Thanks for all the pics from last week everyone!! Wish I could have been there with all the family!
W----- came to conference! He is a really hard investigator to teach, he has so many questions and tells a lot of stories that take us way off topic for a solid 15 minutes. We have taught him 6 times for 1-1.5 hours each time and he would never come to church, so this week my companion and I decided that if he didn't come to 1/4 sessions we were going to have to be done teaching him. However, HE CAME, and he came Saturday afternoon which was the sustaining of the officers of the church and Holland spoke, it could not have been more perfect! I wrote this Saturday, then we taught him yesterday and have decided to stop teaching him. He gave us a lecture that were not old enough and in 20 years we will understand that this book (The book of Mormon) isn't really important. In seven lessons we cant get the message to him that God loves him (He sees god, but with Satan like qualities) or how important the Book of Mormon is....so until is heart is softened, we cant do anything more...
J----- is our investigator from Venezuela and this week he got great news! He's been attending the wrong ward, but in the ward he's been going to a member has loaned him the money to bring his wife and daughter to CHILE! He was supposed to be baptized on April 29, but he asked if he could wait a few weeks longer so that they can get baptized as a family! I don't know the member that loaned him the money but I have a lot of respect for them. Also now when he does get baptized, planning for May 23, there will be 3! We're sad to push his back, but so happy that this conversion can be a family event. I think it's crazy that they had to flee Venezuela and completely start their lives over, but in the process they have found the gospel! The Lord truly works in mysterious ways!
This week we have accomplished nearly nothing.....because of the Day of the Young Fighter we couldn't teach Tuesday or Wednesday night. Conference took away our Saturday and Sunday too....so there's that. Most our investigators all request lessons after 7 (All except W----- and he asks for 6), so it's hard to schedule lessons, most the time we can only teach 2 each night because of walking time. It's hard but we make it happen.
On a spiritual note, my companion and I thought of a question this week. The question is, "What covenants did Jesus make at his baptism?" To take upon him the name of Christ? We asked my mission president and he said, "I don't think he needed to make any." But, if he didn't need to make any covenants, then why was the priesthood necessary and what was the point of the baptism if no covenants were made? What do you all think? Was it simple because Christ was the perfect example in every way, therefore he gave the example of being baptized?
This week I wanted to study the accounts of Christ healing the sick and raising the dead. I started in Mark and Luke reading about Christ raising the daughter of Jairus. I recently wondered why the scriptures contain all three points of view (Same stories in Mathew, Mark, and Luke) but I read this story in all 3 books and each gives a few more details or clarifies a little more of what happened. For example, in Mark it talks about how it was the daughter of Jairus, but in Luke it adds that it was the only daughter of Jairus and she was 12 years old. While Christ was on his way to heal the daughter, a women touches his robe and is healed by her faith. Christ takes a little longer getting to Jairus's home and states to the women who touched his robe, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace, and be whole of they plague." After, a man comes and tells Jairus, "Thy daughter is dead, why troublest the master any further?" Christ hearing these words said, "Be not afraid, Only believe." The daughter is raised from the dead.
The amount of faith that this would require is incredible to me. Many times in the scriptures faith like this is depicted through miracles. "But Miracles do not produce faith, but strong faith is developed by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ, in other words, faith comes by righteousness, although miracles often confirm ones faith." (B.D. pg 641). Many times I hear people say, "It would have been so easy to have a testimony while Christ walked the earth and did miracles." This is not true, many people watched him perform miracles and still never believed. That's because faith is confirmed by miracles not built by seeing miracles happen. Having faith allows us to see and recognize the miracles that happen every day. "Where there is true faith there are miracles, visions, dreams, healing, and all the gifts of God that He gives to His saints." (B.D. pg 641)
In John chapter 5 Jesus heals an invalid on the Sabbath. Back in the time there was a belief that an angel would come and trouble the waters of a pool and the first person to set foot in the pool would be made whole. There was a man who had been sick for 38 years, every time he would try to get in the water, someone else would beat him. Christ saw him and knew how long he had waited to be healed and said unto the man, "Wilt thou be made whole?" The man explained that he'd tried but someone always beat him to the water. Christ replied and said, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole. Working on Sunday's as a CNA was always hard for me, there was always a part of me that felt guilty for missing church. One day I was working on Sunday, everything was calm, and at the same time I should have been in church my patient crashed. With an entire team of doctors, nurses, CNAs, and respiratory therapist we were able to perform CPR, get him stable, and transfer him to the ICU. I remember thinking to myself, "this is why it's okay to work on Sunday." Now I'm not saying it's okay to work every Sunday or pick up extra shifts on Sunday, however for me I believe that my fair turn is okay. And Christ understands. I believe that the hand of the Lord is in everything we do. Every decision we make, every person I take care of, every happy moment, and every sad moment. If we will allow him, he will be there to say, "Arise and walk."
Final story... In John 11 Christ raises Lazarus from the dead. Could you imagine hearing the news that your close friend has died, then having the opportunity to go a raise him from the dead? In this story I find it interesting that when Martha went unto Christ she said, "Lord, if thou hadn't been here, my brother had not died." Then when Mary goes unto Christ a short time later she says the exact same thing. Christ responds saying, "Where have ya laid him?" He goes unto the tomb and Christ weeps. This was a painful experience for Christ, his friend had died. When Christ asks for the stone to be removed from the tomb he says, "If though wouldest believe, thou Shouldest see the glory of God?" How many times in life does the spirit whisper to us, "Thou should see the glory of God?" And we don't pay attention long enough to see the miracle right in front of us?
Scripture sections:
1. Christ heals the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:22-24 & 35-43)
2. Christ heals the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:41-42 & 49-56)
3. The women who touched Christ's Robe (Mark 5:25-34 & Luke 8:43-48
4. Healing the invalid on Sunday (John 5:1-9)
5. Christ raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-46)
Hermana Sullivan
Mission Nurse Specialist
Chile Santiago South Mission
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