We got tons of rain this week! Some thunder and lighting, it was very very frightening! It is so good for the grass and plants though. Starting to see some green around here!
This week I participated in my first Book Of Mormon experiment! It was actually so fun. We set up a booth on MSU campus with the YSA elders and asked people if they wanted to read a page of the Book Of Mormon. (We didn't tell them where the page was from.) They would highlight their favorite parts of the page and I would ask them why the liked that part. That would lead into a conversation in which I would tell them that the page was from the Book Of Mormon. I would ask if they wanted it and I told them that it is such a great book about Jesus Christ! I was able to give out five with one of the YSA elders! It was so amazing. I seriously loved it. It was so easy and effective. The Book Of Mormon is true. If you want to learn more about Jesus Christ read this book!
We had some lessons with Kayla at the church! We showed her the building and paintings on the walls. We are trying to ease her into the whole idea of coming to church. She downloaded the Gospel Library app and spent 5 hours exploring it!!! So cool. We taught her the Plan Of Salvation and she seems to have a good understanding of it. She is doing good. I am feeling nervous about our next few lessons. They are pretty major ones. Repentance, baptism and the Holy Ghost. We will need to prepare well and preach with power! The Spirit is the best teacher.
Speaking of teaching I gave a talk this Sunday. Ordinances and covenants are how we access heavenly help. Be obedient. I will share it below.
I have thought a lot about Jesus Christ this week. He is the reason we missionaries do what we do. If we at least help someone come closer to Christ than we are fulfilling our purpose. He is our eldest brother.
Hope you are all feeling great! Smile 😀 Elder Spencer
A Promise
By Elder William Spencer
March 14, 2021: Ingram Mill Ward, Springfield MO
Hello brothers and sisters! I am so happy to be here with you today! I have to say out of all the areas I have served in the state of Missouri this has been my favorite one! This is my second area in the mission field and my first one was in Arkansas…. haha. This is a good ward. You are all wonderful. I hope you know you are watched over by a loving Heavenly Father who wants the best for you. He loves you so much. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Elder Spencer. I am from Sherwood Park, Alberta Canada and the snow we got a couple weeks ago reminded me of home. We will see how I fare this summer in the heat. I was trained in the online MTC from my home. It was a unique experience that I will cherish. As a missionary I have the opportunity to talk to people about Jesus Christ as I bear His name on my nametag. I am going to try to do the same here today.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. The word trust implies action. You can’t just think about making a snowball in the snow we had a few weeks ago and all of a sudden have a snowball. You have to go outside and make one yourself. Trust works the same. Your actions show your trust or distrust. Why is action important in trust? Why can’t we just say we trust God and bam, we trust Him and He trusts us. Jesus clarifies why action is important: “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matt. 7: 20) Our fruits are what other people see. Just like the fruit on a tree. We can see an apple on a tree and tell if it is ripe or rotten. We know if a tree is good if it brings forth fruit that is good. Lucifer knows this. He will “come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly [he is a] ravening wol[f]” (Matt. 7: 15) He will disguise a tree to look beautiful but in actuality it is rotting. I had a tree like this back home. In the springtime it would be coloured with beautiful pink and red blossoms. It was so pleasant to look at and I was always amazed at its beauty. However the fruit it bore was not edible. It was hard and bitter. It may have even been poisonous to eat. Lucifer tries to deceive us but Jesus Christ won’t deceive us. Cultivate the desire to do what He has asked us to do, but remember it's our “decisions [that] determine [our] destiny” (President Thomas S. Monson, Ponder the Path of Thy Feet, October 2014 General Conference)
I would like to relate an experience I had before I came on my mission that illustrates why trust in Jesus Christ is so important. I was with my young men’s group. We had a base camp and did some rock climbing around the area. We learned how to use harnesses, carabiniers, rope and each other to make it safely up and down the rock wall. We were getting familiar with the equipment so we would trust it when it mattered most. When we were going to be climbing the Via ferrata. The Via ferrata was a sheer steep rock face that was a couple thousand feet high. It only had metal rungs that we could climb up and use for support. We also had two caribierner lines attached to us and a wire that ran alongside the rungs. Every eight feet we would unclip one carabiner at a time to attach it to the next eight foot section. It was very tedious. I was anxious as I climbed up. It was a high climb and the trees looked so small beneath me. I trusted the equipment but I was still scared. Step by step I made it to the top. When I got to the top, I looked back at the cliff I had climbed up. I was filled with excitement that I had finished the climb!
In this climb of our lives we need help from Jesus Christ. Just like I used carabiner lines to catch me if I fell Jesus is there when we fall away from Him. He helps us get back up and keep climbing. Jesus saves. To access His saving power we must follow His example. He has said “come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22) One way we follow Him is by way of ordinances and covenants.
What are ordinances and covenants? According to the Gospel Of Jesus Christ pamphlet an ordinance is: “A sacred, formal act performed by the authority of the priesthood. Examples include baptism, and the sacrament. Ordinances are often a means of entering into a covenant with God.” (The Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet, pg. 19) A covenant defined by the pamphlet is: “An agreement between God and His children. God gives the conditions for the covenant, and we agree to obey Him. God promises certain blessings for our obedience.” (The Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet, pg. 18) Jesus showed us the way for the ordinances of Baptism and the sacrament. The sacrament prayers remind us of what we promise to do and what we can recieve from God if we are obedient to our promise. READ D&C 20:77, 79. (Talk about taking upon the name of thy Son, always remember Him, keep His commandments, and always have His Spirit to be with them.)
Now remember, we don’t have to worry about the Lord keeping His side of the promise. The Lord has said “I, the Lord am bound when you do what I say, but when ye do not what I say ye have no promise.” (D&C 82:10) We have been asked to do these things. Let us strive to do them with exactness and we will receive the Holy Ghost in our lives. A guide to help us come unto Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, let us take courage like the prophet Nephi did when he exclaimed READ 1 NEPHI 3:7. The Lord wouldn’t ask you to do anything if there was not a way to do them. The way He has prepared for us is Jesus Christ. (2 Nephi 31:21)
The word trust implies action. Living what we believe in our hearts. As we strive to always remember Him, take His name upon us and keep His commandments we have a promise that we will receive heavenly help. Jesus Christ is the way (2 Nephi 31:21), the path back to our Heavenly Father. I testify that He lives. He is concerned about you and the daily struggles you go through. He knows your name (Isaiah 43:1) I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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