Funny Moments:
- We taught Sergio about the restoration and how God had called a prophet, Joseph Smith. He then told us that he couldn't believe that God would appear to a 14 year old boy. Funny thing was, we never mentioned his age...pretty sure he's a member.
- Adam told us about how Adam and Eve couldn't have kids in the Garden of Eden. Pretty deep doctrine for a guy who hasn't been to catholic mass since he was 13. :)
- Elder Chase in my district is trying to set up his brother (attending BYU) with our teacher Sister Tuttle (also attending BYU). She finally agreed to deliver his note of introduction. We'll see how it goes.
- Somebody put the Canadian flag upside down on one of the poles. Life isn't terribly exciting here. Maybe I'll have some better stories next week.
Spiritual Moments:
- Monday, after we had met Sergio, I had the strongest impression that I should fast for lunch. I did, but as I was saying the prayer to start my fast, I felt impressed that I should fast for our investigators. immediately after lunch, we had the coolest experience with Adam! We actually committed him to baptism in the first lesson. Even though he's a member, it feels good to see the progress. In addition, I felt like God blessed me personally because I was able to find a letter from Colton that I had been searching for the entire two weeks before I left! turns out it was in one of the pockets in my bag that I hadn't ever noticed before. Super cool. I could feel so strongly that it was the Lord's hand in both of our experiences.
- We listened to a recording of a talk Elder Bednar had given at the MTC a few years back. He talked a lot about recognizing spiritual promptings. His main message was to just "get over it!" If you are following the commandments, then you will be a tool in the Lord's hands without even recognizing it. God is happy when we follow the direction of strong spiritual promptings, but he's even happier when we are self motivated to do good things. This was really cool because I had been reading in 1 Nephi where he goes back to get the plates. Of course we get the widely quoted verse where he says he went not knowing beforehand the things which he should do, but when he finds a drunk man on the street (not recognizing Laban) he goes over to help (even in the middle of an undercover mission). It is because Nephi is naturally obeying the commandments to be compassionate and charitable that he is able to get the plates. Follow the commandments all the time and whether or not you see the miracles, they will happen.
- Elder D. Todd Christopherson came to the Tuesday night devotional! He brought one of the first copies of the Book of Mormon with him and joked that the church security was for the book, not him. haha. He spent most of his talk explaining all the things that early church members had to go through to print the Book of Mormon. It was really cool to hear the dedication they had to sharing the Gospel. He also bore a super powerful testimony of the Savior.
- The second counselor in our branch presidency told us about Elder Cook's testimony a few weeks ago. He said that the Holy Ghost directs most of the affairs of the Church, but that Christ personally oversees temples and missionary work. Pretty powerful.
- I got to sing in the choir Tuesday night (the devotional was broadcast to all the MTC's). It was a really amazing arrangement and the choir this week was really good. They responded well to the changes the director made. But the broadcast of our song opened with about 20 seconds focused on my face. I was trying to not look at the camera, but the camera was on me for a LONG time.
- The new MTC buildings are being dedicated tomorrow, so everybody's pretty sure we'll have another apostle come speak! I'll let you know next week.
Spiritual Challenge:
-Something new I started this week--try reading through the Bible Dictionary. Seriously, if you want deeper doctrinal knowledge of the gospel, the Bible Dictionary and Jesus the Christ are amazing resources.
New Things I Learned:
- From Jesus the Christ--in the Garden of Eden, when God tells Satan that the seed of Eve will have power to bruise his head, he is referring to Christ. Because Christ is the only person born from a woman (seed of eve), but not from a mortal father (seed of adam). When god speak, he doesn't lie. So in this instance, God is telling Satan that there is no possible way that he can win. That's why Satan gets so upset.
- Why does God give Adam and Eve two contradicting commandments? Because following Gods commandments results in blessings, so he couldn't command them to partake, which would result in punishments (pain, death, sickness, separation from God). But this creates a dilemma because it wouldn't be fair for God to give them to opposing commandments. If he left it like that. Because God gave two opposing commandments, it was necessary for there to be an Atonement made. Because Christ performed the Atonement, it all balances out. It really is a perfect plan.
That's about it for now! I'll be writing from Australia next!
Elder Nelson II
Pictures this week: Elders Chesire and Grant next to the Ghana flag; Elders Clark and Rowles with me on a temple walk (I'm in a trio now because one of the Sydney North Elders went home); One of the really amazing murals in the new MTC buildings
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