Time in Guayaquil
Hey All!!
How
are things going in the promised land?? Things here are super good!
Just writing you all while sitting next to Elder Johnson! Haha! We are
going to eat lunch and kick it together today until we have to go to our
own sectors later to work! So that is always a highlight!!
This
week was truly incredible. So many daily miracles and so many tender
mercies that the Lord showed me...I always feel so bad at the end of
each email each week because I have to leave out so many things that the
Lord blessed me with. This lifestyle and these routines of daily
scripture study, prayer, and dedicating yourself to defending the faith
of the Lord Jesus Christ creates miracles...there is no doubt about that
in my mind.
We had to be in Guayaquil the other day and we
were in the Taxi on the way back to Panorama. The Taxi conversations are
usually the same...
Where do you live? Have you ever talked to
the missionaries? What is your family like? And then we share a
spiritual message. This one was a little different...he said that he
didn't work on Sundays. That really caught me off guard! Not ONCE has
that happened over this past year! Haha! So we got talking a bit...and I
asked him if he has ever talked to the missionaries...he said "Yes!
Once a week...at LEAST!" I was thinking that he was an investigator but
he turned out to be the Elders Quorum President! Haha! So cool to be
apart of this spreading wild fire of the gospel. Who would have thought
that in a world with so much iniquity, evil, and contention...a
missionary could wave down a random Taxi and find a President of an
Elders Quorum. Watch out world!!! God's Kingdom is coming and we are
coming fast!
On Wednesday I was in another sector which was
cool! It is always awesome to meet the investigators of the other
missionaries and see the goodness of the word of God be spread
throughout every ear.
We got to pass by a Less Actives house
and teach him about Family History to help prepare him for the Temple. I
was so touched to hear him talk about the temple. How beautiful it is.
How peaceful he feels when he is near it. How sacred the Lord's house
is...and he has never even entered! The temple truly is so
beautiful...so peaceful...so sacred...and that perspective is from the
outside! Imagine what we feel when we enter...imagine the intensity of
the spirit. It is something that cannot be put into words. So grateful
for the temple.
We watched a movie with a couple the other day
that really touched my heart. It is called "To This End Was I Born".
It is a movie about the final hours of Christ's earthly ministry and
crucifixion, mission in the spirit world, and His Resurrection. I was
so touched by a question that the Herman asked us...
¿What was Christ guilty of?
Hmmm...those were the major events of the week!
Super
happy birthday shout out to my older brother, Ryan! Love you man! Miss
you more than you know! 3 years is a long time...and we are going on
four! But hey...we have an eternity to play catch, punch each other, and
eat In n out!
Nothing super crazy happened this week I don't think...
We
have a pet frog that just kicks it in a crevice on the door of our
house. His name is Carlito...he is the nicest dude but he pees like a
horse and stinks up the apartment...so Elder C laid out some
salt because I guess that kills them...and he hasn't showed up since.
Hopefully he found a new home...but if he is dead...
Better that one frog perish than two Elders dwindle in the stench of urine ;)
I would like to start off with a verse from Doctrine and Covenants;
``Joseph
Smith the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only,
for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever
lived in it...``
``And now, in relation to the baptism for the
dead,...and in an especial manner this most glorious of all subjects
belonging to the everlasting gospel, namely, the baptism for the
dead:...``
Joseph Smith, through divine revelation, revealed
``this most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting
gospel``and often times we do not realize the importance of it.
Ephesians
teaches us that ``in the despensations of the fullness of times he
might gather together in one all things in Christ; both which are in
Heaven, and are on earth; even in Him:`` This gathering together in one
all things in Christ is done by being submerged for and in behalf of our
brothers and sisters who are wating ever so anxiously on the other side
of the veil.
When Christ came to the Americas He invited all
``to be perfect even as He, or our Father in Heaven is perfect`` (3
Nephi 3:48). Not only was this invitation extended to all who lived in
the Americas at that time but for all who lived in the eastern parts of
the earth during His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. This invitation
is for all...east and west, living and dead, now, forever in the past,
and for the eternities to come.
God is such a loving God. He
knew that some of His children would not have the chance to partake of
baptisimal ordinances in their earthly life...some of His children
would not be capable of utilizing the atonement in their life which was
given to all men.
That is where this ``most glorious`` miracle comes in.
In Hebrews 11:40 it says ``God having provided some better thing for us...``
Whatever
we are doing in this moment...God has something better. The end of the
verse explains to us what this ``better thing`` is.
``...that they without us should not be made perfect.``
This
``better thing`` is to help others become perfect. There are so many
souls in the spirit world waiting for the chance to be made clean for
their sins. However...they cannot be made clean through the Atonement of
Jesus Christ...and they cannot utilize the Atonement without
Baptism...and they cannot be baptized without this ``most glorious of
all subjects`` and certainly can`t do it without our help.
I
testify that the living God is the living God of the living and of the
dead. I testify that this glorious subject is true and it is sacred. The
Heavens won`t be the Heavens without the people we take along with us.
Let us be more dedicated in helping our brothers and sisters partake of
the Atonement throught the sacred, authorized by God, and holy baptisms
for the dead in God`s holy temples. Let us do this ``better thing``.
Make someone perfect today! Be the reason that one of God`s souls
entered into a state of happiness and peace. Be the reason that someone
can utilize the Atonement of Jesus Christ in their lives. Be the reason
that someone inherits eternal life.
Love you all so much! You are all in my constant prayers.
Elder Noll
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| The celebratory "burning of the shirt" - a year mark tradition for missionaries |
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| The Elders - some things never change :) |
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