Monday, April 1, 2013
I
Loved Easter Sunday, it was so nice, Sacrament meeting is just the best
thing in the world, I can't imagine trying to live life without it.
Which is funny, because our ward here struggles in a lot of ways. We
don't have a ton of active, solid people. The choir sounds... like a
choir in a ward which struggles. But the Spirit was there so strongly, I
really needed it. One of my recent converts, Micah, (he usually has
been showing up to the Manette ward which is at 9) came to our ward, and
he looked SO happy :) He did his hair all nice for Easter Sunday, and
we got to catch up for a couple minutes. He is so happy that he was
baptized, he always tells me about the difference that he has been
feeling ever since then, and how much better off he is since he quit
smoking. Seriously, this guy is passionate about the Word of Wisdom.
When I was watching them prepare the Sacrament, I
thought back to my years as a deacon, then teacher, then a priest. I
think for the first time it struck me how much passing the sacrament is
like serving a mission. For your whole life up until you receive the
priesthood, you are given the blessing of sitting with your family at
church, and so its a blessing I took for granted. Then you are asked to
leave your comfort zone, and go do the Lord's work instead. You are
called to perform a sacred responsibility, that you don't really
comprehend, and won't really comprehend until later on, generally
speaking. But performing the task and being worthy of it helps you to
grow and become better, as you minister to others. For a short time,
you are more than what you are, and we saw that God calls us in our
utter weakness, and then gradually qualifies us for us work. Then you
get to go back to your family, hopefully a bit better and more
appreciative than you were before.
Hey, I was thinking of a funny story that happened to
me, I wanted to tell you about! it actually happened a couple weeks ago,
but I always forget to tell you stuff.
So we
get a call from a random guy, and he wants us to meet with him at a
given day and time, so we're just psyched, right? Myself and my boy,
Curtis, are the ones going to the appointment. We get there, and a nice
looking man, in an eggplant collared shirt and a Jerry Garcia tie opens
the door, and welcomes us in very graciously.
The first thing I notice
walking in is that there is a little table with a Pizza Hut box on it,
with some soda, plates, and napkins. In my head I'm like, Oh they just
had lunch. Then he's like, "Oh here, the pizza is for you!
At which point in time, Lonas gets a strong impression that this guy
is luring me in. I look at the bait (I Love PIZZA) and I look at him,
and I think of those stories about animals that are caught because they
won't let go of the shiny object, or banana or whatever. And in my head
I'm like, "man those animals are dumb" and out loud I'm like
"Ooh, Thanks! I love Pizza!"
So I sit down :)
And he's like, will you offer an opening prayer? And I think about it, and decide that I like praying, so I'm down. I
say a prayer, and say Amen, and I look up, and his head snaps up and
his eyes open, and he had this look in his eyes like a predator, it was
very interesting. He said something along the lines of,
"I noticed
you asked if the Spirit would be present. Why is that? If God is
omniscient, wouldn't he already know that you want the Spirit there? If
you didn't ask, would the Spirit not be here?"
Hahaha :) silly man :)
I answer
his question, and then he moves on to his next statement: "what would it
take for you to deny the existence of Jesus Christ?"
(Anyone else having flashbacks to Alma 11:22-23?)
And so I say, "O thou child of hell, why tempt ye me?"
Hahaha just kidding, that wouldnt have been very nice :) I used nice words instead.
He brought up a bunch of stupid stuff, and just tried
to tell us that God wasn't real basically. But its funny, I was
thinking as he was speaking, He didn't have anything new to say. He has
nothing original, or profound or whatever. The same arguments have been
around for thousands of years, it's pretty redundant. I did my best to
politely answer his questions, bear my testimony, and then
excused ourselves (after we finished the pizza, which was excellent)
because we have much more important things to do.
Arguing with people is a waste of time, but I'm
grateful for the opportunity to bear my witness of the reality and
divinity of the Christ. In Sunday School, we spoke about when Barrabas
(sp?) was released instead of Christ, and the question was posed, if we
were there in the square, and Christ were to be crucified, would we
stand up for him?
I would suggest that people crucify Christ on a daily
basis. The God of Israel is trampled underfoot, and his words set for
naught, and forgotten. But we can stand for him, by raising our voice.
I know that Jesus Christ IS our Saviour. He is real,
and He is Living. I love him, and owe everything to Him. I'm so
grateful that he cared enough for me, to rescue me, despite my own
stubbornness and pride. I love being one of his missionaries.
Elder Lonas
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