"Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive
them their trespasses against me." - Mosiah 26:30
In case you didn't notice, #72 does not exist. This was
because we had to skip off to a Christmas devotional last Monday which caused
me to miss my email time.
Just so you know...missionaries are now allowed to read their
email on days other than Monday, but we cannot respond to our emails
besides Preparation Day. So, please, send me all the email you want, whenever
you want. I love to hear how you are doing.
While in the Skype conversation with my family on Christmas
Day, I shared with them a list of things I've learned while on my mission. I
might just share them with you, in no particular order:
25 things I've learned on my mission:
1. Elders can go anywhere. We can go in
the most hood of hood places, where other people would get mugged and cops
would only go when in force, and not get touched. 'Cuz we's Jesus people.
2. Family is so so important. I cannot stress enough
just how important it is to have a husband and wife married to each other to
raise their kids. No other form of relationship between men, women, and children
works. It is crucial to have a man and a woman who love each other and respect
each other, working together to nurture the kids. SO important.
3. Priesthood power is real. I have complete confidence in
the power of a priesthood blessing. I am always certain that they will help a
person who is in need. Faith + missionary mantle = miracle, every time.
4. Mormons really stand out in the world. No, really,
we stick out like a sore thumb. And I'm referring to the general members of the
church here, not missionaries. There have been numerous times where I've
accidentally knocked into members that I've never met before, and I'm usually
able to tell within seconds that they're LDS -- assuming that they don't
immediately say "Oh, hello, Elders!" or something like that. But
Mormons really are set apart from the world, in how we act, help others, and
live our lives. People generally trust us and are impressed with us, even if
they might think we're weird and may be afraid we'll try to convert them.
5. Miracles don't have to be big to be miracles. When
people think of a miracle, they might think of an incredible healing or a check
for $10,000 showing up out of nowhere after one pays his tithing. But this does
not have to be the case. A missionary knows the thousands of little things that
go wrong or get changed throughout the week that end up getting him in the
right place at the right time with the right experiences under his belt to make
a difference.
6. Everyone is a child of God. Some of the most
profound conversations I've had my entire mission have been talking with
drug-dealers on a rickety front porch. All of these people are children of God.
All of them have the Light of Christ inside of them, urging them to do God. He
loves them just as much as He loves us, the faithful members. He goes to great
lengths to get us to meet them, so that they have an opportunity to accept the
Gospel and come home.
7. The Holy Ghost does all the converting. At the end of the
day, if someone ends up joining the Church it is not because of anything the
missionaries did. It is the Holy Ghost. People get converted because they choose to
do so. Therefore, I don't have anything to boast about if they are making the
right choices.
8. Nothing is certain. Even the seemingly most prepared
individuals can drop off the face of the map. Even the most vile and disgusting
of people can change. So many times I have been humbled because someone I
thought for certain would not keep their commitments actually did.
9. Little things over a long time cause big things to
happen. It is the little acts of kindness and persistent obedience that
change us into children of Christ. Conversion does not come through one
glorious experience, or in leaps and bounds -- it is a gradual growth, a
lifelong process. Investigators do not become converted in a day.
10. God always rewards obedience. I have
never had a 9:28 PM last-door-of-the-night experience, but that
doesn't mean that God did not reward my obedience. It is a law of heaven:
whenever we are obedient, we will be blessed. Those blessingswill come. We
may be blessed in ways we would not expect as a result of things we did.
11. Teachability is the greatest virtue. I've come to
believe that humility is where everything starts. If we are humble, and accept
the truth presented to us, we can have faith. Faith leads to repentance.
Repentance leads to sanctification. Repentances leads us to God.
(Wow...unintentionally ended up sounding like Yoda there.)
12. Members are awesome. Your missionaries love you. There
seems to be no limit to what members are willing to do for missionaries. They,
the "rank and file" members of the Church, are some of my greatest
heroes.
I repeat: the greatest heroes of the church are the
thousands of people who quietly go along, faithfully serving. The Church could
not survive without all of these wonderful people.
13. Gratitude and thoughtfulness = awesomeness. Members
are awesome because they love missionaries. They will love missionaries no
matter what they do. Therefore, it is important to be thankful. Members
really appreciate gratitude and thoughtfulness.
14. Some things are not worth arguing about...but some
things are. There are things your companion does where it's just not
worth the trouble trying to change it. But then again, there are times where
you simply have to draw the line. The Spirit (and the mission president) can
help you know where to draw that line.
15. Sometimes you do things just on principle. There are
times on a mission where it seems like the Lord is testing you. It's pouring
down rain and you just know that nobody's going to be home and
nobody's going to listen. Do you go out and work, or stay home? Sometimes...you
just do things for the principle of the thing. That's a sub-branch of the thing
we call "faith."
16. Greater boldness, greater success. The more we open our
mouth, the more opposition we might face, but the more success we will have.
17. People can and will feel the truth if only they're
willing to try it. I completely rely on Moroni's promise. I am 100%
certain that if people will simply read the Book with a halfway-open heart,
they will know that it is true. They don't even have to read the whole thing. I
firmly believe that if someone doesn't get a testimony of the Book of Mormon,
they haven't read it. Moroni's promise works.
18. Tracting does not work. It just doesn't. I can give
you several thousand examples of why.
19. Some people just won't accept the Gospel in this life. It's
not that they're evil or that you're a bad missionary. Some people are just too
good or too lazy to be able to receive the Gospel in this life. Such people you
might just have to leave for Alma and Amulek in the Spirit World.
20. Leaving a good impression is often more important than
getting in a door. Some people won't accept the Gospel the first time it comes
knocking on their door. But leaving a good impression and helping them feel the
Spirit can make sure that there's a second or a third time.
21. By their fruits ye shall know them. Words mean very
little. People can say all they want about how touched they are or how excited
they are to be baptized...but at the end of the day, what really shows their
faith is if they keep the commitments.
22. You can relate anything to anything. Literally
anything can be tied to the Gospel. Anything can be used as an object lesson. I
have had so many strange parables and comparisons on my mission, trying to find
a way to relate a concept to somebody.
23. It's better to leave with the Spirit than defend your
position without it. Some people are jerks and mock what you hold sacred. There
are times were it's simply better to let them get the last word and leave with
the Spirit then defend your point but cause contention. I have had both
experiences on my mission.
24. The Lord's way is to forgive. Always. I have come
to know that the Lord's capacity to forgive is infinite. Mercy isalways extended
on the condition of repentance. Because the Lord will always forgive, we must
always forgive.
25. The Atonement is real. It is not some abstract concept
we always talk about in Church and Sunday school. It is a real force with real
power. I have had the privilege to see it work in other's lives all throughout
my mission.
I love you all and wish you a happy New Year! Hurrah for
Israel!
Elder Fisher
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