2012.Oct.29
Wow,
Really this week was
incredible. We had a conference with Elder Bednar. We had to travel from Cuidad
Del Este. We left at 11 o’clock at night and we got into Asuncion at like 3 in
the morning and the conference would start at 7:30 so we had a good little sit
down time that we waited and were able to get in. It was pretty cool because we
waited for like 4 hours but we were able to sit on the very very front row and
see the balls of sweat trickling down his face. Really it was such a huge and
powerful meeting. He truly is an Apostle of the Lord. We met there with the
entire mission and the other mission in Paraguay to listen to him and to be
guided by his words. One thing that he talked about was the little silly Mormon
culture that we have. That we have a lot of stupid, yes an apostle said stupid,
ideas and ways of living that really make no sense at all. It was very very
real to us that he knows us. He can relate to us and that he knows really
what’s in our head instead of trying to pretend to be above us he really came
down to our level to get into our hearts and our brains that really he knows us
and that the Lord knows us.
First he started
talking about how that we aren’t the teachers. That a person isn’t going to be
converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ by some 19 year old that can barely
speak the language and that doesn’t even have a family. We are not the reason
why. The spirit is what converts people to the Lord. He says that if we think
that we are the teachers we are truly mistaken and must repent. He talked about
that we need to change the culture of the church. That there are lots of games
that we try to play that don’t make any sense. Like when we are teaching we try
to play... guess what’s in my head..... or try to confuse with knowledge....
These are habits and cultures that must be corrected. It was very impressive
the way that he taught us. He said that he wasn’t going to stand up and talk to
us for 4 hours like we had planned on him doing. That we would be conversing
with him and showing him what we are learning and feeling. He said that if we
read a scripture or said something it should be what the spirit tells us to do
or say that we shouldn’t try to guess what he wanted us to say. He talked about
faith. He talked about how we as people need to be agents and not objects. We
have been blessed with the divine gift of agency and so we have become agents.
Instead of learning by being objects and letting people give us all the answers
and then not doing anything, we need to be agents and act. Use our faith and
our ability to choose to act on those impressions that we receive from the
spirit. He talked about how we as missionaries need to invite people to act. We
can’t be the ones that just talk and talk and talk. We invite and allow the
people to use what they know and feel and put it into action instead of us
trying to force things upon them. Really it was a great conference in helping
us learn the importance of trying to allow the spirit to be the teacher through
using our agency to act with faith.
At
the end we got to
ask questions. Wow. It was probably the only time in my entire life that
I will
have to be able to ask an apostle a question. He told us that we
shouldn’t ask
stupid questions. Like where is the sword of Laban? He answered that one
for
us. He doesn’t know. And he said that he didn’t care. He told us also
that he
was going to be picking the questions by discernment. That he wasn’t
going to
be picking on the missionaries that he wanted to pick but the
missionaries that
the Lord wanted to pick. That was sweet. AND I GOT TO ASK HIM A
QUESTION........ I asked him that if really it’s so important that we
have the
spirit that we need to be pure vessels so that the Lord can use us. I
asked him
how and when can we know with certainty that the Lord has forgiven us?
He told
me it was a good question. It was so amazing. I was having a
conversation with
an apostle. He was looking at me right in my eyes and I was looking at
him. He
asked me if I can remember some of my sins and I said yes. He said that
it
wouldn’t make sense if in Doctrine and Covenants it says that the Lord
...will remember the sins no more. That was revelation that wasn’t given
to me or
anyone else. Yes we can remember our sins. We remember them because it
helps us
in staying away from the pain, suffering and tears that it brought. He
then
began to explain that the spirit cannot enter into unclean temples. So
he asked
me if I have felt the spirit. I said yes. He said well then you know
that at
least there is some good in you and that the Lord hasn’t given up on you
yet.
He said that yes we aren’t perfect, that we cannot have the spirit every
millisecond of every minute of every day until the end of time. But he
said
that we should feel the spirit a whole lot more than when we don’t feel
it.
wow...........
Really I am so
grateful for the blessing that I had to be able to go and listen to a servant
of the Lord and learn not from his words but from the promptings of the spirit.
I could feel within my heart that really he is a special witness of our Savior,
Jesus Christ. I know that really we all have faith and we should all be agents
and USE IT. I love you and hope you have a good and awesome week, because I
sure am going to...
Rohaihu
--
Elder Beatty
Elder Beatty
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