This week

This week I saw many miracles, most of which I was to blind and ungrateful to recognize. The ones that come to mind at the minute are first: health and safety. Through no great effort on my part my health and safety seem to be fairly well. My diet is probably next to the worse it has ever been and yet I am still not grotesquely obese. Around here, everyone and their uncle drives like a maniac (I drive defensively... even cowardly at times) but it is still a miracle that no one has smashed into us yet, though we see accidents all the time. The Lord protects his Missionaries.

I also had the opportunity this week to teach a lesson to a Mandarin (Chinese) speaking couple who don't speak a word of English. That was an amazing experience that I could spend hours writing about. It was a miracle that we even met them and that we could teach them. I was truly blessed to be there. They are the parents of the Chinese Branch President visiting from China for three months. They are not members, they don't even really know that much about Christ, but they are so very open to learning and have very big hearts. We called the member family because (unbeknownst to us) even though they attend a different unit since they live near us they have records here and so they were on our Ward list. When we called Sister G told us that they have not had English speaking Missionaries to their home in over four years, and the week after her Mother and Father in law arrived from China we called. Inspired or what? We went over to their house and talked about Christ (Sister G translated for us) we shared the “Finding Faith in Christ” DVD in Mandarin and left them with a copy so they could watch it again on their own. They are attending the Mandarin Branch and being taught by the Chinese Sister Missionaries. I was so happy for the chance and miracle it was that we were able to meet them and share with them about Christ.

I was rather blessed to learn something in a new light this past week. in sacrament meeting on Sunday Brother L spoke of the path to exaltation, and he mentioned five steps (go figure) that at first sounded unrelated to the five steps to the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we as Missionaries preach every day, but upon further reflection started to sound very, very familiar. The five steps were these:

Desire to Believe:

Not everyone has faith, in fact we run into dozens every day, many even say that they wish that they could believe they wish that they could be partakers to the gifts of peace that come from strong faith and trust in the Lord. But for some reason they consider themselves separate, and unable to develop such faith, they recognize in themselves those human doubts and adversary inspired cynicisms that keep them from developing such faith.  Such obstacles are easily overcome if we can just desire to believe. Alma 32:27 "But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."

Develop Testimony:

Once we have exercised this desire and developed a particle of faith it is then our duty to nurture the seed we have planted to nourish it and help it to grow. We do this but study and prayer, keeping the commandments, statutes and abiding by the precepts of the Lord. When we do this our testimony is strengthened and we gain a more sure knowledge of the goodness of the seed of faith.

Strengthen Conversion:

Conversion is more than a testimony. We become converted not just by believing or doing but by becoming. Believing and doing help us to become more like the Savior, but to be truly converted we must have a "mighty change of heart", and have "no more desire to do evil, but to do good continually". True and lasting conversion comes over time, by continuing to strengthen our faith repent and follow the Savior in all things.

Luke 22:32 "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."

Partake of Salvation:

The ordinances of Salvation are essential to our eventual exaltation and we cannot receive exaltation without them. The Atonement of Christ delivers all that with believe on this name and keep and do his saying. But for those that continue in rebellion against God, mercy cannot claim them, unless they will repent. Though we may continue to fall short of our potential (and we will fall short, we are only imperfect beings), our ultimate destiny (and Divine Potential) begins to be realized as we faithfully and diligently follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we partake of the ordinances of Salvation we become partakes to the fullest degree in the Atonement of our Lord and Savior.

Receive Exaltation:

Preach My Gospel tells us that the Gospel brings us happiness and joy not only in the eternities but right now. Adherence to gospel principals brings peace. John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." As we develop testimony, strengthen conversion, partake of the ordinances of salvation we come closer to our Savior and our Father in Heaven. As sin separates us; Faith, Repentance, Baptism, and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost bring us back to God.

