Week #23 Good Times

This week was fun.  haha.  Lots of weird stuff happened. We had to go to the hospital on the other side of Santiago to see one of Elder Soulier´s friends in the hospital.  He just found out he has diabetes.  It was like 2 hours in a metro and bus one way. We were definitely tired afterwards.  Also, another day, we had to go to the center of Santiago so that Elder Soulier could go to the doctor..he has a big blood clot in his leg.  It´s okay though.  Another day, we saw a truck with really tall sides on it...they opened the back and there were like 50 Peruvians standing in the back...they started unloading some of them...backpacks and all...I thought about Mexico.  HAHA.  

It's not so bad here in Santiago!!!

We are consecrated Missionaries who lives and work is centered in the Doctrine of Jesus Christ

Zone Picture

Changes were Tuesday, so we celebrated this change with the neighbors.  We went over to their house for dinner and ate seafood!! :D  We are going to climb cerro negro with the young men today and pick blackberries! :D  We had a group of Latinas tell us "We REALLY like gregos" hahaha It was absolutely hilarious.

The Light of Christ

Rainy Day Service

What a great day that the Lord has given us.  A new day to learn, live, and grow.  Today, I want to share one of my favorite stories from the Book of Mormon.  The story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies.

I´m certain that most of you are familiar with this story.  A portion of the Lamanitels were converted to the Lord.  They desired to be seperated from the wicked Lamanites, so they renamed themselves the Anti-Nephi-Lehies.  The wicked Lamanites were stirred up to anger against the ANL by the Amelikites and they made preperations for war.  When the ANLs saw this, they had a council to decide what they should do. (Alma 24:6)  I simply love this!  THey had such an understanding of the gospel that not only would they not fight their brethren, but "they would not even make any preperations for war."  Talk about love!  I hope that one day we can understand and obtain this unconditional love of Christ.

(Alma 24:16-17)  Not only is this a principle of love, but a principle of faith.  We know that true faith leads to action.  Not only did they say they wouldn´t fight their brethren, but they burried all of their weapons "deep in the Earth." as a testimony to God.  I love the wording here.  It doesn´t say they made a pile of weapons.  It doesn´t say they sat them aside for if things get bad.  "They did bury them up deep in the Earth."  I want you to imagine this for a second.  There´s an army coming to destroy you and your family.  You put all of your faith in the Lord, trust in his will, and bury your sword deep within the Earth to never be seen again...your only hope of life.  i don´t know about you, but I doubt I could muster up the faith to do somethingg as extreme as this.  This truly is one of the greatest examples of absolute faith that we will ever have.  They even went as far as to meet the Lamanites with prayer.  (Alma 24:21)

The last principle that this story teaches is absolute diligence.  (Alma 24:22)  Over 1000 of the ANLs were slayed...1000!  Still, the others continued to pray to the Lord with all of their souls...knowing that their brothers and sisters on their sides were being slayed.  I cannot imagine the feeling, but that level of diligence really is inspirational.  I pray that one day I can learn to be as strong as these people.

Follow me, I  know the way.....

Everyone stumbles along the way....

But someone seems to always be there to lend a helping hand.....   Sometimes it is not what you expect...

We All Made It!!!!!!!!

Feeding the homeless on Christmas Day

It was a great success!!!

(Alma 24:25-27)  This is my favorite part of the story.  Though many of the ANLs were slain, there were more of the Lamanites converted to the Lord than those who were slain.  Though there was much pain and suffering, there was much rejoicing in the end.  The Lord works in amazing ways.  Many times we don´t understand why things happen, but we have to realize that "the Lord worketh in many ways unto the salvation of his people."  All that happens is to bring to pass the great Plan of Happiness.  I feel that there is so much that we can learn from this story.  Most of all, love, faith, and diligence.  i pray that each of you is striving to develop these attributes in your lives and in your families.  if we are, we truly will see miracles in our live.  Of this I testify in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  

Week #22

Well, not a whole lot happened this week.  It was another week of a ton of contacts.  We are getting better at those though.  We are getting more acustomed to each other´s manner of talking and teaching.  One other thing that happened this week that is kind of interesting is that we are visiting a woman and every time that she sees me, she calls me Kevin Kosner.  LOL  I don´t really know if that is a good thing or a bad thing because I don´t know who that is haha.  But it´s funny.  :p

As you may recall, last week I wrote about taking the yoke of Christ upon you.  SOmetimes, this is much easier said than done.  Many times, we are intimidated by the notion of serving the Lord because of the bastness of his work and glory.  This never has been and never will be easy, but we are promised blessings beyond what we can imagine.

