Another Transfer

It's crazy to think that I've already been here six weeks.  Time goes so fast...  Elder Lish goes home six weeks from now, so that's kind of weird.  Things have been going great though, and we've been really busy and excited.

Tay, the guy we started working with a couple weeks ago, is really  doing very well.  He's been to church twice now and is planning on being baptized on the twelfth.  That may end up being moved... we want to make sure he's totally ready and he's going in for surgery soon and that might change things.  He's got a really big hernia that he's just kind of let go for a while, and it's gotten pretty bad, so he's going to take care of it now...  but he's doing great :)  He loves the Book of Mormon, and he's feeling the spirit a lot as he's been learning.  Unfortnately, his wife isn't as excited...  She's okay with him doing it, but doesn't really want anything to do with it herself...  I think she'll change her mind with a little time though.

We're also teaching a kid named Arturo.  He's living here with his grandma, but his mom and sister who live in another ward got baptized on saturday.  He didn't have the chance to be there for any of the lessons, but he went to church a couple of times and wants to be baptized.  He really wants to commit himself to God and have a fresh start, so we're helping him change his habits as well.  He's also looking at the twelfth, but that may also change.  Probably not, though.

There's also a pretty cool guy named Roger that we're talking to about once a week...  He was loking for a church for a while but kind of gave up because he didn't agree with most.  He knows that God sent us to help him, but he's kind of a slow-paced guy.  He's reading the Book of Mormon and thinks Joseph Smith is pretty cool.  He wants more information about the life of Joseph than we really have the resources to give him, though, and he doesn't have the internet...  So we're trying to figure something out.

Mike is another guy who's been looking and is confused because everyone says different things, so we're helping him there.  We've really only taught him once, but he's excited because he feels he's about to have his questions answered...

It's been a really fun week because we've had the spirit with us a lot.  It's really cool how when the spirit is there, the teacher and the learner both learn because really the spirit becomes the teacher.  Mostly we're there to discuss and make sure the conversation stays on track so that the spirit can help them understand the truth.  The best lessons are the ones that don't feel like a "lesson," but more of a discussion of the Gospel with a friend, and we help eachother recognize spiritual experiences that enrich our understanding.  That's really the trick when we share spiritual thoughts with members as well.  I know it was going right when I don't have to stop and say, "Well, we're running out of time.  Can we share a spiritual thought?"  The best ones are when our conversations flow into the scriptures and we are able to use those to help them know how to share the gospel better as a family.

I've also come to a greater understanding of faith and grace this past week.  I've heard the scripture "...for we know it is by faith that we are saved, after all we can do." (2 Nephi 25:23)  used often for and against church doctrine.  Often, people think that grace just means God saves us unconditionally, despite anything we do, and anyone who recognizes grace through Christ will receive the ultimate reward of God.  On the other hand, there are also many who worry far too much about the "all we can do" part.  Thinking we can do any of it on our own and trying to reach our limit through sheer willpower will only lead to disappointment and failure, for God has given many warnings against those who "put their trust in the arm of flesh" which is weak.  What really happened was that Christ payed the whole debt, exempting us from the infinite perfection that would be otherwise required for redemption from an eternity in hell.  He did save us all from that.  So, if we don't have to be perfect anymore, what do we have to do?  We have to become perfect, for it is still true that no unclean or impure thing can dwell in God's presence.  Jesus Christ paid that debt, so that we could practice.  We try and fail, try and fail, and try and fail again, that is all we can do.  As long as we continue with the trying, the grace of Jesus Christ, or his "strengthening and enabling power" will then come into play and make us better than we are, and start getting rid of some of those failures.  That requires faith and repentance.  Baptism comes when we decide we want to achieve all that God wants and won't just settle for mediocrity, and he promises us the Holy Ghost, which really just intensifies the direction we recieve and the fortifying grace that works in us., so that we can keep trying and eventually have success.  Our goal is to be "perfected in Christ."  Unfortunately, not everyone is worried about all that and doesn't want to become perfect in Christ one day for whatever reason... but God loves each and everyone of his children, so he has provided places for all those who don't do what is necessary for Christ to be able to perfect them, to go and be with those who became the same thing as them.  It's not who we are, or what we do, but who we become that matters.  Who we are is just a starting point, and what we do is what starts the change, but we can try again as many times as it takes.  Hell, then, is only for those who choose it...  who deny the grace of Jesus Christ and deliberately become something pitted against the peerfection of Christ...  So really, we only go where we want to.  We will have the level of glory and happiness and knowledge and responsibility that we desire.  Alex Boye said something I really liked in his video on mormon.org:  "I believe we become what we think about the most." 

So that's what I've been thinking about lately...  but yeah, have a great week, and I love y'all :)

Elder Katzakian