North Carolina Charlotte Mission

Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are your brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee. -Alma 31:35

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

9/23/13 "And the Lord said: Go to work."

"And the Lord said: Go to work."
--Ether 2:16

Here in North Carolina the weather has turned to autumn. I first felt this last Saturday when I stepped out to go run and could feel Fall in the air. The temperature is still lovely and the trees have not changed color, but I can feel it, just the same. We've had a couple of gray days this last week, where the sky was literally gray the whole day and we could not see the sun. Quite interesting.

It was on one such gray day that we went to go out and find people to teach -- "find people to teach" being a purpose-driven way of saying "knock doors." I refuse to use the word "tract." Anyhoo, after a little while of fruitless searching, we went to return to our bikes in preparation of making the 5-mile journey home. Upon reaching the bikes, however, a cursory examination of my back tire revealed it to be dead. It had given up the ghost sometime during our finding.

So we called up a member for a ride and went to go sit on a nearby park bench to wait, taking pictures of ourselves to pass the time as slowly the sky darkened. As evening fell, a group of kids came to the park to throw a football around. In the dim light, I could make out the figure of a small boy in a wheelchair sitting at the edge of the road, watching them. After a few minutes I got up and walked over to the small, frail boy in his wheelchair and asked his name and how old he was (six) and spoke with him for a moment, and I said to him: "I want you to know that you can do anything you put your mind to."

And then the member came and took us away. But I will remember that little exchange I had with the boy. I felt terribly sorry for him, sitting there on the sidelines watching the other kids play.

But it's true, isn't it? We really can do anything we put our mind to. Like overcome a physical handicap. Or becoming like God. The wonderful promise we have been given is that because of the Savior, weak legs will walk someday and sinful souls will become saintly.

This last Saturday, September 21st, was the 190th anniversary of Moroni's visit to Joseph Smith. Take a moment and ponder on that.

I recently read the last real talk Gordon B. Hinckley's ever gave in General Conference, "The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain." One of the many great and profound things the President spoke about in there was the Book of Mormon and how critics have tried to attack it for years or disprove it. Theories have been spawned, conspiracies have been drawn up, conjectures have been made, but in the end, the one with the angel still remains by far the most believable.

People try to wave away the Book of Mormon, but it doesn't work. Something like that can't just be passed off as unimportant. It is something that demands attention. 

It has stood out to me that it is so crucial to be open to accepting additional revelation. The people I meet who say that they don't possibly need to learn or pray about additional truth from God are making the same mistake as the Pharisees who sent the Son of God to die on the cross for blasphemy.

I could go on quite the warpath about that, but I won't. I simply repeat: it is so important to be willing to test things for truth. All things. When something comes up, you can either say: "There's no possible way that can be true, so there's no need to pray about it," which is an extremely prideful response. Or, there is the Master's invitations to "Ask, and ye shall receive," "come and see," "by their fruits ye shall know them." If we refuse to at least try, we will not find.

It has been my blessing and privilege here in Lakefield to see the results of when people are willing to ask. We had a family of six come to church this last Sunday for the second time, all because they have actually been open to praying about what we've taught them.

The Gospel is so wonderful. Probably because it's true! I love being a missionary and I love my mission. I thank the Lord that I get to be here at this time. Hurrah for Israel!

Love you,


Elder Fisher

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