Doctrine and Covenants 76:5-10 "For thus saith the Lord-I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end.  Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory.  And to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.  Yea, even the wonders of eternity shall they know, and things to come will I show them, even the things of many generations.  And their wisdom shall be great, and their understanding reach to heaven.and before them the wisdom of the wise shall perish, and the understanding of the prudent shall come to naught." 

I came across these scriptures this week and have found them to be a great source of comfort.  Verse 5 to me is just awesome!  Not only does the Lord want to bless us for serving him in righteousness, but he "Delights to honor" us. What an amazing concept.  When we are serving the Lord in righteousness and truth, he delights in it.  Not only are we going to receive blessings for our faithful service, but at the same time we are bringing joy unto our Father in Heaven.  I cannot think of a nobler cause than to bring joy unto our Heavenly Father.  After all, everything we have is because of him.

"And to them I will reveal all mysteries."  What a reward!  The Lord literally promises to make all things pertaining to the  kingdom of God known unto us.  How beautiful it is to know that we have a loving Father in Heaven that wants to make his will completely understandable to us.  "Even the wonders of eternity shall they know."  We are promised the knowldege of the things to come now and for eternity.  "Even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man."  There are many blessings yet to come that the Lord hasn´t revealed. (Just when you think we have it all!)

The best promise that we have, in my opinion, "And their wisdom shall be great, and their understanding reach to Heaven."  The biggest blessing that we´re going to have, it that the very manner in which we think will be altered.  We will understand the structure and the glory of Heaven.  WE will be forever changes...becoming more and more like Christ in our very being.

I pray that each of you can look on this and imagine it.  Imagine the glory and understanding that is ripe for the taking.  All of this is predicated in the act that we serve in righteousness and truth.  That is my prayer.that each of you would reach out your souls to the Lord to fulfill this calling, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love each of you and want nothing more than for yall to feel an increased love FOR the Savior every day. In return, feeling an increased love FROM the Savior every day.

Con amor,

Elder Jackson

Week #21

Well folks,  I hope all is well in the good ole states.  It´s funny...everyone here points out how country I am even without me saying anything about it....and when I speak in english, they immediately say "Surenio".  haha  That is someone from the south.  So not a whole bunch happened this week.  Just a whole bunch of working, divisions, and service to other missionaries.

I tell you, not a whole lot happened this week, but I did learn something that I feel is VERY important in this life.    "We have to learn not to think with our minds, but with our hearts....always.  Our minds are of the world, and there is nothing we can do about that.  Our souls....our hearts...those are of Jesús Christ, so they KNOW what is best and what we want, not our minds."  I want everyone to think about that and ask yourself, what do you think with?

"Lord, but why?"

As members of the Church of Jesús Christ, we have a sacred responsibility to do all that the head of our church, the Lord Jesús Christ, has called us to do.  Many times, we asume that that means just following the commandments to the best of our abilities.  Other times, we asume that means keeping the commandments and fulfilling our calling.  What is it really that we´re called to do for the Lord?

I´m certain that every one of you at one point or another has asked yourself "Am I  following the right path in life?  Am I allowing the pure Love of Christ to flow through me, in return, carving a river in my heart for me to follow?  Or am I digging my own river with a shovel? Leaving my river crooked and leading to nowhere?"  These are questions that we should be asking ourselves regularly.  Are we allowing the Savior to guide us?  Or are we running the race of life in absolute darkness?