John 17:3 "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

I am so grateful for this time that I have to serve as a full time Missionary. I am grateful for this Gospel and the immeasurable blessing it has been in my life. I am forever indebted to the Savior for his Atonement and for the blessings he gives me every day, a debt made even larger by my frailties and insufficient gratitude for those blessings. I am grateful for and testify of the restoration of the Church that Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God established, and of the restoration of Priesthood keys. I know we have a living Prophet and Twelve Apostles on the earth today.

Love,

Elder Thomson

Five Smooth Stones

I'm not very good at sharing my personal experiences. I guess I’m just too close to my own life to see the whole picture but there are a few things that I have seen.

Remember the story of David and Goliath. David, the rather weedy shepherd boy, who was recently and subtly anointed to be the future King of Israel, and Goliath a Giant and a Man of War?

As you will recall, the army of Israel under the leadership of King Saul was engaged in a deadly war with the army of the Philistines. One army was poised on one hill, the other on an opposite hill, with a valley in between. Now, the Philistines had among their men a great giant of a man named Goliath of Gath. His height was six cubits and a span. If I have figured correctly, that would put him somewhere in the neighborhood of nine feet tall. What a basketball center he might have made!

Clad in his armor, he came down to the valley and called out to the army of Israel:

“Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.

“If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. …

“I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” (1 Sam. 17:8–10.)

When Saul and the army of Israel looked at this giant and heard his chilling challenge, they were frightened because they had no one of their own of such stature.

Now, while all of this was going on, Jesse, David’s father, asked his young son to take some food to his three brothers in the army. When he arrived at the battleground, Goliath came out again, issuing the same challenge, which David heard. There was fear throughout the army of Israel. David, who was no more than a boy, said to the king, (and I paraphrase his language): “King, why are you so afraid of this giant? I will go and fight him.”

Saul replied, “Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he [is] a man of war [trained] from his youth.” (1 Sam. 17:33.)

David then persuaded Saul to let him try. He told the king of how he had fought with a lion and a bear to save his father’s sheep and concluded by saying that the Lord would deliver him out of the hand of the Philistine. Saul, possibly thinking that one more life lost would not be serious among the great losses they had already sustained, said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with thee.” (1 Sam. 17:37.)

Saul then placed armor on David until the boy could scarcely walk. David said unto the king, “I cannot wear this,” and he took the armor off.

He then “took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had … and his sling was in his hand.” (1 Sam. 17:40.)

We don't fight against swords or spears, or with staves and slings, "...we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12) The armor and weapons of Saul (or of the world) will avail us nothing, but the Armor of God and his Five Smooth Stones will grant us victory over all things.

These are them; these are five smooth stones that will guaranty you success, as a Missionary, as a Man, as a holder of the Priesthood of God. Treasure them, keep the sacred keep them safe, polish them every day and every week, and share them with everyone you meet who may not have been to the Brook of Living Water and found them for themselves. 

Faith

I used to struggle with faith. I didn't understand why I needed it. Knowledge seemed so much better than faith and I envied those like Paul and Alma the Younger who as it seemed to me didn't need to have faith. But I've come to learn on my mission that faith isn't something God asks us to have for him, it’s something that God asks us to have for us. It is a blessing and a protection, and the power that makes miracles possible. Knowledge never moved a mountain or parted a sea, knowing would be nice but faith is better. Seek learning, "seek knowledge by study and also by faith", but for those things you don't know yet, or can’t ever prove have faith and bear testimony, faith grows when it is shared.

Repentance

Alma 60:23-24 "(23) Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also. (24) And now... repent... and begin to be up and doing."

Repentance is about changing, about doing, and being, better than we are right now. None of us are perfect, especially me, but through recognizing our faults and shortcomings, and by repenting we can get a little bit closer to the perfection of our Savior and our Father in Heaven each and every day. I know for me personally it would take a long, long time to get even close, but that is all the more reason to get started now. Don't procrastinate the day of your repentance, the longer you wait the harder it gets. So get started now! There are lots of little things that we can all change to be better, I'm sure you wouldn't have to look too hard to find something. If you don't know what or how to change or repent ask for help, I'm sure your parents, leaders, or bishop will be there for you, and point you in the right direction. Be humble, fear not, trust in God.  Get up, go and do.

