Be Believing
It has been an interesting week. Several event have kept my mind active on one topic. I don't know why, maybe because I need to not only understand it better, but do something about it. The doing something about it seems to be the most challenging part.
In priesthood meeting, with the young men, we discussed the topic of what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ. Pretty broad topic, I know, but we focused a great deal on faith. I think we all seem to focus on faith. Whenever we run into challenging times, the first question that comes to mind is whether we have true faith? Is our faith strong enough to allow us to endure? Are we putting faith in the right thing? The questions go on and on. If we are not careful, the act of question can cause our progression to come to a halt. It is not that question is bad, it is when we let the questions stop us for moving forward that is bad.
So this is what has been on my mind a great deal. My mind was taken back several years to a period where I was letting my own questions halt me. It was frustrating. I was serving in a small town just outside of Torreon. There had not been missionaries in this area for almost 10 years. We were given the names of three individuals that we might try to contact. No one knew whether they were still there or not. But it was a start.
The area was known as a place for trouble makers to hide. Word on the street was that if you were in trouble with the law, you could get lost in this area and no one would find you. It is for this reason that we were told we could not live in the area. We were also told that we needed to be outside the area before sunset. So we lived with a family that was about 10 miles outside the area. It was frustrating. By the time made bus transfers and walked, we were spending about 45 to 60 minutes each day just getting to our area. We would work for a few hours and then go back to the house for lunch. (Not only did we not have funding to purchase food, but there were not many places to get the food.) After a late lunch, we would go back and work until sunset. We were spending almost 4 hours a day just traveling. Within the first few days, we had discovered that the three names we were given had either moved or died. We had nothing.
At our first district meeting, we voiced some of our frustrations and were told my the zone leaders that we needed to exercise more faith. What?! It drove me crazy. What did they mean? I started questioning myself, the work I was doing, the efforts I was putting forth, in essence, I questioned my own belief. I had a hard time not getting down on myself. I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how I could exercise more faith.
Now that I look back on it, I should have spent more time recognizing the small miracles that were taking place because of my faith, instead of looking/waiting for big things to happens that I could claim were the result of my faith. I was pretty diligent in recording the miracles, but I did not recognize them for what they were.
This past week, I have had the opportunity to reflect upon those miracles. I have re-read Alma 32:21, 26-43. I have been reminded of all the seeds, the power of exercising, the small and tasty fruits that were right there before me, but I was not partaking of them.
Miracle 1
We had been working in the area for almost a month, when a member of the ward informed us that her sister had recently moved to the area. She was not active, but it would be a great opportunity for. The bishop approached her and asked if she would be willing to provide two meals a day for us.(We compensated her of course.) She and her husband consulted about it and agreed. They had three children under the age of 8. What a miracle. We met with this family twice a day at meal time. We prayed with them, studied with them, and had fun with them. The brother made just enough money for them to get by. There was no extra left over for them to take a family of 5 to church each week. The bus fare would have taken all of there resources. Now that I look back on it, we planted seeds. We set examples. I was not there to see those small children grow up, but I know that something good happened in their lives.
Before we move on to the next miracle, lets talk about the faith of this family. Why didn't they have enough faith to spend their weekly income on bus fare to get back and forth to church each week? I am sure that as we taught, that could have been one of the questions that halted their progress. It could halt the progress of many.
Miracle 2
We were still spending a couple of hours commuting each day. It was still crazy to us that we had to leave before sunset. We felt we were losing several key hours to work with the people of this area. It seemed to creep into every conversation. It was getting us down. Hence we began to focus on something different. We wanted to figure out a way to get the one good contact we had, (less-active), to church. We had only been talking about it few days when we tracted into a large family that invited us in. That was great. We talked about the plan and how important it was. They wanted us to come back when the rest of their family was available. We asked if we could offer a prayer before we left and leave them with some reading material. When we pulled out the BOM, they started laughing. Several of their family members were already members, but it was too expensive for them to go to church, so they stopped.