Jesús taught "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls."1  This is one of my favorite scriptures of the Bible because the Savior speaks very clearly.  "Take my yoke upon you."  Many times as Christians we feel that once we are baptized that all will be well and life will be like a fairytale, a walk in the park, or a still day on the lake.  Then, when things don´t go our way, we question what we know to be true and perhaps even our testimony of the love of Christ and the Father.  "Take my yoke upon you."  What does Christ  mean by this?  For those of you who don´t know, the "yoke" Christ is referring to is an oxen yoke.  It is a big piece of Wood that locked the heads of two oxen together so that they could work together to haul a load.  The Word "yoke" could also be translated as "burden" leaving the scripture to say "Take my burden upon you", but that´s not what the Savior is saying!  He is telling us to fight the battle against evil WITH HIM!  To not walk alone in the wilderness, but to march to war hand in hand with Christ, with HIS banner in our hearts.  We are to work with Christ to help "to bring to pass the immortality of man"2  Then we will "find rest unto out souls."

You might be asking yourself, "How do I do that exactly?"  I think a good place to start is faith.  The Bible Dictionary defines faith as "To hope for things which are not seen, but which are true."  Primarily, we have to realice that just because we can´t see the fruits of our labor, doesn´t meanthey aren´t true.  Faith is to have a complete confidence in something or someone.  We have to put our trust in Christ and HIS work.  We have to have confidence that we are fulfilling our responsibilities in the vineyard of the Lord.

Second, this is a great work of diligence.  We are to "act in the office in which we are appointed, in all diligence.  He that is slothful shall not be counted worthy to stand."3  Brothers and Sisters, we HAVE to not only fulfill our callings but MAGNIFY them!  If we are lazy with this work or view any aspect of it as "not important"...we won´t be counted worthy to stand before the Heavenly Father.  About here is where many of you start thninking "But I magnify my calling?"  Jesús taught "Be one, and if you are not one ye are not mine."4  That being said,maybe you ARE magnify8ing your calling, but that isn´t sufficient.  We are to be one body, under Christ.  If someone else isn´t magnifying their calling, we´re failing.If there is someone not progressing in the góspel and we aren´t doing anything about it...were failing.  We have to do all taht we can to assist our brothers and sisters.  It´s our DUTY.

Last, and most importantly, we have to realice that to accomplish this, we must put on the yoke of Christ...not for his sake, but for ours.  Only then can we find rest for our souls.  Some of you may think that you can´t do that, but the Savior goes on the reassure us that "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."5

The Lord never ceases to amaze me.  It´s amazing to me how much we can learn from so Little of his words if we truly meditate and pray for understanding.  I pray that each of you will appreciate how much the Lord really did for us.  He willingly diez for us.  He willingly suffered pains and afflictions of every sort for us.  He was rediculed and persecuted for us.  Spit on, hated, and tormented...for YOU...for me.  All he asks is that we show an ounce of faith in Him, be diligent in this work, and that we walk hand and hand WITH HIM through it all.  These words of the Lord really are a testimony of his love.  Christ wants to help us.  We just have to make the first move and grab his hand.  Why?  Because he told us to hold on to the iron rod, which is Christ, and have joy.

I pray that each of you would learn to love the Lord with all of your being and to walk the way that he´s shown.  That you would pause to lift up one another to find strength beyond our own.  That you would shine as a beacon of hope and refuge to those that stand in need.  This is my humble prayer, in the sacred name of Jesús Christ, Amen.

1) Mathew 11:29

2)Moses 1:39

3)Doctrine and Covenants 107:99-100

4)Doctrine and Covenants 38:27

5)Mathew 11:30

Know that I love and miss all of you.  It wont be long now.  Time is just a thing.  ,)  God bless.

Con amor,

Elder Jackson

Week #20 Less Active Reactivations and Visitors Galore!!!!

Well, not a ton happened this week, but it was a good ole week of WORK!  Working out in the sun.  One interesting thing happened...Elder Soulier and I had to run from two pitbulls in the street!  Haha  I TOOK OFF!!!  No way in HECK that dog was gonna get me.  lol.  