Baptism (Covenants)

Baptism is our first covenant, and we renew that covenant every week when we partake of the sacrament. Making and keeping covenants gives us a strength, power and blessings that nothing else can. As you prepare for your mission and go through life you will have the opportunity to make and keep many more covenants. Honor them and keep them, they are the way to eternal life, and will protect and deliver you from the powers of temptation and sin.

Gift of the Holy Ghost

Look at Ephesians 6 again. Notice that the only offensive weapon is the Sword of the Spirit. Everything else is for our defense and our protection, but the spirit is our weapon, and as a Missionary it is impossible to succeed without it. Strive now to have the spirit as your constant companion, practice listening for and following the promptings you receive. This will be an invaluable skill to you in the mission field and throughout your life.

Endure to the End

I can’t say it any better than the Prophet Nephi in 2 Nephi 31 "(19) And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. (20) Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. (21) And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen."

“And the Philistine (Goliath) said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?”

And Goliath swore at David, saying, “Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.”

Then David spoke these great words:

“Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. [1 Sam. 17:45]
“This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; ...that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” (adapted from 1 Sam. 17:42–46.)
In anger Goliath came at him. Then David, running toward the giant, “put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.” (1 Sam. 17:49.)

These Five Smooth Stones: Faith, Repentance, Baptism (Covenants), the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End, are the way, they are the Doctrine of Christ and they are the five things that you need to have in figurative Shepard's bag before you go out to face giants. Your staff is the Scriptures, they are the iron rod, the words of God, if you can’t carry them with you in your hand, treasure them up and keep them in your heart. Your sling is you testimony, practice with it every day, as often as you can.

In closing I leave you with my testimony; That God is very, very real, and that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world, that this is His church restored in the latter-days, and that it is lead today by a Prophet of God, even Thomas S. Monson.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Elder Alex Thomson

* [Italics taken from "Overpowering the Goliaths in Our Lives" by Gordon B. Hinckley, April 1983]

We are Sowing

We are sowing, daily sowing
Countless seeds of good and ill,
Scattered on the level lowland,
Cast upon the windy hill;
Seeds that sink in rich, brown furrows,
Soft with heaven's gracious rain;
Seeds that rest upon the surface
Of the dry, unyielding plain;

Seeds that fall amid the stillness
Of the lonely mountain glen;
Seeds cast out in crowded places,
Trodden under foot of men;
Seeds by idle hearts forgotten,
Flung at random on the air;
Seeds by faithful souls remembered,
Sown in tears and love and prayer;

Seeds that lie unchanged, unquickened,
Lifeless on the teeming mold;
Seeds that live and grow and flourish
When the sower's hand is cold.
By a whisper sow we blessings;
By a breath we scatter strife.
In our words and thoughts and actions
Lie the seeds of death and life.

Thou who knowest all our weakness,
Leave us not to sow alone!
Bid thine angels guard the furrows
Where the precious grain is sown,
Till the fields are crown'd with glory,
Filled with mellow, ripened ears,
Filled with fruit of life eternal
From the seed we sowed in tears.

This week was rough again, we worked like dogs and still don't have much to show for it. We taught one lesson the whole week and that just outside a guy’s door while he was holding a beer.

I just got off a three day exchange with one of the Assistants yesterday. His name is Elder C. Oh! I'm still with Elder A BTW, the only thing that has changed over transfers is that Elder A is the District Leader now. Which is kind of cool because I get to see more of what’s going on in other companionship's areas, and I get to go on more exchanges. Like the one with Elder C! It was a little different from the exchanges I'm used to, because rather than splitting off into two companionships Elder C came with us and his companion went with the another group of Elders. So we were in a Tri  (a companionship of three) from 3:00 on Thursday to 3:00 on Sunday. Elder C is awesome. He's black, and from Toronto, and a convert to the Church, and my Hero.

