Elder Low's report:
This week I've been looking through the scriptures and really trying to see how the trials and eventual solutions for those trials that happened to prophets in the Book of Mormon apply to me as a missionary, and as a result read and thought a lot about Samuel the Lamanite.
In a time of wickedness among the people of Nephi, Samuel had been called by the Lord to call them to repentance. As we know however he was rejected, and was returning to his own land when he heard a voice from on high tell him to go back, and say whatever came into his heart.
Devoted to his cause, and inspired to finish the work he had started Samuel climbed the city wall and began to preach to the people from atop it, which he stayed upon to proclaim prophecies concerning the signs of the birth of Christ and his death all while being persecuted to such an extent that arrows began to fly past him.
However the scriptures explicitly state, that none could hit him.
To this I have drawn several parallels to my life this week. The first one is the opportunity we had this week to listen to the voice of the prophet and the quorum of the twelve. I pondered on whether I take their talks too lightly, thinking of them as just a spiritual pick me up instead of as the very first speaker of the conference stated, “the words of God”. Those good feelings I felt at conference come from the Holy Spirit and help us as missionaries to testify of truth.
Another parallel I drew was faith in finding. I looked to see how Samuel accomplished his goal.
This week (though our numbers definitely didn't look it) was one of my best finding weeks.
Being in an area where most baptisms did not come from knocking doors, I had lost a lot of faith in my own finding efforts but this week has been phenomenal. We spent our time going out and just looking, using important time that we had at a previous time set aside for teaching lessons to door-knock, putting our faith in our calling and in the Lord and just working. By the middle of the week, we had one of the largest follow-up pools ever. It seemed that people that we were able to teach were popping out of the wood work.
Though I had felt like Samuel, having been rejected, the Lord comforted me and said, “go, and say whatsoever thing that shall come into thy heart.”
I'm sure it wasn't easy for Samuel to turn back and go to the city that had rejected him and as well, not knowing what he was going to say. I felt the same way this week. It is not easy to knock on a door when you don't know who's going to be behind it. I know it wasn't easy for Samuel to climb the city wall (I myself am no good at rock climbing), but the Lord has given us a promise that he will make a way for us to accomplish the thing which he hath commanded.
Elder Low.
This week I've been looking through the scriptures and really trying to see how the trials and eventual solutions for those trials that happened to prophets in the Book of Mormon apply to me as a missionary, and as a result read and thought a lot about Samuel the Lamanite.
In a time of wickedness among the people of Nephi, Samuel had been called by the Lord to call them to repentance. As we know however he was rejected, and was returning to his own land when he heard a voice from on high tell him to go back, and say whatever came into his heart.
Devoted to his cause, and inspired to finish the work he had started Samuel climbed the city wall and began to preach to the people from atop it, which he stayed upon to proclaim prophecies concerning the signs of the birth of Christ and his death all while being persecuted to such an extent that arrows began to fly past him.
However the scriptures explicitly state, that none could hit him.
To this I have drawn several parallels to my life this week. The first one is the opportunity we had this week to listen to the voice of the prophet and the quorum of the twelve. I pondered on whether I take their talks too lightly, thinking of them as just a spiritual pick me up instead of as the very first speaker of the conference stated, “the words of God”. Those good feelings I felt at conference come from the Holy Spirit and help us as missionaries to testify of truth.
Another parallel I drew was faith in finding. I looked to see how Samuel accomplished his goal.
This week (though our numbers definitely didn't look it) was one of my best finding weeks.
Being in an area where most baptisms did not come from knocking doors, I had lost a lot of faith in my own finding efforts but this week has been phenomenal. We spent our time going out and just looking, using important time that we had at a previous time set aside for teaching lessons to door-knock, putting our faith in our calling and in the Lord and just working. By the middle of the week, we had one of the largest follow-up pools ever. It seemed that people that we were able to teach were popping out of the wood work.
Though I had felt like Samuel, having been rejected, the Lord comforted me and said, “go, and say whatsoever thing that shall come into thy heart.”
I'm sure it wasn't easy for Samuel to turn back and go to the city that had rejected him and as well, not knowing what he was going to say. I felt the same way this week. It is not easy to knock on a door when you don't know who's going to be behind it. I know it wasn't easy for Samuel to climb the city wall (I myself am no good at rock climbing), but the Lord has given us a promise that he will make a way for us to accomplish the thing which he hath commanded.
Elder Low.
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