Anyway, this week was...okay...for us. One of our investigators decided to start being really difficult and asking questions like "Where does it say Joseph Smith in the Bible?" Like, seriously. Tell me where it says Jesus Christ in the Old Testament and then we´ll talk. And our other investigator (the one who doesn´t have a place to live), well, his mom died. Yup. :( So he went to a will-reading on Sunday instead of conference.
Anyway, I really liked conference this year. I watched almost all of it in English, which is always a plus for me. I noticed a lot of focus on what are to me the missionary lessons, which are in general the main focus points of Christ´s doctrine and how it is here on Earth today. Like Parker wrote, each of these "lessons" reveals important truths. The Restoration tells us "how" Christ´s full Gospel and church were anciently, and "how" they were restored. The Gospel, in addition to the other lessons about Commandments, such as Word of Wisdom, tell us "what" we need to do, the way of Christ. But to me, the most important is the "why". That "eternal plan of happiness". It tells why we are here, why we follow Christ, why we need an everlasting Gospel and divinely inspired church organization. If we lack the why, the how of the restoration and the what of baptism and the who of Joseph Smith are meaningless. This is "the mark", the plan where Jesus Christ is the focal point. There was also a lot of focus on another very important factor in the plan of salvation, one that Jesus Christ made possible for us--repentance. I like what was said, that it isn´t a "back-up plan" but the only and intended way.
Another thing that I learned about this week from personal scripture study. In the First Epistle of John, chapter five, verse eight, he makes the following declaration:
8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
58 Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely unto your children, saying:
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 spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, 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 enjoy the words of eternal lifein this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory;
As we are born by water of the womb and the blood of our mothers and the spirit created by our Father in Heaven, we are born again (baptized) by water, by the Spirit, and made clean by the blood of Christ. Even more interesting to note are these same three "witnesses" in Christ. He bled for us in Gethsemane, and delivered His spirit willingly, "giving up the ghost", and, as a Roman soldier pierced Him to assure He truly was dead, water poured from His side; the presence of which is a real phenomenon that results from death of a broken heart, which occurs after great mental, emotional, or spiritual struggle.
I know that He lives. That He offers two salvations; one, a free gift to all, the salvation from physical death. The other; salvation from spiritual death and sin, which is exaltation in the celestial kingdom of God, which can be gained only by obedience to His precepts and His gospel. I love you all.
Elder B. Blaylock
Things I saw this week:
a monkey!
dog with a GIANT bone (?!)
I made pizza. The dough was super sticky--but it turned out pretty great.
A member from another ward works with coffins. He made a visit to Elder J's last district meeting (or "funeral" as the missionaries call it).
Missionary art -- haha
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