Wow I'm starting this letter really late into my email time so like sorry if it's poor quality. I actually don't know what I did this week.
Sister Baker and I are on a lot better terms because I talked about my feelings. I learned again for like the 5th time that being humble and talking about you feelings increases the amount of love most of the time. One day I'll just be really humble and open about like all my stuff, but it will probably take a really long time.
We went to the temple and had general conference this week. I received a lot of revelation. Something really cool that I experienced was the fact that Heavenly Father was willing to address the things I actually care about and worry about even though they weren't the most relevant to missionary work. I felt kind of bad because Heavenly Father loves me so much and I really should try to more closely align my will with his. If I was a super consecrated missionary I would just be having questions about missionary work and how I can be a better disciple. So I was asking Heavenly Father to help me align my will with his during conference on Sunday and I learned a lot. Namely that when you come unto Christ he shows you your weaknesses.
I have a lot of weaknesses and fears. I was so grateful to Heavenly Father for showing me what I need to do in order to get the blessings that he has promised me in return for my missionary service. I'm also thankful that I am learning this now, half way through my mission, so that there's time for me to grow and make changes.
I learned something about promised blessings at conference. I have no doubt in blessings that are promised in priesthood blessings, or by missionaries, or apostles, or in your patriarchal blessing. Basically I just know that D&C1:38 is the truth.
"What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same."
While I was listening to conference I felt distinctly impressed that I would be able to accomplish a specific thing by the time I come home. I realized that this was a promised blessing from the spirit. I had never before considered that the Holy Ghost can promise you blessings. Of course he can promise you blessings though, he is there to communicate between you and the Father. Of course those promised blessings are equally likely to come true because they are directly from the Father after all, just like any other blessing. I'm so excited about how much I'm learning about the workings of the spirit on my mission.
There's one more thing I learned this week that I feel like sharing. Hopefully I will be about to use the English language adequately enough to explain.
So I just got to the war chapters of Alma and I was reading particularly about the title of liberty. Some verses impressed me:
34 Now, Moroni being a man who was appointed by the chief judges and the voice of the people, therefore he had power according to his will with the armies of the Nephites, to establish and to exercise authority over them.
35 And it came to pass that whomsoever of the Amalickiahites that would not enter into a covenant to support the cause of freedom, that they might maintain a free government, he caused to be put to death; and there were but few who denied the covenant of freedom.
36 And it came to pass also, that he caused the title of liberty to be hoisted upon every tower which was in all the land, which was possessed by the Nephites; and thus Moroni planted the standard of liberty among the Nephites.
37 And they began to have peace again in the land; and thus they did maintain peace in the land until nearly the end of the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges.
So I just got to the war chapters of Alma and I was reading particularly about the title of liberty. Some verses impressed me:
34 Now, Moroni being a man who was appointed by the chief judges and the voice of the people, therefore he had power according to his will with the armies of the Nephites, to establish and to exercise authority over them.
35 And it came to pass that whomsoever of the Amalickiahites that would not enter into a covenant to support the cause of freedom, that they might maintain a free government, he caused to be put to death; and there were but few who denied the covenant of freedom.
36 And it came to pass also, that he caused the title of liberty to be hoisted upon every tower which was in all the land, which was possessed by the Nephites; and thus Moroni planted the standard of liberty among the Nephites.
37 And they began to have peace again in the land; and thus they did maintain peace in the land until nearly the end of the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges.
While I was reading this the phrase "planted the standard of liberty" stood out to me. I thought about how we have to establish our standards. So I went back to verse 34 to find out how Moroni did it. So, Moroni being a man who was appointed (given agency) by the chief judges (The Godhead) and the voice of the people (the council in heaven) therefore he had power according to his will (agency) with the armies of the Nephites (the help of the spirit), to establish and to exercise authority over them. (Make decisions and determine the course of his life)
Are you following?
So in verse 35 Moroni with this power that he has been given decided to enforce on the people of the land the standard of liberty. I thought of all the people it talks about as the different habits and attributes that we have as part of our personality. I thought about how he decided what the standard was and then just eliminated all of the people that did not live up to those standards or were willing to try. So basically what I'm getting at is that we as people with agency have to decide what our standards are. We have help with this as faithful members of the church because our Heavenly Father tells us what he expects of us through the scriptures and through modern prophets. For example we have The Family A Proclamation to the World, and For the Strength of Youth to help us know our standards.
Once we decide our standards we, like Captain Moroni, have to examine all of the things that we do, or all of the people, and make sure they are up to our standards. If they are not we have to cause them to be put to death and replace them with our standards. Then we will be able to "have peace again in the land."
So there's no reading assignment this week, but I want to invite everyone to write down some standards you have. It doesn't even have to be your standards as a latter-day saint, it could be your work standards, your standards as a student or a mom, or your standards in regard to how how you honor your priesthood. Write down some personal standards that you have and then put them somewhere you can see it. In this way you can start to "[cause] the title of liberty to be hoisted upon every tower which [is] in all the land" and you can plant in your own heart the standard of liberty.
Here's some quotes:
"I've never had to buy stamps before I don't feel comfortable." -me
"You just go up there and be like HI can I have some stamps and he'll be like yeah what kind do you want?" -Sister Baker
"Hi can I have some stamps. Wow now I feel more comfortable. Thanks for role playing that with me." -Me
"Sister Baker..... This is a picture of us married." -Brigham Porter age 4
"Wow I've never been proposed to at dinner before"-me
"now this is a picture of us kissing." -Briggs
"WHOAH NOW! Briggs you can't say stuff like that because... well... I don't even know where to start." -Sister Porter
"I hope everyone learned a valuable lesson today." -Brother Trippe
"Don't come to Brother Trippe's house our you'll be eaten by a crocodile." -me
"Ah yes... the removable crevice tool." -me
*Sister Baker dies laughing*
"I like how you never put the vacuum away." -Sister Baker
"Don't you know I only vacuum to be seen of men" -me
"It's not goals that don't work... it's... US THAT DON'T WORK." -me
*Sister Baker dies laughing*
(review quotes in june 6 email)
"How do you feel about red tape with white polkadots? Is it masculine enough?" -me
"Whatever the spirit directs." -Elder Foutz
"I feel like outside the temple more revelation is received in the shower than anywhere else." -Sister Baker
"I'm the brain and he's the spokesman." -Elder Richardson
"No I'm the brain." -Elder Howard
"Together we're a brain" -Elder Richardson
"You're probably right together you are A brain" -me
"I just feel like fish are swimming around in my stomach right now." -Sister Wimmer
"Candy!? this is the chapel! Sacred ordinances are performed here and you're eating candy!?" -Elder Radeke
"OH NO SISTER ATCHLEY!!" -Elder Radeke
"uh.. what?" -me
"YOU'RE TURNING INTO YOUR MOTHER!!" -Elder Radeke
(I was knitting)
"Sister Atchley's resting face is so grumpy that in Irvine I saw her go by in a car and I had to call and make sure she was ok because I thought something was deeply wrong with her soul." -Elder Chain
"Wear this scarf" -me
"Will it make me pretty?" -Elder Fife
"Maybe." -me
"I'm already pretty. HEY! Don't snort!" -Elder Fife
"My dad would be so annoyed if he knew I was doing prime factorizations for fun right now." -me
"They're out of Dr Pepper! They don't even have diet! Do you even see this? What even? I have to reevaluate my whole life right now." -Sister Baker
"Calm down you're being really basic right now." -me
Love Y'all!!
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