So, this past week, my new companion came into town. Elder Bell has been on his mission for 18 months now, speaking English the whole time, so I'm going to have a great experience teaching him. It's really cool, because I have thought in the past of teaching Spanish as a career, so this will give me a little taste of it. We spend one hour a day in our apartment learning Spanish, and I stand at the front of the room, like a Professor, and make notes on our whiteboard. Then, I explain the concepts more in depth and we practice them. It makes me feel like a genius. That's why it was so vital that I got asked to teach a class in church in the Spanish language. All I will say is that I did not feel like a genius after that, and I left the building as a more humble man. I actually do know that I have a lot of work to do with my Spanish speaking abilities, for the record. I am not a genius, and I know it.
I would just like to share one cool experience. One of the people we are teaching has had a hard time believing what we've been saying, and has not taken much action to research and ask God to find out for herself. The past week, she was going through some stress with their family's side business. She was worried that they would be short on money because their product was not selling. She remembered that people had told her about experiences with praying then opening up The Book of Mormon to a random page and finding their answer, so she tried it. The first words she saw were "Have faith." Even though this may seem like a coincidence, I know that God speaks to us through the scriptures when we need direction, comfort, or counsel. If we have an open heart, are sincere, and ask in faith, God can communicate to us in a way that may seem insignificant to onlookers. However the feelings of love and peace that God sends to us through the Spirit are undeniable as we have such experiences. (John 14:26-27 and Galatians 5:22-23)
Another Scripture that has really stuck out to me lately is Mosiah 28:3 from the Book of Mormon. It is talking about the sons of Mosiah who had been fighting against the Church but had been rescued by God through the appearance of an angel. This was a very similar experience to that of Saul/Paul in the New Testament. This verse describes their attitude as they were preparing to travel to the land of their enemies to preach the gospel and try to bring as many souls as possible to repentance through Jesus Christ. (I will include verses 1 and 2 to give some background):
1 Now it came to pass that after the sons of Mosiah had done all these things, they took a small number with them and returned to their father, the king, and desired of him that he would grant unto them that they might, with these whom they had selected, go up to the land of Nephi that they might preach the things which they had heard, and that they might impart the word of God to their brethren, the Lamanites—
2 That perhaps they might bring them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and convince them of the iniquity of their fathers; and that perhaps they might cure them of their hatred towards the Nephites, that they might also be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God, that they might become friendly to one another, and that there should be no more contentions in all the land which the Lord their God had given them.
3 Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble.
This is the attitude and sense of urgency that I am trying to exemplify as I serve my mission. As I grow in understanding of God's doctrine, especially the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I desire more and more to spread the gospel to the hearts of anyone that I can.
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