"Be still and know that I am God" (D&C 101:16) - February 21, 2022
Spiritual Thought
In the Doctrine and Covenants we read of the plight and distressing state the early saints too often found themselves in. At this time they had been driven from their homes, threats of death were common, and malicious destruction of property was a normal occurrence. These early saints had already sacrificed so much for the kingdom and still such harrowing events as extermination orders, Haun's mill, and a horrendous treck to the Salt Lake Valley still lay before them. Surely there were many during this period who, with their young prophet-leader, cried in confusion and despair "O God, where art thou?" (D&C 121:1).
The 101st section of the Doctrine and Covenants was received at a particularly dark and hopeless time for these early saints. Some of the saints had gathered in Missouri while others, including Joseph Smith, were still in Kirtland, Ohio. Surely Joseph must have wept bitterly as he heard the plight of the faithful men and women who had answered the call to gather in Missouri. As was his lifelong custom he took these concerns to the Lord in prayer, inquiring to know how to succor and ease the trials set before the fledgling kingdom of God. The answer he received, one originally given in the Old Testament, still can be heard ringing through the halls of time as the counsel of a loving Father to an anxious child: "Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God."
My humble invitation for you and for me is that we will be more conscious in our efforts to obey this counsel. Not in an apathetic or uncaring sense but rather as an expression of our faith in the God we serve. He is our Eternal Father. He rules the heavens and the earth and has orchestrated a perfect plan for each son and daughter throughout time. This plan will require us to pass through struggles, pitfalls, and danger. It will require us to be tempted by the enemy of all righteousness and sadly many will yield to that temptation. At times we may even feel that we have been abandoned by our Heavenly Father. In spite of whatever we may feel or what we are asked to pass through, I testify of a perfectly loving Father and a Savior who stands at his side. They have promised to ease the burdens placed upon our backs and fight our battles for us. May we each choose to be still and know that he is God us my prayer and invitation.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Weekly Update
Hello everyone,
I know I say this a lot but his week might actually be the neatest week of my mission. There have been miracles on top of miracles.
As you might have guessed, the highlight of the week was working with the Rosales family. I am more impressed by them every time we meet with them. In our last lesson we asked them to pray about the baptismal invitation we had extended to them. We followed up on this invitation on Friday. They responded by saying that they really felt like baptism would be right for them if they had a testimony of the Book of Mormon because "the Book of Mormon is so important to the Gospel and everything else depends on it." Talk about taking the words out of our mouths! We wholeheartedly agreed with them and reread Moroni's promise. Afterwards Jesús told us "I think I already believe this is true because I feel so much peace and joy when I read it." We then had a very good discussion about the role of the Holy Ghost. As we were talking I had several questions come into my mind to ask the family. After we discussed these questions we asked them if they would read and pray about the Book of Mormon, individually and as a family, every day for the next month. They all very enthusiastically said yes. Then I asked them if they received a testimony of the Book of Mormon if they would be baptized on March 19th. Jesús and Rosa became very emotional and said "If this book is true then I don't think we have any other choice. It would be a privilege to be baptized." After hearing their response I was filled with the purest joy I have ever felt. I am excited to see what the Lord will do in their lives over the next month.
After the lesson Andrés talked to us privately for about another twenty minutes while Rosa made my new favorite dish (see the pictures). He told us that he is married with a three year old son but his family is still living in Venezuela (this was news to us, by the way). He is working to pay for them to come to the United States and wants his wife, Alexnys, to meet with the missionaries as soon as she gets to Utah. He then told us that before he left Venezuela he knew he was going to come to Utah and wanted to learn more about what it is like here. He read a significant amount about the church and became very interested. The more he learned about the church the more he felt like he was coming to Utah so he could join this church. When they came to Utah he immediately began looking for missionaries and knew they would come at any moment. He told us that knowing more about the church became an obsession. He would stay awake at night reading more. He would think about it all day long. He even started having dreams about being at his own baptism before he even knew what baptism in our church looked like. The most amazing part however is that he had a dream where he was in the sealing room (he didn't know that's what it is called but he described it perfectly) with his wife and son. Everyone was dressed in white and he was surrounded by his family. Only two days after arriving in Utah we knocked on his door and asked if his family wanted to know more about the Gospel. I felt very honored to have him tell me his story. It is humbling to be one of the missionaries entrusted with teaching a person and family who are so extremely prepared for the gospel.
I hope you all have a great week!
Elder Payne
This was more impressive in real life but there was a huge military cargo plane flying over the church building. It was pretty neat to see!
Knocking doors in what felt like a subzero tornado. Elder Morse was hiding behind the wall until we heard the door start to open. To be fair though, I told him to wear a jacket.
On exchanges with Elder Golden and Elder Hanosek. They are living in my old Syracuse house. It was so fun to be back there for a day!
Being in Spanish has turned me into a foody. Rosa made us one of their favorite dishes from Maracaibo: Arepas Maracucha. This is honestly my new favorite meal.
Elder Southwick has a strange way of sleeping. I think he's part bat.
Hermano Zegarra bought Guinea Pigs to cook. Our birthdays are within a week of each other so he said he might cook them for our birthday party. I would honestly like to try them!
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