Monday, July 20, 2015

Being More Christ Like

Dear Family,

This week was really good.  Nalaikd nalaj l bnaa!  I am liking Nalaikh more and more each day as we meet members and get into people’s homes.  Elder Dulguun and I have had a great time together.  I have two really great stories this week. One from the scriptures and one from missionary life.   I’ll just start with what I learned this week from the scriptures. This was just a great week with amazing personal studies, so please bear with me.

Lets start in Alma 31. Alma and his brethren are heading down to meet the apostate Zoramites.

6 Therefore he took Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner; and Himni he did leave in the church in Zarahemla; but the former three he took with him, and also Amulek and Zeezrom, who were at Melek; and he also took two of his sons.

7 Now the eldest of his sons he took not with him, and his name was Helaman; but the names of those whom he took with him were Shiblon and Corianton; and these are the names of those who went with him among the Zoramites, to preach unto them the word.

I read this and just say to myself, “Lets go!" and just think of of as like, “First Team All-Missionary!”  They were heading out with just a band of brothers to bring the Zoramites back into the truth.  All-Star team for sure!  Just a squad of Missionaries ready for anything. Then later in the chapter, Alma prays unto the Lord saying:

32 O Lord, wilt thou comfort my soul, and give unto me success, and also my fellow laborers who are with me—yea, Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and also Amulek and Zeezrom, and also my two sons—yea, even all these wilt thou comfort, O Lord. Yea, wilt thou comfort their souls in Christ.

33 Wilt thou grant unto them that they may have strength, that they may bear their afflictions which shall come upon them because of the iniquities of this people.

Alma prays for his brotheren. He asks for success, and strength for his brethren. He loved them enough to pray for them by name and ask for their souls to be safe in Christ. I LOVED that!!

36 Now it came to pass that when Alma had said these words, that he clapped his hands upon all them who were with him. And behold, as he clapped his hands upon them, they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

This immediately reminded me of a coach giving a pep talk before the game to his high school football team. He finished speaking, and clapped his hands upon them. He just got his troops fired up, and their blood pumping!  He was ready to go to war with his brethren. Together, with one cause, in the Lord!  They were ready, and the Spirit fell upon them. Like walking out of the locker room to the sound of the drum line playing, carrying your team’s flag!   I am getting pumped just typing about it!

37 And after that they did separate themselves one from another, taking no thought for themselves what they should eat, or what they should drink, or what they should put on.

But then they went off, not caring about themselves. Not seeking their own, all for one and one for all, for one cause, having faith that the Lord would give them the victory.
I loved this story, and it really applied to things that I need to learn in the next 4 months. Thanks for listening :)
Now the story from this week in the mission field:   So this week we were teaching a lesson in a ger, with the door open.  The ger is just in an open field, not fenced.  A drunk comes through, throws a rock at something, and the dogs start attacking him!  The family we were with and the families from the surrounding two gers roll out and just tell their little kids to grab the dogs.   So little kids are just trying to tackle the dogs and are holding them by their tails to save this drunk man. The drunk starts mouthing off and eventually leaves.  Then, not far away at all, he gets into some random man's face on the little dirt trail, and that guy just sucker punches the drunk in the face.  Well it was hard to get back into the lesson.  Nalaik has more drunks than I have ever seen in my mission.  Like hundreds. Really sad.  The branch president showed me a great example this week by taking a drunk man (homeless too) into the church, and giving him a jacket to stay warm at night and an invite to come to church. That really hit me.  A true lesson on how to be more Christ like.

Love,

Elder Harris

Seeing a little kid in a Willie Mays Giants Jersey in a Ger District in Nalaik Mongolia……Priceless!  This needs to be on Rob Green’s wall. 

Elder Dulguun and I in our new area, Nalaikh (about an hour bus ride from UB).

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