We had one big miracle at church this week.  So like everyone here leaves in Janurary and Febuary for vacations, so your attendence is always down.  Well, this week at church, half of the people there were either less actives or investigators.  There were over 40!  How awesome!!  There were more of them than there was active members!  Truly is a miracle to see people with a desire to better their relationship with Christ.

"Mercy At Our Fingertips"

Broken relationships have exhisted since the Fall of Man.  Cain was the first who allowed the cancer of bitterness to manipulate his heart when he did the unthinkable and murdered his brother Abel.  The spirit of envy and hatred has led to some of the most tragic stories in history.  Every person on this Earth has been afflicted by contention and judgement in some way. When we feel hurt, angry, or envious, it becomes easy to judge others.  

Christ´s Atonement is infinite and eternal, but forgiveness for our sins comes with conditions...we must repent and be willing to forgive others.  Jesus taught "Forgive one another, for he that forgiveth not stands condemned before the Lord, for there remaineth in him the greater sin.  Blessed are the merciful,for they shall receive mercy."  When we are angry with others, we justify this as righteous and our judgement as appropriate.  However, we make exceptions when it comes to our own bitterness.

The Savior warned about refusing to forgive for it is a grievous sin.  For us, it is required to forgive ALL MEN.  That includes forgiving ourselves.  Many times, of all of the people in the world, the one who is the hardest to forgive, and is usually the one with the most need...is the person looking back in the mirror. 

Judging includes hating, gossiping, ignoring, rediculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm.  Brothers and Sister, we have to replace these judgemental thoughts with a heart full of love for God and for his children.  The other day, I saw a shirt that said "Don´t judge me because I sin differently than you".  We are all imperfect.  We are all begars of grace before God.  How can we deny others the grace that we desire so desperately for ourselves?

We have to change our attitude, way of thinking, and our hearts.  This is exactly what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is designed to do. This is done through the love of God.  The more we allow the love of God to govern our minds and emotions..the more we allow our love for our Heavenly Father to swell within our hearts, the easier it is to love others with the pure love of Christ.  As we open our souls to the glowing dawn of the love of God,  the darkness of envy and hatred dissipate.

Jesus is our example in all things.  He forgave the wicked, the vulgar, and those who sought to harm him.  Jesus said "It's easy to love those who love us, but even the wicked do that."  As disciples of Christ, we are held to a higher law...a higher calling of the Lord.  "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use and persecute you."  When we allow the love of God to consume our very person, we become kind,tenderhearted,forgiving to each other, even as God forgave us for Christ´s sake."  The pure love of Christ can remove the scales of resentment and wrath from our eyes, allowing us to see others the way our Heavenly Father sees us...as flawed and imperfect mortals who have potential and worth far beyond our capacity to imagine.  Because God loves us so much, we too must love and forgive one another.

I want each of you to ask yourselves the following questions: 1. Do you hold a grudge against anyone else? 

2. Do you gossip, even when what you say may be true? 

3. Do you exclude, push away, or punish others because of something they´re done?  

4. Do you secretly envy someone?  

5. Do you want to harm someone?  If you answered yes to any of these, I want you to reevaluate your spiritual position.  The Savior taught "He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone."

Brothers and Sister, let us put down our stones.  Let us be kind.  Let us forgive.  Let us let the love of God fill our hearts. "Let us do good unto all men.  Give, and it shall be given unto you,good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over...for with the same measure you use it shall be measured unto you."  Isn´t this promise sufficient to turn away from negative thoughts or actions?  There is plenty  heartache and sorrow in this life without our adding to it through our own stubborness, bitterness, and resentment.  Part of the purpose of our mortal life is to learn how to let go of such things...THIS IS THE LORD´S WAY!!  Heaven is filled with people who have this in common: They are forgiven...and they forgive.  Lay your burden at the Savior´s feet.  Let go of judgement.  Allow Christ´s Atonement to change and heal your heart.  Love one another.  Forgive one another.  Remember forever, the merciful receive mercy.

I hope that this will touch someone.  I pray that we can all find it in ourselves to forgive the people that wrong us.  And I pray that we always remember..."As such is the kingdom of God."