole focus, on this feeling. That's a lot resting on one point.
One, who has gained a 'testimony' can take experiences and other things they learn, as witness of the truth. These things can even be tangible. But that piercing question can still haunt you, no matter how long you've been in the church. "What if it isn't true?" "What if God doesn't exist/care?" These questions cloud your mind. They will bring only doubts and unanswered questions to your memory. They cause you to forget those witnesses that you received. And then you question even more, because you can't remember clearly the feeling you had, or the certainty that you had gained. Without these things, you begin to flow freely, and without direction, because you don't know where you need to go anymore. And just like water running downhill, you will take the path of least resistance. Which is what is easy and pleasing to the natural man.
You begin to sin. And that's when the worst thing happens. You can no longer hear the Holy Ghost. He can no longer dwell inside of you. You have chased your guide away, and you’re left alone. To 'kick against the pricks' as it says in the Doctrine and Covenants.
So many people fall into this trap. Why does it start? Because they allow their doubts to take priority over their faith. Your faith, being the trust that you have in the witnesses you have received and the testimony you have developed, and what you do because of it. A man I taught once in Rotterdam, before I left, said that faith was "an acceptance of things as they are" basically, that you follow and believe something because you don't have a better reason not to. But I think he missed a crucial part.
Faith is a seed. It lives. It isn't some stone we carry around our whole lives because we are scared to throw it away in case it winds up being important in the end. Faith is planted. It grows, and it blossoms, and it can bear forth fruit, depending on how much care we give it. This care we give, is our lifestyle. And our life style and decisions, create our character and mold who we become and what our tree of faith becomes, because it is inside of us.
I explain faith, because it is the fruit that we gain from faith that we can use as our witness. As our testimony. It is each piece of this precious fruit that we should cherish, and protect, because that is what we use to set before our doubts and fears. That is what gives us strength.
Thank you all for what I have learned from you. This life hard. It's a test. A training ground actually. But we are so blessed to understand how we can pass it. And how we can grow from it.
I love you all. Thank you for being there for me.
Elder Chantry
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