"If ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent" (Moroni 10:4) - September 13, 2021

 Spiritual Thought

The closing chapter of the Book of Mormon contains a promise to all people who may read this record and desire to know of its truthfulness.  Speaking to the future readers of this sacred account, the prophet Moroni declared the following: "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost." (Moroni 10:4).  This promise has eternally impacted the lives of what is now millions of readers of this sacred book of scripture.  

There are some who have read the Book of Mormon, prayed to know of its truthfulness, and feel as though no answer was received.  There is a crucial piece of this promise upon which our answer is dependent.  Moroni states that our inquiry must be done "with real intent".  In order to receive a witness and testimony of this book's truthfulness we must be willing to act on such a testament.  Our inquiry cannot be made from passive curiosity or as a mere scholarly exercise.  God will not be mocked.  If we are to receive the type of profound, life-altering witness that so many carry with them we must be willing to do all that such a testimony entails.  If we are willing to change our habits and opinions, we will receive a witness.  If we are willing to forsake our sins and former traditions when such a testimony is given we will receive a confirming answer to our prayer.  If we are prepared to follow the example of our Savior into the waters of baptism we will receive an unmistakable answer affirming the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.  It was translated through the power of God by the prophet Joseph Smith.  It is the "most true and correct of any book".  I promise that all who read from this sacred record then ask in humility, with "real intent", if it be true will receive their own witness of the truthfulness of this sacred book.  

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

Weekly Update

Hello everyone,

We had exchanges this week and I think that I missed the exciting part of the week while that happened.  We had several nonmember lessons scheduled for the day.  Because we were on exchanges Elder Marchman went to all of those while I was with Elder Hurley, the district leader.  The first lesson was with a man named Tim.  We helped him move into his new apartment last transfer when he came here from Iowa.  We have not been able to schedule a lesson with him for the past few weeks while he is getting situated.  I am disappointed that I missed the lesson with him because it sounds as though he was very receptive to our message.  He took a copy of the Book of Mormon and sad he would read the introduction and begin to study it.  Hopefully we can meet again this coming week.

The other lesson sounds like it was a little more interesting, and not in a spiritual sense.  A couple of weeks ago we found a new person with Bro. Een.  We have talked to him several times on his doorstep and were able to schedule a lesson for this past Thursday.  The first surprise happened when he very first opened his front door.  I have yet to see this person wearing anything except his underwear and a whole lot of nothing.  What makes that an even more frightening picture is that he is in no way (how to I say this delicately) the smallest, daintiest individual on the planet.  Apparently he was clothed during the lesson on Thursday but I have a hard time envisioning what it would be like to talk to him when he has clothes on.

The fun doesn't stop there however.  During our last visit he told us a little more about his religious beliefs.  He told us that it is his opinion that "God" is a title early man gave to a race advanced, reptilian aliens who came to earth thousands of years ago and have never left.  They are now leading every facet of government and religion disguised as humans.  We believe in letting all people worship "how, where, or what they may" (11th Article of Faith) but personally I find a lot more joy and comfort from believing God is my loving Heavenly Father rather than my reptilian alien overlord.  Additionally this person believes that Satan was not released into the world until the year 1914.  He never quite explained this one but I would be curious to know more.  Needless to say there are some hurdles that need to be cleared with this individual.  Oh, one other thing, he wants to start raising genetically engineered rabbits in his basement as part of his food storage.

One day this past week we were walking down a street in our area.  There was a man in his front yard so we went over and started talking to him.  He introduced himself as Scott Croft.  I told him that my name is Croft and asked if he knew where any of this ancestors came from.  As he started listing some of the places his ancestors lived in every single on of them is where my ancestors are from.  Croft is my grandma's maiden name.  There is a Croft family cemetery in Morgan, Utah.  Morgan is in my mission so I really hope I make it out there at some point so I can see it.  When Scott mentioned that there was a family cemetery in Morgan I knew we had to be related.  We began comparing notes on our ancestors.  Come to find out, my great-great grandpa, Frank Croft, and his great-great grandpa, George Albert Croft, were brothers and we are third cousins.  It was neat to find a long lost family member at the side of the road.

I hope you all have a great week,

Elder Payne

 

We went to Deseret Book last p-day.  This is the entire Book of Mormon typed out in miniscule font.  It was pretty impressive to see.

We helped one of the wards in our area make over 300 lunches for children in need as part of the national day of service on Saturday.  This is the stack of boxes after they had been delivered to the food pantry.

There has been a lot of smoke in the air ever since I got here because of different wildfires.  The sky was the clearest I have seen it last night so I had to take a picture of the mountains.

My long lost cousin.