Hey!! Sounds like everything is going great for everyone! This past week has been awesome! My companion ran into a bus stop sign which slit his thumb wide open. Don't text while riding a bike. I had my first aid kit with me so while administering to his wound he squirts blood at me and got on my tie and shirt, so I now have my companions blood on a tie and white shirt hahaha.
Anyways besides that we found a huge new housing complex that has all these brand new homes that young couples are moving into. It is so new it doesn't show up on google maps yet haha. but we are going to tract the area and we are hopeful! Also got a great referral that we are going to try today!
So this month in our mission we are studying chapter 5, Book of Mormon. And for one of our assignment we had to write a short testimony on a favorite scripture story so here is mine: My favorite story in the Book of Mormon is found in Mosiah Chapter 27. The conversion story of Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah. I love his story because it is one I can relate to in my life. No I was not going around seeking to destroy the church, but life hasn't always been the easiest of times. I love when the angel appears and testifies this church is true and testifying that the Lord hears prayers. It is comforting to think our Savior knows us and is right by us even if we fall or try to handle life on our own. I find another aspect of this story easy to relate too. If you look at Alma the father, he was a loving father who did not force the gospel on him for he knew his son needed to know the truthfulness himself. Aren't our parents like that? They love us unconditionally, through thick and thin. I think this part of the story gets over-looked. The importance of families. And the final part of the story when Alma the younger has his strength again and bids everyone to be of good comfort, and him now having the desire to preach and teach the gospel so others can repent and have a hope for things because that is why we have true joy and happiness we have the spirit of God in us.
I love this gospel, and the more time I am out here the more grateful I am to be serving the Lord. No I wasn't planning to serve a mission, and no I did not have an angel come down. But the people I have met, the examples they showed are the angels I needed to have. The Lord has a grand design for all of us, and is never far away. I know He loves us more than we know. Alma the younger is a perfect example of someone being converted and deepening his conversion. He served people the rest of his life and never loosing faith even through the trials in the city Ammonihah. I pray that now I know my purpose, I know I have a Heavenly Father watching over me, and angels all around me that I will never loose my faith just like Alma the younger.
I hope everyone is reading at least something out of the Book of Mormon each and everyday, and study it out in your mind during the day. I love you! Miss you!
Elder Harris
--
Elder Jorvik Ty Harris
Rancho Cucamonga, California
A couple of my own thoughts.... when I joined the church at 16 one of the things that really appealed to me was how important families were. My own upbringing did not allow me to have the most ideal family life and perhaps that is why it appealed to me. I do not really know... I just know that the idea of families being together forever in the eternities made my heart fill with joy and happiness.
Why are families important to Mormons?
Our families provide a setting for much of the growth we experience in life.
In our families we love, serve, teach, and learn from each other. We share our joys and our sorrows. Family ties may bring us difficult challenges, but they also give us strength and some of our greatest happiness.
The family is central to God’s plan for His children. It is also the central unit of society and the means for bringing children into the world where they can be loved, provided for, and taught truth and righteousness (see “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”).
While we cannot choose the conditions of our birth, we can choose each day to make our families stronger and happier. It is possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.
What do Mormons believe about family?
In “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”many Mormon beliefs about families are outlined. One of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ core beliefs is that family relationships can last forever—not just for this life.
Just as some of life’s sweetest joys can come through family associations, the loss of a beloved family member can be a source of our deepest sorrows.
But death does not need to be the end of our relationships with cherished loved ones. The Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith that the “same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there [in eternity], only it will be coupled with eternal glory” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:2).
Family members who accept the Atonement of Jesus Christ and follow His example can be together forever through sacred ordinances performed in God’s holy temples. Jesus gave to Peter the power to have things sealed on earth and sealed in heaven (Matthew 16:19). This same sealing power was restored to Joseph Smith. Mormon’s believe that they can be “sealed” or bound together through His power enabling them to live together in eternity.
No comments:
Post a Comment