My Worship

That picture you sent of me on that dead tree at Lake Powell was funny. I too shudder when that memory flashes through my mind – me not knowing if a branch was waiting to impale me when I jumped into the water. Yikes - at least I would have died with a six pack.

Our friend the nurse made it back to church. All the members were super warm and excited that was back. He really is a great guy. Tomorrow we are going to pass by in the morning and teach him and his siblings that live here in Parras. He promised us gorditas de maiz con rajas (which I will definitely be making for you guys when I get back- my fav food). So, I am pretty excited!

The reason i am writing today is that yesterday we had a conference with the whole mission and Elder Christensen from the Seventy - a very good meeting.  

One comment he made that I really liked was a quote from President Hinckley saying "the only reason that God has us worship him is because he knows that through that process we will draw close and become like him." . . . . . or something like that.

I really liked it because this has been in my mind for a few months now and I have been trying to articulate the idea. Everyday I teach people that have elaborate worship rituals. I have wondered if these really help them draw close to Him or become familiar with the spirit. Several months ago the question came to my mind - what is worship? What does it mean to worship? I thought back to my younger years and I don’t think I was very good at worshipping.

When we invite investigators to pray at the end of lessons, we sometimes receive a 2-3 mininte chant of loud praises to the Almighty. I have never done that and I consider myself very religious. I am giving two years of hard service for my faith; so I wondered "why have I never shouted praises?” Why is that not part of our religion? I think the answer is that I have learned from my experience that the most important form of worship can be quiet or through daily obedience. Other types can be hollow and vain. 

Dad, I read your top 10 list of a life full of Arête several times this week.  The one that I really liked was #7 - "Treat life as a classroom." You have said that people take this life to literally. Without eternal perspective, failures and accomplishments can be blown out of proportion.

We ate with a hermano this week. They are always super nice to us but they have had some challenges. We always share a scripture after we eat and I decided to read with him the parable of the talents. I wasn’t trying to scold them because that’s not my place. But I wanted to see if I could get a discussion going with him. One thing I realized while reading this story that I hadn’t noticed before is that the one with 2 talents wasn’t focused jealously on the one with five but did his part. In time he kept doubling his share. What we do here in the world is a tiny little thing in comparison to the greatness of God and our own destinies are like a seed with incredible potential. If we never nurture our seeds, they remain tiny and almost useless. If we shut off our progression, we do ourselves a terrible injustice.  This brother got the hint and we had a good talk after. He said that we are to progress spiritually and it doesn’t matter if we don’t become successful in the things of the world. We talked about how balance was necessary in all things. The thing was that he had a "be good" mentality and not the crucial "get better."

You asked about my six pack – whether it still exists. Oh, the bod - haha I just have to remind myself that the mission will end one day and I will be able to exercise once more.

We are opening up another area in Parras, so we have had to find another house. I will probably stick around for a time to teach one of the two that are coming into the area.  

In other news, I have discovered guayaba - which has a lot of fiber. That is good.

My comp learned that Adam and Eve (and everyone else mentioned in the bible including those in Heaven) didn’t speak Spanish. The other thing with the comp is that because of his accent, all the natives ask him when he learned Spanish. ha

love you all 

gots to go

Speen