Instead of going home that afternoon, we decided to visit the mission office. We petitioned the mission president for permission to hold a small Sunday service in the homes of one of these families. He gave us permission and arranged to have one of the members of the bishopric present to preside. We had 34 or so attend that first meeting. It was a miracle.
Miracle 3
Later that week, we were preparing to leave the area, because the sun was setting. A large group of youths started calling us out and following us. My companion and I felt that it would be better if we just ignored them and went about our business. Pretty soon they were running after us. As they blocked our path of exit and surrounded us, one of them threw a sucker punch to see how we would react. We did not. When they asked us what we were doing on their turf, we informed them we were sharing the word of God with those who would listen to us. One wanted to know if we could do it without shoes. We told them we probably could. It was then that the obvious leader of the group told them to back off and hear what we were saying. We were messengers from God. We were there to help the people of their community. He told us that we were welcome any time and that if some one did not want to let us in to share the message, to let him know and he would make sure they let us in.
That evening, we went back to the mission home instead of our home. We explained what had happened and asked permission to work normal hours in the area. We were given permission.
Miracle 4
I served in this area for a little over 4 months. It was getting close to Christmas. We had a large pool of people who were wanting to hear what we had to say. With the persuasion of the bishop, the mission president had decided to rent a home in the area that would serve as a meeting house as well as a place for us to live. We made home made Christmas cards and invited several people to our first Holiday party. The sisters cooked, the brothers made a pinata. I was getting ready to say that miracles were happening. That I was going to taste the fruits of my faith. Then I was transferred and never saw it.
But now that I look back on my experience, I can say that I did see it. I did partake, I just did not recognize it for what it was. I was exercising faith. I just was not seeing the results the Lord wanted me to see. It has been almost 30 years since that happened. Recently, I visited my companion from that area. He stayed when I was transferred. The area continued to grow and blossom.
I am blessed now to know that the fruit comes in many shapes, sizes, and flavors. Sometimes we are reapers, sometimes we are gathers, sometimes we are then to just plant the seeds. Together we perform the work. The important thing is that we continue working and not getting caught up in the temptations of the adversary. Set the goal and keep working for it. Sometimes it is in baby steps. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and continue believing.
In priesthood meeting, with the young men, we discussed the topic of what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ. Pretty broad topic, I know, but we focused a great deal on faith. I think we all seem to focus on faith. Whenever we run into challenging times, the first question that comes to mind is whether we have true faith? Is our faith strong enough to allow us to endure? Are we putting faith in the right thing? The questions go on and on. If we are not careful, the act of question can cause our progression to come to a halt. It is not that question is bad, it is when we let the questions stop us for moving forward that is bad.
So this is what has been on my mind a great deal. My mind was taken back several years to a period where I was letting my own questions halt me. It was frustrating. I was serving in a small town just outside of Torreon. There had not been missionaries in this area for almost 10 years. We were given the names of three individuals that we might try to contact. No one knew whether they were still there or not. But it was a start.
The area was known as a place for trouble makers to hide. Word on the street was that if you were in trouble with the law, you could get lost in this area and no one would find you. It is for this reason that we were told we could not live in the area. We were also told that we needed to be outside the area before sunset. So we lived with a family that was about 10 miles outside the area. It was frustrating. By the time made bus transfers and walked, we were spending about 45 to 60 minutes each day just getting to our area. We would work for a few hours and then go back to the house for lunch. (Not only did we not have funding to purchase food, but there were not many places to get the food.) After a late lunch, we would go back and work until sunset. We were spending almost 4 hours a day just traveling. Within the first few days, we had discovered that the three names we were given had either moved or died. We had nothing.
At our first district meeting, we voiced some of our frustrations and were told my the zone leaders that we needed to exercise more faith. What?! It drove me crazy. What did they mean? I started questioning myself, the work I was doing, the efforts I was putting forth, in essence, I questioned my own belief. I had a hard time not getting down on myself. I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how I could exercise more faith.
Now that I look back on it, I should have spent more time recognizing the small miracles that were taking place because of my faith, instead of looking/waiting for big things to happens that I could claim were the result of my faith. I was pretty diligent in recording the miracles, but I did not recognize them for what they were.
