Because He Lives:
All mankind will, too.
Families can live together, forever.
There is no such thing as "the end."
Mankind is reconciled with God, on conditions of repentance.
We can start over, and try again.
Ultimately, if Christ didn't live, then this life would be the end, men would be unable to overcome their failures, and our world would be without light and hope. Pretty dreary. But because He lives, we have the firm promise that all of us will be resurrected, to stand before God again. Because He lives, death is conquered, man is free! Because He lives, we can overcome sin, and come unto God again.
Last P-Day I met with the missionaries from my MTC zone, to celebrate our year mark. We ate bingsu (빙수) [a dish made with shaved ice, beans (sometimes), and various other ingredients (ex. strawberries, cookies, etc)] in a cafe and reflected on how far we've come, and how much we've learned. It was very special to be able to see all of us together again... probably the first time since we came to country that every single one of us has been together.
Our less-active, Bak Jay Hong (박재홍) didn't come out to church, but we haven't given up on him. Our plan is to help him keep small commitments, that will strengthen his faith, and slowly bring him him back to Christ. We regularly share scripturally based spiritual thoughts with him, and one thing we've noticed is that he seems sensitive to the Spirit of the Lord. The problem is that despite this, he continues to place work first... we're hoping that as his faith grows, he'll realize in his heart that the Lord will provide a way for us to keep His commandments. This past week, we talked a lot about the heroic Captain Moroni. He exercised great faith, which led to victories over innumerable enemies. We discussed their motivation for obtaining and maintaining their faith, simply outlined in the title of liberty: in the memory of our God, our freedom, our religion, and our wives and children. The reason for religion -- for fighting, for struggling, for standing up for what we know in our hearts is true -- isn't for vainglory, for recognition or advancement, but for the duty we hold to God, to the love we have for God and fellow-man, and especially to the bonds we have with family and friends.
We were pretty blessed to even have that conversation -- when we first came to his shop, he was busier than normal. Just when we were about to give up, everybody left, one by one, leaving us alone with home. I count that as a miracle.
One significant theme from zone training was that baptism is not a taboo word in our mission. Sometimes, we tend to avoid talking about it because we're not a South American mission, baptizing hundreds each year, and we don't want to appear as though we've forgotten that baptism isn't the end of a person's conversion. Baptism is our goal. We want to bring people to Christ, and the gate to the path that leads to Him is baptism. Baptism is the ordinance, established from the beginning of the world, to signify faith in Christ, and a determination to follow Him.
Another thought from this week is that to achieve faith, hope, and charity, we have to make room in our hearts for them. Likewise, if we seek to eliminate selfishness, greed, and lust from our lives, we not only refrain from them, but we have to fill our hearts with good things. This is why it's important for us to be filled.
I apologize for the scattered structure of this week's letter; that's how the week felt to me, too! I love all of you; and I hope that all of you will seek for opportunities to show somebody you love them this week.
Best Wishes,
Elder Austin Lynn
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