Is it a cycle or something we all go through?
I have been given a great deal to ponder this fine Sabbath Day. We had a special meeting with the High Council. Since one of the newly returned missionaries in our stake was speaking today, they needed to report to the High Council before they could speak. We had two of them return this week. One came home from serving in Nicaragua on Tuesday and the other returned from the Philippines on Friday.
Each came with their families and were asked to share some of the memorable experiences from serving. I don't know why, but I was caught off guard as I compared their witnesses. I know of both young men. I know a little about each of their families, who they are, how they were raised, and what kind of support they each had while serving. So, for some reason, I decided to compare their experiences.
Of course, the actual experiences were not comparable, but their personal witnesses did. They had both been out for 2 years. They had both been teaching the same gospel. They both taught along the same basic principles from Preach My Gospel. However, they each came back differently.
I don't know if that is making sense, but for some reason it does to me. One elder stood and related a few events of his mission. What I noticed more than anything was his way of presenting. He talked about how he did everything he could to make the work move forward. In each area, with each investigator, with each companion, he talked about how he worked hard, how he knocked several door, how he prayed hard in and for each area he was assigned. His experience was very personal.
The other elder stood and shared his missions goals, how they worked hard to accomplish those goals, how they prepared together, prayed together, and worked together. They were not always successful, but they did what they could. They did their best. He then talked about how the experience he had walked away with was just that. We can do all that the Lord requires of us, but in the end, it becomes the investigators individual agency and commitment that will allow them to succeed.
I heard a great deal of "I did this" from one and a great deal of "we did this" from the other. As I pondered this experience in my own personal life, I started wondering about the city of Enoch. Did Enoch do it or did the city? As families, is it something that Mom, Dad, or an individual child does or is it what they do together? As Home/Visiting Teachers, is it what I do or what we do? How about presidencies? Teachers of a class? Employees? Couples? Roommates? The list could go on and on.
The choice is individual. We each have to make a personal commitment. We each have to have our own personal testimony. However, it is how we apply that testimony and commitment to become one with others working for the same goal. We must be unified in our purpose.
Where are you? It took the city of Enoch some 300 years to get there. Will it take that long for you, yours, and ours? or can we learn from their experiences and do it today?
Each came with their families and were asked to share some of the memorable experiences from serving. I don't know why, but I was caught off guard as I compared their witnesses. I know of both young men. I know a little about each of their families, who they are, how they were raised, and what kind of support they each had while serving. So, for some reason, I decided to compare their experiences.
Of course, the actual experiences were not comparable, but their personal witnesses did. They had both been out for 2 years. They had both been teaching the same gospel. They both taught along the same basic principles from Preach My Gospel. However, they each came back differently.
I don't know if that is making sense, but for some reason it does to me. One elder stood and related a few events of his mission. What I noticed more than anything was his way of presenting. He talked about how he did everything he could to make the work move forward. In each area, with each investigator, with each companion, he talked about how he worked hard, how he knocked several door, how he prayed hard in and for each area he was assigned. His experience was very personal.
The other elder stood and shared his missions goals, how they worked hard to accomplish those goals, how they prepared together, prayed together, and worked together. They were not always successful, but they did what they could. They did their best. He then talked about how the experience he had walked away with was just that. We can do all that the Lord requires of us, but in the end, it becomes the investigators individual agency and commitment that will allow them to succeed.
I heard a great deal of "I did this" from one and a great deal of "we did this" from the other. As I pondered this experience in my own personal life, I started wondering about the city of Enoch. Did Enoch do it or did the city? As families, is it something that Mom, Dad, or an individual child does or is it what they do together? As Home/Visiting Teachers, is it what I do or what we do? How about presidencies? Teachers of a class? Employees? Couples? Roommates? The list could go on and on.
The choice is individual. We each have to make a personal commitment. We each have to have our own personal testimony. However, it is how we apply that testimony and commitment to become one with others working for the same goal. We must be unified in our purpose.
Where are you? It took the city of Enoch some 300 years to get there. Will it take that long for you, yours, and ours? or can we learn from their experiences and do it today?
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