"You're sitting in a chair...IN THE
SKY."
(Sorry, I couldn't resist. Elder Uchtdorf's Priesthood
session talk made me think about it.)
(here danny is referring to a quote from "everything's
amazing and nobody's happy" by comedian Louis CK. If you haven't seen it,
i highly recommend it (4 minutes) :www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk . paula)
Well, I've got Conference stuff, Mission stuff, and a
spiritual thought this time around, with nice little section headings to help
you if you're short on time.
Conference
Well, to start off:
18-year old Elders and 19-year old Sisters!?
YES.
Elder Molina and I were so excited, you cannot even imagine.
It's going to be so cool having all of these voice-cracking young Elders coming
and teaching in our mission. This definitely was an inspired decision by the
prophet. (And, hey, I guess it means that Steve can go on his mission at the
same time as Tyler and Austin now.)
Is it just me, or was this conference particularly amazing?
I don't think there was a single uninteresting talk. Maybe it was because I am
a missionary now, or because I was taking better notes, or because Elder
Scott was in the Sunday Afternoon session. Regardless, both talks of
the First Presidency Members, both of the women speakers,
Christofferson's, Bednar's, Holland 's...all
were amazing.
I would definitely say that the main message of this
conference was becoming. Becoming the sort of person who loves God.
We're supposed to help others change and become like this, either as
missionaries, as ward members, or as parents (there was a ton about parenting
this time.) Spencer W. Kimball raised the bar in the church from knowing to doing,
and now we must advance to becoming.
I guess the chorus of "I Am a Child of God" needs
to get changed again, to "Teach me all that I must be."
To accomplish this goal of becoming, I sat down Saturday
afternoon and wrote down a list of resolutions so that I actually will learn
and apply stuff I've heard from the prophets. I've even given these resolutions
to Elder Molina so he can keep me accountable. I would encourage all of you to
do something similar. I'm also going to take both President Monson and
President Eyring's advice and keep a "small plates" where I can see
how the Lord has answered my prayers throughout the years.
I definitely thought the music this conference was really
great. Particularly the arrangement of "Love One Another" in the
Priesthood session. It was good to see Boyd in the Mormon Tabernacle choir,
especially now that I'm on my mission - makes me think how much it must mean to
Zach, huh?
I'm pretty sure that I saw Alex Boye, Ron Paul, Steven
Martin, and Conan O'Brien in the Tab Choir this time around, too. Didn't know
that the last three were converts, though there have been rumors about Steve
Martin before :)
I got to go on two exchanges this week. The first was on
Tuesday, with another elder in my district named Elder Snodgrass. He looks like
the name sounds. We had a lot of fun. This Thursday Elder Molina had to go to a
Leadership Training Meeting, so I went to Winston-Salem ,
the city south of Dobson, and went on exchanges with Elder Gomm.
The observant reader will remember that Elder Gomm was in my
MTC district, so essentially it was the two of us, both trainees, that got to
go to work together. That's not very common, just so you know. It was great; we
learned a lot, and talked to a lot of people. Elder Gomm told me a story about
how one of the members in his area was supposed to give an investigator a ride
to church, but the member locked the car keys inside of his house. At the
urging of his wife, he broke the door down, got the keys, and gave the
investigator a ride to church. Is that guy a stud or what?
Another good story from this last week. We had an
appointment with a lady named Michelle, but she called us up to say she
couldn't make it. So we decided that we would go and see Lina, our baptismal
date. We show up at the house and Lina's not home, but her daughter Lou was. We
asked her if we could talk to her, and she did.
Man, I have never seen anyone on my mission who was so
desperate for the truth as she was. She was really confused about life and what
she was supposed to do, and she just drank up our message. Thankfully we were
able to teach very clearly, and she understood what we were saying. When we
talked about baptism, she asked us, "Is it possible for
someone to be baptized twice?" and when we invited her to be baptized, she
said, "Could you baptize my 9-year old son, too?"
We asked her to say the prayer, and wow. Just wow. Moroni says to pray with
real intent. Well, Lou had it. I've never seen anything to match it before. She
was in silent tears for a whole minute before she could get out the question,
"Is this true? I need to know if it is." The Spirit was incredible. I
truly feel that she is prepared; she took her Book of Mormon to work with
her. We're going to go back and visit them tomorrow, so hopefully it goes
well! It would be great to have three generations of the same family get
baptized in November.
Spiritual
Well, I had wanted to talk about the Sword of Laban this
time around, but I don't know if I'll get to it. Maybe next week.
Here down in the South we bump into a lot of opinions on how
we get saved. Some people say you're saved by faith, and not works; that all
you need to do is say "Save me Jesus!" and you're good. Some people
say that your works will save you.
It reminds me of what C.S. Lewis said on the matter: (and I
paraphrase:) "People say that God is looking for faith or looking for
works. I think that what God is really ultimately looking for is
not faith or works, but a certain kind of person."
And, during Elder Holland's talk, it hit me what that kind
of person is: someone who loves Him.
That's why He made us. That's why we're here, and how we get
back, and why He gives us commandments. After all, our love is the
only thing that's really ours to give. We're here on Earth to see if we'll love
Him more than everything else. We are to become the kind of person who does.
It's a long process, but it can be done, and the only way it can start is if
people learn the truth.
That is why it is our responsibility to share that love and
that truth, wherever we are; me in the mission field and you at home.
I know that this is God's work, and that President Monson is
the prophet in our day. I love you all, and I hope Becky enjoyed her birthday
card. :)
Hurrah for Israel !
Elder Fisher
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