"Lord, is it I?" (John 14:19)

January 16, 2023

"Lord, is it I?" (John 14:19) - January 16, 2023

Spiritual Thought

Prior to the Savior's suffering in Gethsemane he gathered the early apostles in order to give them final counsel and to institute the ordinance of the Sacrament. The weight of the burden which would shortly be placed upon his shoulders surely must have pressed upon our Savior's mind. He had accepted the staggering responsibility before the foundation of the world and left a Celestial home in order to fulfill his promise. All the events of this world, past and future, are merely fleeting afterthoughts bathed in the splendor of a secluded garden, a cruel cross, and an empty tomb.

As part of this Last Supper the Savior revealed to his twelve apostles that one of them would shortly do the unthinkable: they would betray him. Surely dread must have flooded their hearts and tears must have filled their eyes as the reality of his statement was comprehended. One of the Special Witnesses of Christ, the very same individuals who had been taught at his feet and witnessed of his divinity, would turn their back on all that he was and deliver him into the hands of evil men. The Savior of the World would shortly be betrayed by one of his closest friends who would reject his Master for price of a common slave. I cannot read this account without my heart aching and longing that there had been another way. However, the path of our Savior needed to be walked utterly and completely alone in order that he could truly descend below all things.

After the Savior stated the unfathomable to his apostles, told them of the impending betrayal, each one in turn asked the same four word question: "Lord, is it I?" I can envision these good men looking into the eyes of their Master and, with voices choked with emotion, seeking reassurance that the betrayer was not them. However, one of these men knew the evil plan he was about to carry out, even as he too inquired as to his innocence.

My prayer is that you and I will also ask this same question: "Lord, is it I?" The Savior has walked the path of betrayal once. Now my request and sincere invitation to each of you is that he will never be abandoned by us. We may not be able to desert our Savior to wicked men. We can, however, desert him for other Gods. Those things which draw our time, attention, and energy away from The Savior and His work. As we face the trials of this mortal journey my invitation is that you and I will continually ask this question "Lord, is it I?" That you and I will eternally be found standing with and staying faithful to our Savior is my prayer.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Weekly Update

Hello everyone,

Well, it's time to talk about another week! We had to go to Antananarivo for some start of transfer things this week. I was able to see all of the other Americans and spent a lot of time with Elders Lewis, Nelson and Galbraith. I hadn't talked to Elder Nelson or Elder Galbraith very much yet so it was good to get to know them more. They will be the first Americans since COVID to serve an entire two-year mission in Madagascar.

The problem with going to Tana is it takes three days to do that. We had a twelve hour drive on Tuesday, meetings on Wednesday and another twelve hour drive on Thursday. The roads are terrible and the driving is terrifying so needless to say I'm very tired of sitting on a bus. The trip on Tuesday ended up being more like 13 or 14 hours. The first delay was because a semi had slid off the road and was blocking most of it. It took about an hour and a half to figure how to move it enough that people could pass. Then our driver was driving like a maniac (as usual) and was trying to squeeze past a different semi during a rainstorm. The semi ended up hitting the back of our car. Luckily it just scratched the paint and left a little dent though.

So far things have been going well with my new companion. He doesn't speak any English so that makes things more interesting. I also found out yesterday that he's 28. We have quite a few promising people in our area and are trying to have a lot of baptisms this transfer.

Elder and Sister Jacob (the couple who started serving a mission with their family in July) visited Fianarantsoa this weekend and I was able to see them quite a bit. It was so refreshing to be around them! It also made me miss my own family. I'm looking forward to seeing them again before too much longer! Elder and Sister Jacob took the four missionaries to lunch on Saturday. Then, later that evening Elder Jacob was able to come to one of our lessons and his entire family came to another one. I think they were very surprised to have an extra ten white people show up and want to talk about eternal families with them but I so think they enjoyed it. Most Malagasies view white people in about the same way a ten year old boy views the Avengers. It would be like if said ten year old knew Captain America was coming to his house but then Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Batman, Superman, Spaghetti-Oman and that guy that looks like a stick but is apparently what inspires today's children all walked around the corner with him: stunned and speechless silence of pure joy. Elder and Sister Jacib both speak French but I was able to translate for their kids. I hadn't been able to translate for anyone yet so it was good to have that practice. The whole lesson I kept thinking that I hope their kids never forget the experiences they are having and had that night in particular.

I think that about sums up the week. I hope you all have a great week and feel free to let me know how your life is going!

Elder Payne

I'll never cease to be amazed at the way Malagasies do things. This is the gas tank on the bus. Just a regular two liter bottle with a homemade pump system.