So this week´s been a bit busy for us. We´ve been trying to focus on finding new investigators but because of several mission activities we didn´t have a lot of time. On Wednesday we had a stake service project (with only missionaries--no members) at an old-people home. I thought that people at old-folks homes were usually eighty-five and older. Most of the people here were around sixty-five. Then on Friday we had a Seventy come to our multi-zone conference for a mission tour. He was cool, but I was pretty bummed that it wasn´t an apostle, especially considering that Elder Holland passed through Brazil a couple months back and didn´t pass through our mission. The Seventy was friendly, though, and talked about some good stuff.
Our recent-convert from last Sunday basically became our secretary. She´s been marking visits with all the people that she knows for us to visit this week. It´s pretty much the most help from a member I´ve had in the mission. Unfortunately, we weren´t able to baptize anyone, or bring anyone new to church this week. We´ll see how it goes this next week.
So the other day I was reading through the Book of Mormon for personal study and came across a great passage that I really like. It´s from Helaman 5.
In the chapter, Nephi and Lehi (the sons of Helaman, the son of Helaman), are preaching unto the Lamanites. They are captured and taken to prison, "yea, even in that same prison in which Ammon and his brethren were cast by the servants of Limhi," and later many Lamanites and Nephite dissenters enter into the prison to kill them. They find Nephi and Lehi surrounded by pillars of fire. A voice calls unto them and commands them to stop seeking to harm His servants. The voice, while being like a whisper, shakes the earth and rends the prison walls. A cloud of darkness falls upon them.
This is where the part that I liked comes in.
35 Now there was one among them who was a Nephite by birth, who had once belonged to the church of God but had dissented from them.
36 And it came to pass that he turned him about, and behold, he saw through the cloud of darkness the faces of Nephi and Lehi; and behold, they did shine exceedingly, even as the faces of angels. And he beheld that they did lift their eyes to heaven; and they were in the attitude as if talking or lifting their voices to some being whom they beheld.
37 And it came to pass that this man did cry unto the multitude, that they might turn and look. And behold, there was power given unto them that they did turn and look; and they did behold the faces of Nephi and Lehi.
38 And they said unto the man: Behold, what do all these things mean, and who is it with whom these men do converse?
39 Now the man’s name was Aminadab. And Aminadab said unto them: They do converse with the angels of God.
40 And it came to pass that the Lamanites said unto him: What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?
41 And Aminadab said unto them: You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you.
42 And it came to pass that they all did begin to cry unto the voice of him who had shaken the earth; yea, they did cry even until the cloud of darkness was dispersed.
43 And it came to pass that when they cast their eyes about, and saw that the cloud of darkness was dispersed from overshadowing them, behold, they saw that they were encircled about, yea every soul, by a pillar of fire.
44 And Nephi and Lehi were in the midst of them; yea, they were encircled about; yea, they were as if in the midst of a flaming fire, yet it did harm them not, neither did it take hold upon the walls of the prison; and they were filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.
45 And behold, the Holy Spirit of God did come down from heaven, and did enter into their hearts, and they were filled as if with fire, and they could speak forth marvelous words.
46 And it came to pass that there came a voice unto them, yea, a pleasant voice, as if it were a whisper, saying:
47 Peace, peace be unto you, because of your faith in my Well Beloved, who was from the foundation of the world.
48 And now, when they heard this they cast up their eyes as if to behold from whence the voice came; and behold, they saw the heavens open; and angels came down out of heaven and ministered unto them.
49 And there were about three hundred souls who saw and heard these things; and they were bidden to go forth and marvel not, neither should they doubt.
(Helaman 5:35-49, italics and bold added)
To me, this passage describes exactly our proccess of repentance. We often feel, when we have sinned, under a "cloud of darkness", and we wish to remove it. And Aminadab, someone we would call a "less-active" tells the Lamanites how to remove this physical cloud, simaltaneously explaining how to remove the spiritual one. We must repent, cry unto God, and have faith in Christ who has been taught to us. It also states that the Lamanites prayed "even until the cloud of darkness was dispersed. They had to continually cry and repent unto God until the cloud had been lifted. After the cloud lifted, then came the pillars of fire, representing the purifying power of the Spirit. And finally, God spoke peace unto them, confirming that it was by their faith in His Well-Beloved that had saved them. After this came more spiritual experiences, and they were bidden to go forth, and not doubt. Considering how vital repentance is, not just to my and Parker´s work but to our own everyday lives, I really liked this chapter.
I love you guys, hope you´re all doing well.
Elder B. Blaylock
No comments:
Post a Comment