I stay here, and I get Elder C. His parents are from Mexico I believe (?) And he's super nice from what I know. And of course he's one of the other couple billion people who speak Spanish just to remind me that I don't. .. hehheh. It's cool though
Elder I. has been a great companion. I’ll miss him. He has really finished his mission strong. He's done a lot here in this area. He should be proud, along with his family.
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I said I would talk about my zone training. I want to talk about it cause it follows up on the monologue I’ve had lately ...
The training was really the best one I’ve taught yet. We began with workshops, role-plays etc, and that went well. I had a language section, where we had to teach 'members' a gospel topic by using a random analogy (like snowboarding and faith)
That wasn't bad. Elder I. and Sis. E. had their own station. After that, and after lunch, we had training. Where each of us taught a segment, and we had musical numbers in between. (if you haven't seen the music video 'Because of Him' on the church website you got to watch it. Amazing. That's one we used)
The segment I taught was about conversion. All three segments worked together, but specifically on mine I talked about the why behind conversion. I tried to share with them as much as I could, and I hope the Spirit made the difference.
---What I taught and what I learned I want to share with you all a little:
(Along with a lot of things, I used two talks especially to help me: "Challenge to become" Elder Dallin H. Oaks. And Elder David A. Bednar's talk on conversion in the Oct. 2012 ensign. Just fyi)
Last time on conversion, I talked about living what you believe to be true. It is the essence of conversion.
It is. It is creating good habits, setting proper priorities, organizing ourselves to be more like Christ. Seeking and acting on opportunities to place others before yourself.
I say all this to give you examples of what I mean. These are all things you all know. Sis. E. said it best when she explained conversion is manifest by our consecration. Consecration being our willingness to give up Whatever the Lord may require from us. And also giving up things even when it's not asked of us, doing it because we see that it is necessary.
But I realized something very important. Doing the things the gospel preaches does not necessarily bring conversion. It puts us in a position to become converted, but does not bring the change itself. That is done by you. Example: You must build a bridge. This bridge represents your conversion. It can carry the loads in life and support you and bring you where you need to be. Each piece of the bridge, concrete, cables, beams, etc represent testimonies or compliance to, different gospel principles and doctrines. You can collect an impressive pile of these pieces, but that doesn't build your bridge. All you have is pieces. You become converted as you understand how those pieces fit together. If you have a vision of what they can become, and know what their purpose is.
I want to end this, with an image. Something that I thought of awhile back, and has stuck with me. I don't know what the final judgment will be, but this image has made me think a lot: Imagine you have died, and you are in a long hall way. You walk to a door at the end, and as you do your past life flashes around in your mind. You open the door and see you’re standing in a huge court room. But, it's completely empty. You expected a huge crowd for your judgment. You wonder where everyone is, but then you see a door off to the side, a small one, and so you go through. On the other side is a room that’s small, and has only a skylight up above. The dim light lights up an object on the other side of the room. You walk up to it and see that it is an old, full-length mirror. You look in and see yourself, and for the first time, you really see yourself for who you Really are. No more deception, bias or ignorance. You know you. Your character, who you have become, is right there.
It becomes Obvious at that point that there really is no need for a judgment, because you already know what the judgment is. It's not a waiting for the final test score to come in. It's a realization of who you have become, while taking the test.
I have to go now. I love the truth the gospel brings. And the clarity that it can give when we really seek it.
Met liefde,
Elder Chantry
van Alkmaar
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