One thing I've realized on my mission is that time is
relative. The speed you're moving at determines how quickly the week goes.
Well, this week went by really slowly, which means that we were probably
getting a lot done! We were very busy, from start to finish, and that's always
a good thing.
Just so you all know, I am on my second transfer. At
the start of this latest transfer we got another brand new missionary in
our district, Elder Larson. As I am the best at playing piano in my district
(and my zone too, come to think of it), I always play piano for district
meeting.
Well, I was fooling around on the piano before the
meeting, since only four missionaries had shown up at that time and
there was about ten minutes before it started. All of a sudden, while I was
playing some stuff I know, Elder Larson said, "Hey! I know that song!
That's Dancing Mad, Third Tier, isn't it?"
I nearly fell off of the bench. Apparently someone else in
the world actually knows that song.
I actually got to go on exchanges with Elder Larson
this week, and we had a pretty good time. We had to do some preparations for a
fireside the branch was putting on that Sunday; it was meant specifically
for nonmembers, so people would be giving talks about the Church, explaining
what we believe, and Elder Molina and I would teach the first lesson.
Afterward, there would be a question and answer session. Anyway, we wanted to
get as many people as possible to this fireside, which meant we had to make a lot of
phonecalls.
Apparently Dobson is in some sort of black hole of phone
reception, because we can never make or receive calls when we're in our area. I
think that our phone is a bit like the Liahona and that its reception is
dependant on our faith. I have noticed, for instance, that the closer we
get to the Dobson Chapel, the better reception we get...
So whenever we have to do any serious phone-calling, we head
over to the church and sit by the chapel. Elder Larson quite patiently waited
while I made 38 phone calls for an hour and a half.
Anyway, this week has been extremely busy. On Monday we had
Zone Activity, carving pumpkins and playing a form of dodgeball
called Hit Elder Snodgrass. On Wednesday we had Zone Meeting,
where we received a lot of training from President Craven. It's been
nonstop since then. We've gotten a ton of new investigators, so we're feeling
really blessed.
One other highlight this week was that we handed
out an Arabic Book of Mormon to some Muslim refugees from Sudan . We
also ran into a lady who raised honeybees...so I got to bust
out Elder Ballard's conference talk, along with Ether 2:3, to get an
appointment. Score!
Most of these stories are happy thoughts.
Well, this week we had a talk with a woman who has had a
very hard life. A lot of abuse, a lot of addictions, a lot of bad choices.. I'd
never really met anyone before who had really hit rock bottom, and this
woman had. We had a very long talk with her, trying to help her. I will not go
into details, but essentially, the base of the issue was this: she did not
feel that she was good enough for God to love her anymore. And we told her that
this was a lie.
In the scriptures we learn that Satan has been a "liar
from the very beginning." We know that before we were born, Heavenly
Father had a Plan for us, that we would go to Earth, be born, get a body, and
live our lives. We would have the chance to choose and make wrong choices. If
we gave it our best, we would be able to return home and become like our
Heavenly Father because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Satan did not like this plan. He wanted power; to force
people to do want he wanted them to do. But he couldn't do that unless people
let him, so he came up with a story to get us to follow him.
He told us that there was no way we could possibly succeed in God's Plan.
It was too hard, he said. The only way we could return to
Heavenly Father's presence was if he, Lucifer, forced us to
be perfect, if he did everything for us. He said, in effect, that we
were not good enough.
And that was Satan's first lie. His only lie, if
you really think about it. Heavenly Father made us, and He knew exactly
what we were capable of. He knew that we could make it. A third of God's
children were afraid about having to choose for themselves, and so they decided
to believe Satan's lies and follow Him. They did not think they were good
enough to make it.
Some of you may remember my missionary scripture, Alma 31:35: "Behold,
oh Lord, their souls are precious...therefore, give us power and wisdom that we
may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee."
I know that every soul is precious. That's what I
told this poor woman. That is why I am here on a mission. I know that we are all
good enough, and that we all can return home to live with our
Heavenly Father. That's why the Atonement was made to cover
everyone. God did not calculate casualties, he knew everyone could
make it. Satan says we aren't good enough; Heavenly Father says we are.
Through our thoughts and actions, we show who we believe more.
We all can change. We all can become perfect. We are
all worth the effort Jesus Christ gave. It's going to take work to
change, but it can be done. We are the precious children of God, and, to
paraphrase C.S. Lewis, what does a God beget? Other gods.
The Church is true. 'Nuff said.
Hurrah for Israel !
Elder Fisher
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