JULY 10, 2018 - WEEK #19

WEAK THINGS BECOMING STRONG!

July 10, 2018

Ok, so on Sunday of last week, our District Leader calls, as per usual, to check up on us, and then probably ask us to do something for district meeting. Usually, if he does ask us to do something, it's to give a short scripture thought, or something relatively non-demanding. This time, he asked me to give a TRAINING! Like, to teach Missionaries who have been Missionary-ing longer than I have how to Missionary! I stressed out about that so much leading up to the District Meeting.

The Meeting was centered around Christ-like Attributes, and how to develop them (see Ch. 6 of Preach My Gospel). Because Jesus Christ was the Perfect teacher, we can become better teachers as we emulate how he taught and treated people. It made it easier to know that everyone had been assigned a training, but I was still nervous. 

My Training was about being Knowledgeable, like the Savior was in the Scriptures and otherwise, and I spent about two hours trying to prepare. And then a Sister, at the end of her training about Charity and Love, says something along the lines of "If you don't have Charity, then you are nothing, just like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13. So, basically, it doesn't matter how knowledgeable you are if you don't have Charity."

And so my training was made Null and Void. I still gave it, and I think it was pretty good, but I just had thought nagging me in the back of my head, so...

We also met a man named John this week! He had met with missionaries for a bit beforehand, but they realized that he lived in our area, so we are teaching him now! We had planned a lesson about the Book of Mormon, and we're going to invite him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon to know if it was true. But when we got there, and started talking to him, he told us that he already believed in the Book of Mormon being the word of God. Elder Ford and I just kind of looked at each other, like, "Oh Snap. Let's do what we can...?", and then started teaching a completely different lesson! I guess it must have gone well, because we were able to invite the spirit into that lesson, and invited John to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized. His answer was, "Oh yeah! I always try to follow the example of Jesus Christ!" He accepted, and will prepare to be baptized on August 4th! We are super excited for John and His faith in Jesus Christ that has brought him to make that decision!

At the end of the lesson, we invited John to say the closing prayer, and immediately, without even saying yes, he bowed his head and said an awesome prayer, which included: "Thank you God for waking us up this morning with two arms, two legs, ten fingers, and ten toes!" What an cool guy!

I thought that I'd share a realization that I had this week, and it's based on this scripture. Here, a Prophet has been concerned about his ability to write the things that we would need to know today, and this scripture is part of the response from the Lord. 

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

I've had to deal with a little bit of anxiety out here when having to, say, prepare a training or talk to a complete stranger. And, in most cases, I'd define that anxiety as a weakness. But I've seen this scripture come to life for me! When preparing for that District Meeting Training, I had that anxiety and adrenaline kick in just thinking about it. And so, I almost over prepared for it, making sure I would have enough to say. When I gave that training, I only covered half of the things that I had prepared! I knew that I wouldn't have been asked to prepare and give that training unless I was capable of doing that, and that God would have helped me to make up that difference! 

I know that as we do our best with Confidence in the Lord, that He can help us to overcome those weaknesses! I've seen it in myself, and in the wonderful examples around me! 

Late,

Elder Richardson 

P.S. Ok, so things have been a bit ridiculous. I'm going to try to catch up, and we'll see how that turns out!

1) One of the Members in our Ward makes these super sweet boxes with backlights. They are so cool! This fairy was my favorite! 

2) People keep being surprised when they hear that I'm from Arkansas and I don't have an accent or act like a redneck. I found a redneck habitat here in Yucaipa, so I guess that's how all of these Yucaipans know what I should be acting like. 

Benjamin Richardson

California Redlands Mission

Feb 28, 2018 - March 3, 2020