Time in Guayaquil
Monday
was cool! One of our converts ended up coming all the way down from
Ventanas to hook me up with a birthday cake! It was so nice of them!
Love that family to death! The only problem was that the cake traveled
from Ventanas...about 3 hours away...then we didn`t meet up until about 2
hours after they made it to Duran...so it didn`t end up getting in the
fridge until about 5 hours of being out in the hot and humid Ecuador
sun. We ended up having a family night that night so I decided to take
the cake there so we could all enjoy in together...I would suggest not
to eat cake that has been left out for 5 hours in the Ecuador sun. We
were all stoked to eat it and as soon as everyone had taken a bite of the
cake, we were more than finished and Hermana P was serving us ice
cream and bananas. Haha! But it is the thought that counts! :)
Wednesday!
We had a multi-zone conference and every time we have a conference we
start the day off bright and early with a temple session.
So there I
was...getting dressed in the temple...and some goofy and familiar
looking dude pops up in the mirror...ELDER JOHNSON! We didn`t even know
that we were in the same multi-zone! So we got to kick it together
through the entire temple session! We had a solid and very much needed
homie-heart-to-heart in the Celestial Room too. So that was awesome.
Then we ended up kicking it with each other through the conference and
for the majority of that day! We made some plans to meet up this next
week to celebrate our birthdays on PDAY. So more info on that next week!
Hmmm...
To sum things up because I have to get to the spiritual message...
The
pope is coming to Guayaquil next week. Haha. The pope in spanish is
``El Papa`` and potato in spanish is ``La Papa`` so we are having fun
with that! The potato is coming to town! Are you going to visit the
potato? etc. His coming is definitly making things a bit harder...but it
would not be worth it if it were easy, right??
How are all of you!? Any plans for the 4th?
Set off a firework for me! ;)
Oh...almost forgot!
Every
night I fill up a big pitcher of water to drink before I go to bed. I
was drinking it as usual but I saw a little skinny glisten of light. I
had almost finished the pitcher which is about 2 liters but I pulled
away to see if there was something in there. When I looked closer there
was a nasty worm looking thing swimming around in the almost completely
gone water than I drank! We think it was a parasite. GROSS! But I
have been good until now...so I think we are safe! No worries! I will
probably check anything and everything for worms before consuming it for
the rest of my life though!
Well...here we go...
Eternal
families have been a principle, fundamental, and everlasting ordinance
since the beginning of time. After giving up his spirit, Abraham was
``reunited with his people`` (Genesis 25:8). After Isaac died, he too
was ``reunited with his people`` (Genesis 35:29). The list could go on
and on through ancient times, through Joseph Smith`s revelation in July
of 1843, and up until this very day of those who have entered into this
``new and everlasting covenant`` and have been ``reunited with their
people``.
Salvation is between you, your Savior, and your
father in Heaven. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can be saved
``after all that we can do``. But God the Father has a more divine
purpose for His children. He has given us instruction on how to become
like Him; an EXALTED God. God`s intention is not to save us...it is to
exalt us...and this type of exaltation comes through family. Eternal
families. The temple.
I was forever changed on Tuesday night
when we had the chance to see a beautiful couple look into the eyes of
one another and bind their love forever through God`s power. From the
creation we learn that ``it is not good that man should be alone`` and
that the Lord then ``made him an help meet for him`` (Genesis 2:18). We
were made to marry. We were made to be WITH someone. For ETERNITY. Your
spouse is there as a help to you...a help to get you to the highest
kingdom of God. But what if we marry ourselves to another in the world?
To what end does it last? All things effected by man remain in a temporal
state and cannot endure past the chains of death. However, when we are
in the house of the Lord God, with ordained power from on high, there is
nowhere to go but forever. Through the sealing power of God we come to
be one with someone. We come to NEVER be alone again...therefore
fulfilling God`s purpose. To take hands with a child of God and to
eternally bind ``a help...meet for him or her`` to inherit the Kingdom
of God. There is NO other way.
What changed me even more was
when the three sons came, all dressed in white, to be sealed to their
parents. I was taken back to 3rd Nephi chapter 17. Christ is in the
Americas ``and it came to pass that He commanded that their little
children should be brought``. It seemed as if the Lord blessed us with
His spirit more and more second by second.
And then they knelt together as a family.
``And
it came to pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus stood in
the midst, He commanded the multitude that they should kneel down upon
the ground.``
Finally, with the divine authority of God we saw
and heard as this family became one. ``And no tongue can speak, neither
can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of man conceive
so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and
no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we
heard Him pray for us unto the Father``. Like the joy that filled the
souls of those in the Americas as they were sealed as families, our souls
were filled with immense joy to see this beautiful family become
one...forever. There was not a dry eye within that room. I know my eyes
were a bit sweaty too.
THIS is our purpose, brothers and
sisters. Christ finally says, ``Behold, now my joy is full``. Christ`s
joy is full when ours is...and the only was to obtain this fullness of
joy is in and through the temples and eternal families.The only way to
obtain this fullness of joy is through a man and a woman, brother and
sister, parent and child, being bound together by the everlasting,
loving, and eternal sealing power of God.
I testify in the
name of Jesus Christ that families can be eternal. This probationary
speck on God`s timeline that we call life is not the end...it is the
very beginning of forever.
Get to that sealing room! No matter
how distant you feel or forgotten you think you are...through the
Atonement of Jesus Christ you too can become one with your God given
family.
Get to that sealing room! Help other children of God,
who are waiting anxiously to receive these ordinances, to obtain the
joy that you have.
To finish, I would like to quote the words of the father was sealed to his wife and kids who bore his testimony yesterday...
``I
believe in Christ. I believe in His gospel. I believe in the temple. I
believe in the sealing powers within. I believe in the family.``
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Elder Noll
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