So this week, we saw miracles. The work flourished. People who haven´t been to church in 30 years came this Sunday. The spirit was really strong in the house, at church, and during lessons.
We had another lesson with Andrea yesterday. At the end, she said " You know, I don´t know what it is about you, but I feel something every time you´re here. It´s not like a tired feeling, but like I could doze off any second because of how relaxed and at peace I am." We began to explain that that was the spirit testifying to her that what we were telling her she needed to do with her life, is right. She has a son, Santiago, who is like 3 years old. "What you said about me wanting the gospel for my son in his life Elder Jackson, is exactly right. I made a promise to Heavenly Father when I had my son that he would have the gospel in his life. I don´t know...it feels like you knew that." I told her "Then you know what you need to do." It was literally one of the best feelings of my life. I knew in that moment that she understood who we are. We aren´t just young men....we are disciples of Christ! There´s a reason that we say what we say.
Also, we had a super strong lesson with Hermana Valinsuela this week. We showed up and she told us that they didn´t have much time, but that we could share something. Elder Soulier asked me to share my conversion story and my testimony of the church. I began to share the adventure. I don´t know exactly what I said, but Hermana Valinsuela and I were talking...or rather her and the spirit. As I told my story and testified of the things that I know to be sure beyond the shadow of a doubt in my heart, she opened up to us more than ever. She told us things about her life that she hasn´t told anybody ever...much less two 20 year olds. It was just such a spiritual moment and I´m so grateful to know that I have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion always. That I can say the things that need to be said for these people to realize that they aren´t even talking to me...but to God. It´s a feeling I can´t even describe except pure joy.
Now for the lesson of the week.
As Latter-Day-Saints, we dedicate our lives to Heavenly Father and covenant with him to live a higher law. When we are doing the norms in the church, we typically, as a generalization, feel that we have a firm stand on Satan and his powers against us. Is this really the case? Or have we tricked ourselves and in the process lost sight of the real picture?
In the gospel, it has never been sufficient to just do the minimal requirements. It isn´t sufficient to follow the doctine of the church, and to ignore the non-doctinal "shoulds and shouldn´ts" of the prophets. It isn´t sufficient to only worry about our salvation and the salvation of our loved ones. (Doctine and Covenants 18:10 " Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God") It is our DUTY and PLEASURE to assist Heavenly Father in his work so that we can all return to the presence of the Father. That being said, me must do all we can to save our brothers/sisters. We must not let Satan get a grasp on the small things in our lives. When he does, several things happen
1) Our testimony fades.
2)We have less of a desire to excell in lthe gospel.
3) We become slothful(Doctrine and Covenants 107:99-100)
4) We fail to fulfill our duty to God and Jesus Christ.
For many of us, we don´t even realize the impact the little things we do have on others. Example, If women or men are wearing unmodest clothing, we are training the mind of the opposite sex that that is what they want. We are training them to be more interested in our outter beauty than the goodness of our souls. Is it important to look presentable,yes. It is worth sacrificing the glory of our souls to look good, no. We have to have a better understanding of Satan and how he works. We have to start living our lives noth through our eyes, but through the eyes of Christ. We have to be aware what we are sub-consciencely teaching others...especially the youth. There are tons of examples of this.(Proverbs 23:7 and Doctine and Covenants 121:45)
I encourage each of you to sit down and to evaluate yourselves. Think about not what you are doing to represent the church, but WHAT YOU COULD BE DOING TO REPRESENT CHRIST. Think about this, and fix it. I know everybody can find at least one thing...one little thing that you could to to help the world. And ask yourself afterwards " Am I allowing Satan to work through me?"
I love you all and hope that this message with sink in with at least one of you. Have a GREAT New Years.
Con amor,
Elder Jackson
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