T'is the season to eat turkey,
...or whatever suits your belly this holiday season-
Hey y'all. Hope you're well and having the best day, week, month, LIFE ever! It has cooled down in the bodacious bayou and that makes for one very happy fair-skinned Elder. Sweater weather has never felt better. WELL, this week was a learning experience, one that I will never forget. If you've ever wondered why we are sometimes required to withstand the figurative weight of the mountains of Nova Scotia and to be thrust into pits of deepest woe- then you came to the right place. No, I do not have a mountain on my chest, and yes, I would consider Louisiana a lot better than a pit of despair- but we HAVE learned an eternal principle this week, one that you might not recognize you are striving to keep every day... Stay tuned for spirit, shenanigans, and stories as we enjoy another edition of SLIDELL SCROLLS: CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.
Enduring to the end is an eternal principle.
Far too often overlooked in the doctrines and principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the lifelong commitment and eternal obligation to endure. With the people we teach, the difference between membership and conversion in the church is that great and last principle of the Gospel; to endure to the end. Truly, enduring to the end is a much bigger responsibility than, "doing our best every day to follow Jesus Christ." To endure is to enjoy. To improve. To withstand and to overcome. To develop and to make a difference. To make everlasting and omnipotent. In the end, if we have chosen to endure, we will have chosen to become like Christ. He is the end to which we endure to- his qualities, attributes, and character is what we are expected and promised to develop through this everlasting principle. But, as my boy Neal. A puts it, "in the end if we have not chosen Christ, it will not matter what we have chosen."
Have you chosen Christ? How do you endure to the end?
Well, in the mission field, every day is a test of endurance. Something I have recently learned is that our response to life's challenges is what ultimately determines our growth. It matters not how other's choose our agency- that has little to do with our personal consequence - but what will affect our character and progression most, is our response. We can choose to be happy and to be optimistic. We are agents unto ourselves to create our own consequences. I heard it best in this quote, "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." Missionary work is hard, yes, but in the midst of difficulty lies opportunity- and that opportunity is found through optimism! I am a most sincere believer that attitude is the antidote for any kind of anxiety. NOW ONTO THE STORY:
I had the utmost privilege of going on exchanges with one of the Elders in our quad-ship- Elder Xiong (pronounced with an "sh"... something my family is very familiar with. :)) We had a great day planned- probably one of the busiest days of the week- and were very excited to learn from each other and to lose ourselves in the work. I'd say we had twelve teaching appointments scheduled? It was a full day. However, the caveat with enduring... is that true endurance is never comfortable.
Every appointment canceled.
Call us Elder Endurance. People who had never contacted us, texted us just to say don't come over. Of the 12 appointments, we had scheduled... 12 canceled on us. Now, I don't think this was a poor act of planning on our part or insufficient faith... but in hindsight, as I reflect on the events of that day, I realized a very valuable lesson that God was trying to teach us. We continued to work hard all through the night, knocking doors and such. We tried a few part-member families and a plethora of people who just wouldn't answer their doors. It had neared the end of the night, and though we hadn't seen much success, we didn't lose hope.
We decided to drop in on one of our girls who had come to church this past week. She is sixteen years old and we had first met her through her mother (who was on the phone with our Relief Society President when we felt the prompting to go up and talk to her. ) Well, we taught her a brief lesson and got to know her some more... when suddenly... SHE PUT HERSELF ON DATE TO BE BAPTIZED. We were talking about her sister being sprinkled when she was younger and she asked if she could do that too. I mean, we explained immersion and everything, but she's super excited to be baptized next month! Isn't that the coolest? I feel so much joy just in writing this. She has come to church now for two consecutive weeks and is the kindest woman. We don't find the elect, the elect finds us- and she alone has restored my faith in the harvest.
NOW THE MORALE OF THE STORY: There is no doubt in my mind that because we were willing to work hard in difficulty and endure, God showed us that miracle. There is such a great reward in store for those who endure. My testimony of this great principle of the gospel has astronomically grown this week. God is easily pleased but hard to satisfy. Yes, he is ELATED when we take our first steps in salvation- but in order to achieve true discipleship... and to maintain our course on the straight and narrow.. we must accept and apply the vitality of endurance. The words of prophets and apostles say it best:
“In this work there must be commitment. There must be devotion. We are engaged in a great eternal struggle that concerns the very souls of the sons and daughters of God. We are not losing. We are winning. We will continue to win if we will be faithful and true. We can do it. We must do it. We will do it. There is nothing the Lord has asked of us that in faith we cannot accomplish.” Gordon B. Hinckley,
And...
"The basic requirements for enduring to the end include knowing who we are, children of God with a desire to return to His presence after mortality; understanding the purpose of life, to endure to the end and obtain eternal life; and living obediently with a desire and a determination to endure all things, having eternal vision. Eternal vision allows us to overcome opposition in our temporal state and, ultimately, achieve the promised rewards and blessings of eternal life." Robert D. Hales
Another spiritual highlight of this week was so simple... but so profound. As we enjoyed dinner with some beloved members, it became time for us to share our spiritual thought. Something had been pressing upon my mind throughout the entirety of the evening... so I decided to volunteer this particular night. It was nothing much... just a few insights about love from the Bible. As I read the scripture, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends," I realized that we are never more Christlike than when we are a friend. This thought I shared with my testimony and thought nothing of it... until one of the friends of the family, a young woman in the ward, came up to me afterward and said something I will never forget:
"That was the first time I have felt the spirit since my baptism."
My heart went out to this young girl as I remembered where I was before my mission. Was I in a position to feel a constant flow of the Spirit? Did I have daily spiritual experiences? Was I completely attentive to and worthy of the great gift of the Holy Ghost?
These thoughts raced through my mind as she looked at me with sincerity in her eyes. There was no coincidence in my thoughts that night. I knew that God had answered a humble child's prayer through a simple spiritual thought that night. So it is with us- God is willing to give us the spiritual experiences we desire. We just need to be in a position, similar to baptism, where we are prepared... sanctified.. and humble enough to feel a similar spirit. As Alma has said,
"And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?"
From your favorite Elder Endurance,
Elder Boyd
This Week's Pics:
Elder Boyd:
It wouldn't be Elder Boyd if silly faces were not included in every photo shoot!
The Tag:
The Companion:
The Crew:
Let's ZOOM in on that food, shall we (showing mom he's eating healthy 😃👍):
Random Pics Without an Explanation:
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