This past week, I have had the opportunity to reflect upon those miracles. I have re-read Alma 32:21, 26-43. I have been reminded of all the seeds, the power of exercising, the small and tasty fruits that were right there before me, but I was not partaking of them.
Miracle 1
We had been working in the area for almost a month, when a member of the ward informed us that her sister had recently moved to the area. She was not active, but it would be a great opportunity for. The bishop approached her and asked if she would be willing to provide two meals a day for us.(We compensated her of course.) She and her husband consulted about it and agreed. They had three children under the age of 8. What a miracle. We met with this family twice a day at meal time. We prayed with them, studied with them, and had fun with them. The brother made just enough money for them to get by. There was no extra left over for them to take a family of 5 to church each week. The bus fare would have taken all of there resources. Now that I look back on it, we planted seeds. We set examples. I was not there to see those small children grow up, but I know that something good happened in their lives.
Before we move on to the next miracle, lets talk about the faith of this family. Why didn't they have enough faith to spend their weekly income on bus fare to get back and forth to church each week? I am sure that as we taught, that could have been one of the questions that halted their progress. It could halt the progress of many.
Miracle 2
We were still spending a couple of hours commuting each day. It was still crazy to us that we had to leave before sunset. We felt we were losing several key hours to work with the people of this area. It seemed to creep into every conversation. It was getting us down. Hence we began to focus on something different. We wanted to figure out a way to get the one good contact we had, (less-active), to church. We had only been talking about it few days when we tracted into a large family that invited us in. That was great. We talked about the plan and how important it was. They wanted us to come back when the rest of their family was available. We asked if we could offer a prayer before we left and leave them with some reading material. When we pulled out the BOM, they started laughing. Several of their family members were already members, but it was too expensive for them to go to church, so they stopped.
Instead of going home that afternoon, we decided to visit the mission office. We petitioned the mission president for permission to hold a small Sunday service in the homes of one of these families. He gave us permission and arranged to have one of the members of the bishopric present to preside. We had 34 or so attend that first meeting. It was a miracle.
Miracle 3
Later that week, we were preparing to leave the area, because the sun was setting. A large group of youths started calling us out and following us. My companion and I felt that it would be better if we just ignored them and went about our business. Pretty soon they were running after us. As they blocked our path of exit and surrounded us, one of them threw a sucker punch to see how we would react. We did not. When they asked us what we were doing on their turf, we informed them we were sharing the word of God with those who would listen to us. One wanted to know if we could do it without shoes. We told them we probably could. It was then that the obvious leader of the group told them to back off and hear what we were saying. We were messengers from God. We were there to help the people of their community. He told us that we were welcome any time and that if some one did not want to let us in to share the message, to let him know and he would make sure they let us in.
That evening, we went back to the mission home instead of our home. We explained what had happened and asked permission to work normal hours in the area. We were given permission.
Miracle 4
I served in this area for a little over 4 months. It was getting close to Christmas. We had a large pool of people who were wanting to hear what we had to say. With the persuasion of the bishop, the mission president had decided to rent a home in the area that would serve as a meeting house as well as a place for us to live. We made home made Christmas cards and invited several people to our first Holiday party. The sisters cooked, the brothers made a pinata. I was getting ready to say that miracles were happening. That I was going to taste the fruits of my faith. Then I was transferred and never saw it.
But now that I look back on my experience, I can say that I did see it. I did partake, I just did not recognize it for what it was. I was exercising faith. I just was not seeing the results the Lord wanted me to see. It has been almost 30 years since that happened. Recently, I visited my companion from that area. He stayed when I was transferred. The area continued to grow and blossom.
I am blessed now to know that the fruit comes in many shapes, sizes, and flavors. Sometimes we are reapers, sometimes we are gathers, sometimes we are then to just plant the seeds. Together we perform the work. The important thing is that we continue working and not getting caught up in the temptations of the adversary. Set the goal and keep working for it. Sometimes it is in baby steps. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and continue believing.
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