Weekly planning was NOT fun this week, mostly because it took way too long. Which was even more frustrating with Elder C watching us. The Area is still tough, we're still struggling to find people to teach and as such we're are having to do a ton of personal finding, which is not fun to plan, and bunches of member work, which is tough to get coordinated, especially since we haven't had a Ward Mission Leader in over three months.

But other than that, life is good. :) I've been working my way through the Book of Mormon, using one of the paper-back copies so I don't feel bad about marking it like a mad person. I've been scribbling all over that thing and I've learned so much from it. I just finished Alma this morning.

The Book is Blue,

The Church is True,
And Jesus Christ is a Mormon!

I think I'm going to order a paper-back Bible and Triple Combination from the Office today so I can start going through the New Testament and Doctrine and Covenants the same way. I've already starting reading the New Testament in kind of a choppy order, if you look in the Bible Dictionary it tells you the chronological order that the Epistles were actually written in. It all make so much more sense in that order, you can actually see the rise of Apostate Doctrines and the seeds of destruction being sown among the early church. The truthfulness of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is so plain in that light, it boggles my mind how anyone could miss it. 

Love,

Elder Thomson

I Love You Guys!

It is always a highlight of my day, especially P-day, to hear from you and get to hear a little bit about what is going on! :)

Dad, I am super jealous of your shmancy tablet thingy. It sounds super fun. We were sharing a message at a member’s house the other day and we asked if we could show a video of mormon.org on their iPad. We were able to show the video even though we couldn't use the iPad ourselves (it was actually kind of funny when the member was like "sure!" and tried to hand it to us and we couldn't touch it because it was against the rules, so we're trying to get him to the right place without doing it ourselves. It reminded me of helping Gramma sort out her computer because I felt like the member kept getting lost. Speaking of which, is Gramma's computer still alive?) But just having something like that when teaching would make life so much easier. We could even digitize our Area Book and be able to sort all of our contacts by where they lived, or how long since they have been contacted, or if they had ever had a baptismal date. Or we could see on a detailed map of the area just who lives on which street or how long it has been since each street has been tracted. Our weekly and daily planning would be practically done for us! Ooooo! I'm trying not to think about it too much, but since I've been a missionary, I've wanted so much to go to the Missionary Department in Salt Lake and give them all my 'good ideas'. I imagine we will be getting new versions of pass along cards here pretty soon, the ones we have are getting pretty dated (2001-ish). But I think that would actually be kinda a cool job designing the pass along cards and the pamphlets and Preach My Gospel, and proselyting DVD’s. Humbling as well when you think you have a good idea and you take it to the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve and they use the spirit of discernment to tell you exactly how uninspired that really is.

I had an experience like that just recently. Being humbled = no fun. I'll spare you the details but to cut a long story a lot shorter, we came across this guy who teaches a world religions class at a local school and he wanted to bring his students on a field trip to the chapel so they could learn a little bit  more about what we believe. Sounded good to me so we went about making the necessary steps to find a time a time when the building would be free and the teacher could find a bus to bring the students. Right from the start we knew we wanted to have somebody else there not just the two of us so we started asking around, we asked the Bishop and some other people, but the thought never crossed our minds to check with President Tilleman, we generally don't need to check with him about church tours. Big Mistake. We talked to President Tilleman this past week and he informed us just how bad of an idea this particular church tour is and why. I don't like being humbled. It’s no fun at all. But hey, it’s part of the pride cycle, and that means if I was just humbled then the next step is to turn to the Lord, be industrious, and prosper! Things are going to start looking up... I hope.

We are still doing a lot of finding but we did have an investigator at church yesterday, J, he's been sick for the last little while so he hasn't been able to make it out to Church or to meet with us. He picked up a nasty bug when he was in South America, but he was feeling up to sacrament meeting yesterday so he made it out for that and hopefully we will be able to meet with him later this week , though we don't have anything set up with him yet.

Love,

Elder Thomson