This past week has been phenomenal because we were able to see several miracles with the Hermano Oscar blessing the sacrament with his son Daniel passing the sacrament and with Hermano Gerardo as well all taking part of the passing of the sacrament yesterday my eyes were filled with tears of gratitude in seeing how little by little the Lord has changed these young men and father into worthy bearers of the priesthood of God! It´s the little daily moments like these that make the mission the most valueable gift one could ever receive!
This past week as well was a little tough because they took out an ingrown toenail for a second time (because they didn´t cut it very well the first time) and I had to take several days of rest which can be quite maddening but it was a wonderful experience because I was truly able to reflect and study and apply myself with goals that weren´t exactly connected with preaching, but that still will help us improve our efforts in Felipe Carrillo! It showed up in our results this past week because of the many families we have had that have been attending church, none of them came which I feel is due to our lack in being able to travel the distances to visit them, and we sent members to them, but in the end only a young man named Marcos made it because he is amazing! But on the flipside I was given the chance to be able to talk in Sacrament Meeting yesterday about one of my favorite topics; MISSIONARY WORK!
I really tried to invite a spirit of prayer and study to be able to discern what the ward needed at this time, and after a great deal of reflection and several drafts the spirit helped me remember a story I had heard a long time back about the Town without Shoes
Even though many of you may have heard this story I would just like to paraphraze it rapidly so that you can get an idea of the main message I was sharing;
Several years ago a man went to a very far away city on a buisness trip. He came to this town in the middle of December with a climate that was completely frigid and rainy. After a very short period of time looking at the busied people passing to and fro he noticed two very distinct things: 1. Every was dressed in very rich clothes (fur pelts, diamonds, pearls and the like) and 2. Everyone was hobbling along because they lacked shoes
and due to the lack of shoes they all had cuts and scrapes and bruises that limited the quality of their lives.
This discovery intrigued the man and he began asking everyone if they knew about shoes or if there was a place where someone could purchase a pair. This lead him to find a shoe factory on the outskirts of the town which had many people leaving in and out of the building but everyone still walked barefoot.
So the man asked a nearby worker, [What do you do in the factory over there? to which the man responded, oh well we talk about shoes, we sing about shoes and we even pray about shoes. This left the man completely bewildered and said then why won´t you put them on. The worker reflected for a moment and said, What an interesting idea! but never answered his question.
So this man then looked high and low for a pair of shoes and was able to find a humble shoemaker, purchased a pair and approached the same worker and said would you like a pair now? To which the worker heaved a deep sigh and said, If only you knew that shoes are only used by the fanatics. And left the man reflecting about the fallen condition of this town in complete confusion.
Here it is pretty simple to make the connectiont that the shoes in this story are the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He really is the Great Physician, Master Healer that can not only heal our wounded soles (souls, pun intended) but as well give us the protection and ennobling power of his grace (a functional pair of shoes!) And this is our duty as members to not get so caught up in our fleeting pleasures, such as the nice clothes, and really focus on the basic principles of prayer, scripture studying, and standing in holy places. And as we go about tightening up our laces, we will be less likely to fall, and more likely to testify of the ways in which the shoes (the Gospel) has changed our lives. I know that God really will magnify our simple efforts if we but look to him and strive to open our mouths, and share our simple testimonies of the blessings of the gospel, in deed, word, and thought and through our love and guidance the church will continue to grow and our capacity to minister as Christ did will expand! I truly loved this analogy because it helps me think about my calling as a full time minister (Mosiah 18;8-10) and how to help heal other that even though they may not appear too effected from a first glance are truly pleading for the blessings of the gospel in our lives. For this reason I invite each and every one of us to strive to be more bold, yet not overbearing in the ways in which we share the gospel, that we love as Jesus loved and that we seek to live up to the gratitude which we have for the many blessings of the gospel!
Even though I never became a great soccer player, I know that the cleates I used affected my quality of contributions to my team, and we should equally strive to have our feet shod with the gospel of peace as stated in the armor of God in Ephesians!
But anyways, you all are very intelligent and can make similar applications in your lives and I know that if you seek to make the missionary work a priority in your life you will have more: peace, understanding, revelation, access to divine grace, happiness, joy, unity with your family and fellow men, and the Lord will make you holy, He will forgive your sins as you help others obtain this forgiveness, and you will have the power to overcome the temptations that are waying you down! Of these things I testify because I have seen each and every one of these blessings in my life, and as well in the lives of every member that has seriously applied to call to be a Savior on Mount Zion!
I would like to turn to a final scripture about feet and shoes
16 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace!
17 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace, yea, from this time henceforth and forever!
18 And behold, I say unto you, this is not all. For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the afeet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of bpeace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people;
I love you all and till next week!
Keep Praying, Keep Believing!
Elder Raven
