Of all the people who had committed to coming to church this week, only 1 did, which was disappointing.
One of our investigators, Sam, is doing VERY well.
When we met him, he said he was open to talking to us because he felt a
hole in his heart from the death of a family member, and it was eating
him up inside. We promised that the Gospel of Jesus Christ would fill
that hole, and he could experience it through reading the Book of
Mormon. He opened the door 2 nights ago and told us that it happened-
his hole had been filled. He wants to be baptized, but unfortunately he
was out of town this past Sunday. We'll be following up.
About 7 weeks ago, Elder C and I invited a
transient man by the name of John to come to church with us. He came
inside for a church tour, wanted to be baptized, but was unwilling to
make/keep commitments to get him there. Yesterday, Elder A and I
were sitting in Gospel Principles class, and a lady opens the door,
taps our shoulders, and motions for us to come into the hall. We go,
and John is there. He goes through some bags he's holding, because he
wants to show us something, and he pulls out a certificate of baptism
from a non-denominational Christian church. I guess they baptized him
on the spot, and he wanted us to know he had been saved. He told us
that we need to be more bold with people. And then, as mysteriously as
he appeared, he vanished.
But anyway, Jose also came to church. He's been
twice now, and is kind of dating Mary, whom we baptized towards the end
of last transfer. He's pretty cool, we're excited to be working with
him this week, he wants to be baptized on the 28th :)
Speaking of last transfer, Elder C and I
made a goal to cut the word "like" out of our vocabulary. It lasted for, like, 5 minutes.
Elder Anderson and I have recommitted ourselves to this goal, but this
time we are much more accountable. This time there is a punishment
affixed to the law. The demands of justice in this case are 5 push ups
for every transgression. On the first day of this I did, like, 200 push
ups.
The second day of this was an exchange day, and we had my boy Elder
S in our area with us. He wanted to join us, but probably regrets
it now. He says "like" like nobody's business. He had to do well over
500 push ups. However, even though Steed is very strong, the punishment
is more than his physical body could handle. We determined that
mediators would be allowed, and Elder A and myself did about
100-150 pushups each for him. Thus, the demands of Justice could be
satisfied through the Law of Mercy. Also, our vocabulary is improving.
So
in my New Testament reading the other day, Jesus was chastising the
Pharisees and Scribes again, and my mind was brought to 1 Ne 19:23, and I was reminded to liken all the scriptures unto myself.
I often associate Pharisees and Sadducees with
"others." Perhaps those who are not teaching the True Gospel of Jesus
Christ. In some cases that may be accurate, but in many cases others
are kept from the truth only because they know not where to find it.
Important to remember, however, is that the Pharisees and company HAD
the truth at one point, they just weren't living it, and had removed
themselves from it. Therefore the people who are most like them are us members of the Church of Jesus Christ, who are not living or acting the
way we should.
The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes (who were
usually Pharisees, but could be Saducees as well) represent 3 types of
Universal or Personal Apostasies.
Pharisees believed in 1) the Law of Moses and 2) Oral Tradition.
We can equate that to believing in the Truth, but also accepting adulterating doctrine when convenient.
Sadducees accepted ONLY the law of Moses, and rejected
everything else- regardless of whether or not it was true. (For
example, they didn't believe in Resurrection- because it wasn't in the
writings of Moses)
Scribes were those responsible for the Law, and were
at fault for misinterpreting or misconstruing the law for their own
ends. No further need of explanation.
I also think it's hilarious that the Pharisees and
Sadducees HATED eachother, and only agreed when it came to hating Jesus
Christ. We see the same thing today by the enemies of Christianity.
They don't stand on a unified platform, and they don't even necessarily
get along. But they can come together for long enough to oppose
Christ.
Down to 45 seconds, sorry I don't explain things very well over email, but it's worth studying.
The
Gospel of Jesus Christ can not be something we do, it has to be
something we become. We know it is true, but we must be true to it.
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