"If thou endure it well" (D&C 121:8) - October 18, 2021

 Spiritual Thought

Among the most heart wrenching moments in all of scripture is the cry of the prophet Joseph from a dark and miserable prison in Liberty, Missouri.  During this time of overwhelming agony the prophet reached a point when he exclaimed in anguish "O God, where art thou?  And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?" (D&C 121:1).  It is difficult to read this passage without feeling sorrow for the plight of this righteous and holy man.  All prophets throughout time, all true disciples of the Savior, have inevitable passed through their own season of despair when they exclaimed vocally or in their hearts "O God, where art thou?".  As he suffered on the cross after being beaten, humiliated, and bearing the burden of the atonement, the Savior himself cried in despair "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?".  It is the nature of discipleship that such individuals must be test, tried, and refined in order that they may reach the full potential of their obedience.

As we face the trials of our own version of Liberty jail or Golgotha it is important that we remember the response given to Joseph: "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high" (D&C 121:7-8).  It is inevitable that we will each walk our own path of trials as strive to follow our Master.  However, it is also our promise that the Savior whom we are trying to emulate will never forsake us.  He walks with us because he has already born our trials and carried the weight of our burdens.  I testify that Jesus Christ will never abandon us.  He will carry us through whatever it may be that we are given to bear.  Then, if we endure it well "God shall exalt thee on high".

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

Weekly Update

Hello everyone,

This week has been exhausting and also rewarding in its own way.  Moving into an area both missionaries are new to is hard enough.  It is even more difficult when the previous missionaries were sisters and you are unable to do a majority of what they did because of mission rules.  Finding productive ways to fill our days has been a little challenging but things are starting to pick up speed.  If any of you have some great ideas for what to do when 85% of your area are already baptized members and you are not allowed to knock on doors by yourself, please let me know!

On Thursday we met with Micah and Phoenix.  Phoenix is Micah's son and wants to get baptized very badly.  He wants his dad to baptize him but the problem is that Micah has some things he needs to overcome before he can baptize Phoenix.  Elder Holdaway and I came up with a plan to talk to Micah multiple times throughout the day in order to help him overcome his trials.  We are going to meet again on Tuesday and pick a date for the baptism.  Then we are going to call Micah at least every morning and evening until that date to strengthen him and help him avoid pitfalls.  Please keep Micah and Phoenix in your prayers.

We also had the opportunity to meet with two different individuals who are trying to be rebaptized.  It was incredible to see how much both of them had obviously repented and wanted to once again enter into the covenant of baptism.  I know that through the atonement each of us can be forgiven and our sins truly can be washed away.

This week has by far been the coldest I have seen yet.  I have worn a sweater and a jacket almost every day.  There have been several days where the temperature has not climbed above forty degrees and has dropped below thirty during the night.  I'm so glad that my sweaters made to me just in time (thanks mom).

I hope you all have a great week,

Elder Payne

 

 

We ran out of toilet paper on Tuesday and couldn't find more anywhere in the apartment.  We were as scared as you may imagine at the prospect of not having toilet paper for another six days.  We were at one of our church buildings and I had the idea to steal some from the custodial closet.  This is the smallest role I could find.  I think we will have toilet paper through my year mark thanks to this thing.

A view of the clouds low on the mountains.

Fall colors.

This is our zen spot.  It's a field with some sheep at the edge of a new neighborhood being built.  It is really quite and peaceful.  I'm tempted to camp out at this spot for several hours every day and wait for someone to show up.  

Two different sets of train tracks go through this area.  We see the front runner at least once a day.

There is a restaurant in our area called the Hungry Hawaiian.  Apparently they are world renowned and have been featured on the travel channel multiple times.  The best part is that missionaries eat for free.  The perks of your area being 85% member.  You may never baptize anyone but you can eat for free.

This picture was mainly taken for my mom.  Someone had this quilt block over their garage and I thought it looked neat.