Taipei Taiwan

Taipei Taiwan

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Taoyuan # 65

This week I'm just sending a picture, and Mission President's email, because I liked it alot... this was just our ward picnic and my companion caught a snap of me :) We have a golden investigator who just returned from China last week!! I'll share with you more next week, but pray for him... Brother Zheng. President's Email: Every person we see every day is not merely another human being. They are all immortals. They lived before they came to earth. They live here on this earth. And they will continue to leave after they depart this earth. Consequently, everyone we deal with is a fellow immortal in merely a mortal shell. Consequently, 0ur every interaction with each immortal can potentially have consequences far more reaching than what we see in this life. In our dealings with these fellow immortals, are we taking an eternal perspective of our daily actions? As we consider our individual immortality, do we weigh the consequences of our actions today and the influence it has on our salvation tomorrow? As we take this more profound perspective, we will become much more aware of and alive to the many possibilities for doing good that are present in life’s daily situations. Even the moments that seem ordinary are full of possibilities. In this regard, Elder Neal A. Maxwell provided some deep insight when he said: “We must look carefully, therefore, not only at life’s large defining moments but also at the seemingly small moments. Even small acts and brief conversations count, if only incrementally, in the constant shaping of souls, in the strategic swirl of people and principles and tactical situations. What will we bring to all of those moments small and large? Will we do what we can to make our presence count as a needed constant in such fleeting moments, even in micro ways? Do you and I not sometimes say appreciatively of individuals who have helped us, “They were there when we needed them”? Will we reciprocate?” In daily interactions which impact immortals and possess potential eternal consequences, we need to be even more sensitive to the Holy Ghost. Promptings for us to do good come from the Holy Ghost. These promptings nudge us further along the straight and narrow path of discipleship. The natural man doesn’t automatically think of doing good. It isn’t natural. Yet, these promptings enlarge our awareness of other people’s needs and then prod us to act accordingly. It takes faith to persist in doing good, especially when it is an action or effort perhaps only noticed by our loving Heavenly Father and his angels. Are we willing to remember our true identity—as immortals—as we seek to magnify our stewardships as divinely called disciples and representatives of Jesus Christ? Consider this example found in the New Testament: “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go. … “And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, “Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. “Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.” Notice the significant language: “And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? “And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him” (Acts 8:26–31; emphasis added). How many times are we too busy, out of touch with the Spirit, or distracted to “come up and sit” with someone who needs our help and who the Lord has actually prepared? You and I have divine promptings all the time encouraging us to do good, but we often ignore them instead of doing like Phillip, who “ran thither.” While we may not always be free to choose just when and how all of life’s interactions will occur, we are nevertheless free to choose our responses. We should base these choices on eternal principles that will bring God’s immortal children back to Him. Let us revise our thinking. Let us refocus our efforts. Let us have an eternal perspective in our earthly interactions which affect fellow immortals. Let’s assist more powerfully in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Hurrah for Israel Love, Elder Westover!! the poem is a poem his companion wrote

No comments:

Post a Comment