Great week!
It has been a bit of a rush trying to get all of our work done before the end of this transfer. We have some big events coming up including Mission Tour and a bunch of houses being moved or closed that will squeeze us a bit. But we are excited and are planning to make it as smooth as possible. How exciting!
I was assigned to create the Mission History starting from July when President Barredo arrived in the mission. It has been really interesting to learn the history of the mission as I have looked through the past histories created by past mission Presidents' office staff members. The Lord's Work is constantly evolving; realigning, shrinking, expanding, and spreading depending on the needs of God's children. I actually learned about some of the things that happened when Brother Sturgill (that former AP that sent a picture of me to you, mom) was serving here. History really is a cool thing and I have started learning about how important it is to keep those kinds of records. We always need to know where we have been and where others have been so that we can apply their success and learn from their mistakes.
I actually bought a new set of nice scriptures off of the LDS store a few weeks ago and it finally got here! It's a quadruple set with a little button snap and I got it so that I could get this clay design put on it. They are SO cool. I am so excited to get it. It's expensive and I don't want to talk about the price and stuff, but I came to the decision that "I can't get this done in America, so I'm just gonna do it while I can!" In the meantime, I have been reading it a ton because it's NEW and EXCITING for some reason!
I have been focusing more on the Bible lately because I haven't given it much time during my mission. I have been more focused on the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel, so I haven't been able to fully dive into it. I have read a lot of Matthew and Mark and started Luke, but then decided that I wanted to finally get to Acts since a lot of the events in the four Gospels are fairly similar. I got to chapter 7 of Acts and some verses there really stuck out to me. It starts in verse 54 after the Apostle Stephen has just preached repentance unto the people:
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54 ¶When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
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54 ¶When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
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I find many things fascinating about this passage. First, we see how CLEAR the doctrine of the Godhead is! I have been realizing lately how unfortunate it is for those who do not clearly understand that we have a Heavenly Father who gave His Son, Jesus Christ to us. We see in this passage that Jesus was able to return to our Father and stand on His right hand, just as many of us will be able to return to Him as well. So many people DON'T have that simple truth!
The second thing I liked was what Stephen says as he is dying. Stephen's dying wish parallels our Savior's dying wish for the people that crucified him on Calvary. Just as the Savior said, "forgive them; for they know not what they do," Stephen similarly pleaded for mercy upon his attackers by saying, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Stephen must have understood the Atonement of Jesus Christ SO WELL that he had been able to feel a love similar to Jesus Christ for those who persecuted him. He desired their salvation so much that he asked for their forgiveness as his last words. If only we all could have such great a desire to see those around us receive the same treasures that await us in heaven.
I hope everyone is doing well at home!
Halong Kamo!
-Elder Welton
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