Monday, July 11, 2016

Letter #104

Dear Mum and Family,

Well it has been a pretty crazy week and I cannot believe that this is the last full week of the transfer. This last week has been a lot better since we have recovered from the colds that we got. We have been able to see a few new people this last week which has also been a blessing. It seems like people wanted to talk with us a bit more this week. Haha. That's nice for a change.

We have found a few new people that we have set some return appointments to see this week and we are pretty excited to see them and to teach them. It has been great to see some miracles this past week. I hope that this area continues to get better and better as missionaries continue to work with the wonderful people. I hope we can witness some amazing miracles this last week of the transfer. I am excited to finish strong this next week.

Well I too don't have much more to say other than thanks for all of the wonderful emails that you have all sent with your ponderizing thoughts. It has been great to hear from you all and to learn from your emails. Thanks for taking that time to do so each week. It has been a great blessing to have such a wonderful family there to support me through these past two years.

Well I am planning on sending just one email next week. You can all email if you would like and I will read them, but don't worry if you don't want to. Also I think you can do your own ponderizing scripture if you would like. I want to do something special for my last spiritual thought next week, but you will have to wait to see what it is.

I hope that you are all doing well and that you are enjoying you last week without me. Soon enough I will be back to bug you all once again. Haha. I think I have learned a few more tricks to give you all a harder time here and there. Haha. I hope that you are all prepared. If not you better start preparing. Haha
Well here is my last thought for my ponderizing scripture as a missionary. I hope that you enjoy it. I have really enjoyed all of your thoughts on this scripture this past week.

Spiritual Thought

I have loved this past week and the opportunity to have thought about the scripture in  Ether 12:27. Lots of different things have stuck out to me a d I hope to explain well what I have learned this past week.
Obviously the scripture is Ether 12:27 which reads:
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."
There is one word in particular that has stuck out to me the most as I have been pondering this scripture and that word is humble. I think it truly is the main point of this scripture.
At the beginning of this verse the Lord speaks and he says, "if men come unto me I will show unto them their weaknesses."  It is requiring us to act in order for us to know our weaknesses so that we can improve. That takes a great deal of humility.
If we are prideful then we "...put greater trust in oneself than in God or in His servants." (PMG 121)  We are given weaknesses so that we "may be humble."
(Ether 12:27)
So after pondering this scripture I wanted to share a few things about humility and what I have learned about humility throughout the time that I have had to study it.
I believe the greatest definition of humility comes from True to the Faith. It reads:
"To be humble is to recognize gratefully your dependence on the Lord--to understand that you have constant need for His support. Humility is an acknowledgment that your talents and abilities are gifts from God. It is not a sign of weakness, timidity, or fear; it is an indication that you know where your true strength lies."
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The greatest example of any Christ like attribute is obviously the Savior. There are so many examples of humility throughout His earthly ministry that we can learn from. I think the greatest example of humility from the Savior is shown during his suffering in Gethsemane.
As he went to the Garden of Gethsemane he told His three disciples that came with him to wait and to pray. The Savior "...went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (Matt. 26:39)
There are times in our own lives that we may be suffering in some way or another. Those times happen to us all. It is apart of our earthly experience. It seems during these times of despair we turn to our Heavenly Father in prayer the most. Sometimes after we make it through those hard times we tend to forget about prayer again until we have another trying time.
I want to share one more example of the Savior’s humility that is shown. It is not during a time that he is suffering so it shows that the Savior always recognizes that Heavenly Father is with him and that he is ever grateful for his help. It is found in John 11 when Christ raises Lazarus from the dead.
Lazarus had been laid in a tomb and had been there for four days by the time he got there. (John 11:17)  To make a long story short the Savior went to the tomb and when he got there He asked them to remove the stone that was in front of the tomb. They did so and while they were doing it the Savior says a pray out loud in which he says:
"...Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me." (John 11: 41-42)
He then raises Lazarus from the dead and there is much rejoicing I believe.
The Savior praying before raising Lazarus shows great humility. He wasn't praying for power or authority because he had already had it. He was praying to thank Heavenly Father for always listening to Him. The Savior also showed that He and the Father are one in purpose when he said that the Father had sent him there.
In 3 Nephi 12:48 it reads:
"Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect."
We are to strive to become perfect like our Christ and our Father in Heaven. In order to do so we need to progress spiritual and to come unto Christ. He is the only way we can be perfected. (Moroni 10:32) Just as Bruce R. McConkie once said

"All progression in spiritual things is dependent upon the attainment of humility."
I know that as we all strive to obtain humility in our lives then we will start to see those weaknesses that we may have turn into strengths. And with those strengthens we will be able to bless many lives.

 I hope that you all have a great week and try your best to hold out one more week without getting into trouble, especially you mum. Hahah
Have a great week and take care.
Love,
Elder Peterson

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