Hello!
I seem to be at the point of my mission where things seem to be
jolting forward at an aggressively violent pace. It is going too
quick. The Chester Ward is amazing! I love it here and Christmas here
is going to be fantastic.
The other day I was in Birkenhead, it was another exchange with a
different missionary. It was weird... we had to travel through
Liverpool to get there, it used a train line similar to the Tube in
London. Going through back to my old proselyting area was interesting,
It brought back memories of unsurity, of newness and of joy. I was
such a new missionary when I went to St. Helens through Liverpool.
Liverpool is definately one of my favourite places ever. It kind of
took me back to the days when I had little responsibility of
missionary leadership, those were days never to be forgotten.
I got back to Chester on Thursday and it was welcoming, we were
teaching a lot. A important lesson is one I learnt of repentance. The
way we teach the principle of repentance as missionaries needs to be
very sensitive, it needs to be backed up by the spirit and done in a
loving caring manner. Ultimately the best way to teach repentance is
highlighting the joy of forgiveness. Many a time this week we had been
around people who haven't made the best of choices. Infact it reminded
me of our call and duty to emulate Jesus Christ, the people he was
around were perhaps not the most wise in their choices. He was around
publicans, hypocrits, harlots and many other people who had commited
sin in various forms.
He came not to call the perfect, but he came for those who needed to
become penitent, we are told, the whole need no physician. Those are
exactly who we spent time with this week. It is an eye opener, perhaps
as missionaries we aren't the most familiar with what is in the world,
we try empathise but that empathy falls short because we haven't been
through what they have been through. But the amazing thing is that the
grace of Jesus Christ is sufficent for everyone who had a broken heart
and a contrite spirit. When we speak to those who have particularly
been involved with those more serious sins, the transforming power of
the Atonement reaches out to the individual.
I came up with the "I'm not perfect" principal, what do people see
when they see missionaries? Some may see our perfectly tied ties, our
spotless white shirts, my hair that I still spend 10 minutes to
perfection and people get intimidated. It is so intimidating when
missionaries who exalt themselves talk to those investigators that are
abased. Vital to helping them is helping them realise we are just as
human as they are, while respecting the confidence of our power and
authority contained within our call.
It is something that has changed my mission forever. During King
Benjamins sermon the people had viewed themselves in a carnal state,
even lower than the dust of the earth. I want you to all know that I
am human, I make mistakes far greater than perhaps some of our
investigators but the healing power of the Atonement is transforming,
more transforming than any "10 minute makeover", more transforming
than the day and the night, it is viewing a difference perspective of
ourselves, the world and God.
With Love,
Elder Sapaden
No comments:
Post a Comment