Email to Family and Friends
We have just been so busy! I love it! I love the Thermopolis Area. Sunday brought some amazing miracles!
One of our best friends and next door neighbors is a less active member of the church and not only did he finally come to church yesterday, but he met with the Bishop afterwards!
Also one of our favorite investigators that moved back to Irvine, CA came and visited for this week, and we never got her admit that the church was true but she would never deny it either, she would just laugh haha. But Sunday was fast Sunday and I bugged her about going up if I went up she said no, but I still went up any way because I wanted to, and when I came back, Pete (her and our best friend and a member) told her that the Spirit is what pushes people up there. So I'm sitting behind her and give her a little push forward haha. She laughed and after about 2 minutes of quietly bickering between Pete, Helen and I we agreed that if Pete bore his testimony first, then she would bare hers only if I stand right next to her haha. And while she was up there she told the entire congregation, with tears in her eyes that she knew that Joseph Smith is a prophet! And then we had a great lesson with her latter last night. It was a very good week :)
"Change"
Being a trainer I have been given the opportunity to develop gifts and talents and I have also been given the blessing and curse of seeing my own weaknesses. The new companion that I have been given has been very, very homesick this week. I thought I was at least okay at comforting others in time of need, but haha apparently I'm not the greatest you could say.
I have done all I know to help him, things that I know work. He has his agency. But I am at a complete loss of what to do. I was listening to a talk titled "His Grace is Sufficient", and I know who the Lord calls he qualifies. I know he will make me who he needs me to be to help my companion, even though I currently lack to gifts to do so. I know that through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ I can grow and develop into an effective disciple of Christ. I can be full of "the pure love of Christ" (1), I can be a mighty teacher in faith and hope, and that one day "when he shall appear [I] shall be like him, for [I] shall see him as he is; that [I] may have this hope; that [I] may be purified even as he is pure," (2) through the grace of Jesus Christ.
None of us are perfect, none of us will ever be perfect in this life. Our Father in Heaven doesn't expect us to be perfect, but he dose expect us to improve.
We are saved wholly and completely by grace. Many other religions accuse us of "earning our way to heaven", but that is not true. Christ demands so much of us not to earn our way to heaven, but to learn our way to heaven. So that our "confidence wax strong in the presence of God." (3)
"The purpose and central blessing of life is change. It is to be changed to become more like Jesus Christ. It is to incorporate into your character, the qualities of His character. It is to move from one degree of intelligence and capacity to the next, and from there to the next, until you see God face to face and know Him as He knows you." (4)
"You not only can change but you do change all of the time. Sometimes people do not believe this. They excuse their failures and weaknesses by saying: "That's just the way I am." "I am just short tempered, impatient person." I can't get up in the morning. That's just the way I am." "That's my nature." Or, "I'm just shy. That's all. That's just who I am." "I am not really a spiritual person."
"To believe that weaknesses and deficiencies in your character are unchangeable is to reject the central truth of the plan of salvation! You are not cast in stone. You not only can change but you do change all of the time. You are a dynamic, changing, evolving being. You are always changing. You never stay the same. You cannot stand still."
"You are right now the sum total of what you have thought, said, seen, heard and done. What you think, say, do, hear and see, cause you to change; to change for good or evil; to become either stronger or weaker; to either internalize the qualities of light or the qualities of darkness. You are responsible for who you are and you are responsible for who you will become. Do you know what kind of person you want to become? Do you see in your mind who you want to be? Do you know?" (5)
"Think of this life as a path on which you never stand still. As you move forward, you incorporate into your being the characteristics and qualities of God. As you move backward you assimilate the qualities of Satan."
"Every challenge you face, every hard thing you confront, every bad thing that happens to you, every unfairness, every conflict, every sadness, tragedy, every disappointment and heartache, every temptation and every opposition happens for one purpose only: to give you opportunity to respond by applying in your life the teachings of Jesus. As you do so you are changed to become more like Him." (6)
We are to turn our heart and will to God. To all, I say "Surrender your will to Him. Unconditionally. Withhold nothing. Turn it all over to Him; all of your desires, wishes, dreams and hopes. Be true and faithful in your head and in your heart, not just in your behavior. Trust in Him. Trust Him who knows all things. Trust Him who has all power. Trust Him whose love for you is perfect. Trust Him, who alone suffered, paid and atoned for your sins, and for your weaknesses as well. Trust Him that He will make of you, immeasurably more, than what you will ever, ever, in all eternity, make of yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge. You will create an ordinary man. He will create a God." (7)
I think that President David O. McKay once said something like this: "The greatest battles you will ever fight will be within the silent chambers of your heart" That is the battleground between what you want and what the Lord wants. If you surrender, if the Lord wins, you win also. If you win, if your will prevails, you and the Lord both lose. The only way to win is to lose. Lose yourself in the Lord's work, and you will win beyond your wildest imaginations, for "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (8).
"Jesus Christ not only came to atone for our sins; He also came to show us the way. He is the Way. You not only may become like Him; everything is stacked in your favor to become like Him." (9) I know that I will be the trainer He needs me to be, and he can make you, into who you need to be. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Elder Philip R. Bredsguard
917 Amoretti St Thermopolis, WY 82443
Notes
1. Moroni 7:47
2. Moroni 7:48
3. Doctrine & Covenants 121:45
4. "The Fourth Missionary" By Lawrence E. Corbridge
5. "The Fourth Missionary" By Lawrence E. Corbridge
6. "The Fourth Missionary" By Lawrence E. Corbridge
