It's thundering here in Odessa today and the sky is dark. We walked here. Hmm. Things have been good. One of the branches in the district just had Elders put in at the beginning of the summer after having sisters for years. A lot of the ward members really miss the sisters... and so one of them we met at the General Relief Society Broadcast. The one that treated us like celebrities? She came out and went out with us all day. We meet some way cool people. At the end of the day I left my CD case in her car. I asked her to give it to the Elders since I was going to be seeing them the next day. When they gave me the case, I saw that it had sticky notes on every disc with a random highlight from our day together. SO FUNNY. I'm going to room with her when I get back to Rexburg. Love that girl!
We've been trying to contact this veterinarian for a while and we finally got to sit down with him last week. He's so cool! He told me a lot about his schooling and where that career stands today. it was fascinating. We also found out he's a Christian, family man and is very open to learning more. He has a 5 year old son who is just the cutest kid you've ever seen. I really look forward to teaching him and getting to know him.
I found this "30 day Book of Mormon Reading Chart" in our Area Book that sisters in the past made up. It had 30 questions about life or how/why to live the gospel and then a scripture reference to answer that question. A few of our investigators won't keep commitments to read from the Book of Mormon, so we're going to try this and see if this will be less intimidating for them.
We were studying one morning and Sister T read Moses 6:59 and asked a question about it. I immediately thought back to BYU-Idaho and my OT class. That scripture is awesome. Let me share with you what we've been talking about lately:
Moses 6:59 That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the aspirit, which I have made, and so became of bdust a living soul, even so ye must be cborn again into the kingdom of heaven, of dwater, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and eenjoy the fwords of geternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortalhglory;
So, looking at this, we are born into this world by water, spirit, and blood; our fleshy tabernacles. To be born into the Kingdom of Heaven, we have to be born again. We also see this commandment in John 3:5. We have to be born of water, of the Spirit, and of blood again. That water is baptism, that spirit is the Holy Ghost, and that blood is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Cool, nothing new. Here's the cool part. There are some people that I've come into contact in my life where they have an issue with woman not being able to hold the Holy Priesthood of God. Churches have been formed so that woman can 'hold" the Priesthood. However, this is not of God. Has been created us individually and we all have a purpose. We see that in the Family Proclamation to where we were created as either male or female. This verse of scripture shows us that purpose again. Woman help us progress by bring our spirits into this world to be born of the blood and water. We made it from our first estate to our second estate, or from our pre-earth life to our mortal life. We progressed. In order to progress any further, we have to be born again. This is where the Priesthood comes into play, or the role of men in life. They perform these sacred ordinances by the Priesthood to give us the key to salvation and exaltation: baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and being cleansed from sin by the Atonement of Christ. We are all individuals, given talents, gifts, abilities, and responsibilities to help us all get home. We are literally all in this together, and without each other and the important eternal roles that we are to follow, we can't make it home.
I thought about this for a long time this past weekend. I'm here on earth for just a short time. I'm not home yet. This is my temporary home. It is my responsibility to fulfill my calling as a missionary and as a disciple of Christ by doing everything in my power to serve. We are all important.
One of our ward missionaries spoke in Sacrament yesterday. She talked about how we are sheep, and Christ is the good shepherd. With the parable of the 99 and 1 lost sheep, he opened my understanding to this: That one lost sheep is just that, a sheep. Not a lamb, not a child, but a sheep that has gone astray. Why do we need to pay attention to those sheep? Because they will lead the lambs away. Go after those who are less-active in the gospel and save both them and their children. Jesus Christ is coming. Prophesies are being fulfilled everyday. The signs of the times are here. We have to raise the bar, Brothers and Sisters. We need to do everything we can. We have been given 1440 minutes everyday. What are you doing to do with those minutes? They are a gift. How are you going to honor that gift?
I know that Jesus is the living Christ. I know his church has been restored through a modern day prophet. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. I know that Book of Mormon is the true word of God. I know that the Priesthood is real, and that it is a blessing. We have been given a prophet, been given the scripture, been given the Priesthood, so that we can raise our families in a dying, terrifying world. Let us humble ourselves and turn to God. He loves us; what more do we need?
Shall we not go on in so great a cause?
Always,
Sister Moore
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