Week #94 - These Days There's Dudes Gettin' Facials

Hey Everyone!
This week was awesome! Things are looking up like crazy for us in Petaluma. We have two baptisms this coming Saturday (Brett and Brian) and we set two baptismal dates with Pierce and Coleman for June 4th. They're both really excited about it and the dad is a major support, so needless to say, we are happy campers. We've had some great lessons lately with our other investigators- most of them are really solid aside from a couple small issues that are holding them back. One of them LOVES the reading assignments we give him in the Book of Mormon. He usually asks for at least five chapters or so and always has excellent comments about them the following week. It's always nice to have someone who's that excited about the Book of Mormon- just a nice reminder of how fortunate we are to be able to study it so often.

I was told this week that it's pretty interesting how there are people in other Christian faiths just as unshakable in their beliefs as we are...meaning they believe 100% that THEY have the truth and the correct gospel as well as us. I guess I've thought about that before, but a few things came into my mind about it this time around. Again, I was reminded that "Come Thou Fount" has some of the greatest lyrics of any hymn I've ever heard. It was written by someone who lived before the church was restored but who DID understand who the Savior was. I'm blown away by how perfectly it aligns with our oft-disputed view on "grace/faith and works." If we really do have a legitimate testimony of Christ, we'll feel constrained to be debtors daily to his grace. It has nothing to do with earning a place in heaven with our good deeds (and the Book of Mormon is extremely clear in many places that all the good works we can do will merit to nothing, and that Christ is the author AND the finisher of our faith). When I'm "wandering from the fold of God" even in the smallest way, Jesus seeks me and reminds me what true happiness and joy is.

I guess what I'm getting at is this: Anyone who has a true testimony of Jesus Christ is going to feel they have the truth, because the joy and the perspective He gives you in life is too incredible to deny. I don't know how many times I've been told "Trust me, I've found Jesus, and no one can make me any happier" while talking with people. What I wish people would understand is

1) WE can't make them any happier than Jesus already has, but Jesus can.
2) If they were talking with someone living an insanely worldly lifestyle (good example: Hugh Heffner[sp?]), they would essentially receive the same answer that they gave me: "Look at my life! How could I possible be any happier?" Yet, that Christian knows good and well that the worldly person could be a whole lot happier if they would just pattern their life after Christ rather than the world.

So someone who has found Christ lives a life of happiness, but what if that person also learned that in addition to everything Christ has done for us, He now continues to guide us- not only personally, but also by revealing His wisdom and His warnings through a living prophet (just as He did all through the Bible) with Twelve of His special witnesses (apostles) to help us all remember how to truly be a Christian (if there's one painful thing I've learned on my mission, it's that some of the most pompous, rude, exclusive and un-Christ-like people I've come in contact with are those that scream they're Christians), the priesthood authority of God that seals families together for time and all eternity and enables us to perform sacred and essential ordinances for salvation has been restored, and we now have the written testimonies and experiences of more ancient prophets to learn even MORE of how we can strengthen the relationship we have with Christ? You would think that person would be thrilled, and they should be. Yes, the Bible can teach us who Christ is and how to get to know Him, but God has provided us with so much more than even that, and why- to confuse us? To make it more complex? No! To make us happier because He loves us!! There's so much confusion and contention over His words, and He has provided us with answers! It's not complex at all. The only thing that makes it complex is skepticism and preconceived notions that blind people to what it really is.

Well that about wraps up my time on email, but there are my thoughts on that statement. THE GOSPEL'S TRUE!!!

Much Love,
Elder B