Outward Privileges

Haha so, I think it was last week that I was wrapping up my email, and the seconds were counting down to zero, and I meant to say "Love, Lonas"... but instead it came out "Love, Linas" and I didn't have time to fix it.

Get it?  It's funny, because Linas is the man to whom Catholics retrace their authority.  Funny typo..haha :) 

Emailing a little later today- We had a fireside practice out in Tacoma.  I'm in a group doing "Jesus, Savior Pilot Me.  It's a great arrangement I'm very excited to sing it this weekend.  Downside is that they are doing this fireside this weekend, and then no more until January...........

Church this past week was good.  I was thinking again during the Sacrament (turns out its a great time to think, who'd have thought?)  And I was thinking about how much I love and need the sacrament as a missionary.  The importance of developing a spiritual reliance on your mission is absolutely essential, I believe.  We have been counseled repeatedly in the scripture to trust in the Lord (Prov 3) to lean not unto our own understanding (Isa 55) and to receive our knowledge and instruction from the Lord instead of man.(Matt 16:17, 2 Ne 17:15) 

And yet when we perceive other options besides the arm of the Lord, we find it so difficult to really trust Him.  We feel we can find truth and peace in many places, and church is just one of our many options and priorities.  From a worldly point of view we often mistake temporal avenues as the superior choice- and to be limited to spiritual sources of strength would be weakening.  That's definitely what they thought in 3 Nephi 4:16-18.  

But it's really when they/we are deprived of  "outward privileges" that we build a reliance and relationship with the Lord.   It's when we choose to give up "outward privileges" willingly that we develop self-mastery, and put off the natural man (Msh 3:19)

 

In other news, I cut Elder G's hair!  It looks pretty good, for real.  I took pictures :)  And Elder C cut my hair, it looks pretty good too.

Ok. I'm done now I think...

Yeah. 

Ok, Love,

Lonas!