(Elder Cummings)
Before I get into what all has happened this week I just
want to say that it dawned on me this week that I am already over a tenth done
with my missionary service. That went by
fast. Time does not wait for us to catch
up. Before I know it I will be heading
home. I have mixed feelings about that
coming so soon.
That aside, it has been a fantastic week! We have seen so many miracles this week as we
have gone about doing the Lord's work.
They all have come from both obedience and listening to the promptings
of the Holy Ghost. The other night we
were filling up the car (an adventure we don't have in New Jersey) when I had
the unmistakable prompting to go and give the man working the cash register a
copy of the Book of Mormon. My companion
and I marched right in, handed him the book, bore a brief testimony of why we
were giving it to him, and left to make it home by curfew. Before we had even left the gas station he
was already bent over, book open, reading.
I cannot say how his story will end, but I can say that God loves him
and knows his needs. On top of that, we
have been able to invite four more people this week to be baptized. That is four more of God's children who are
coming to know their Savior better! That
is four more on the path to happiness and eternal life!
Sadly we did not have anyone come to church yesterday. We had a half dozen people who had told us
they would come, but none of them showed.
They missed out on a great primary program, by not-so-great translating
abilities, but most importantly they missed out on the sacrament. They missed the opportunity to remember the
sacrifice of Christ in the Lord's appointed way.
God gave us the Sabbath for a reason. He gave it with the command that we forget
ourselves and do His will (Isaiah 58:13-14).
That opportunity is unique and allows us to come to know our God
better. True Sabbath observance will
always bring peace of mind and a greater outpouring of the Holy Ghost. The opportunity to be fully committed is
rare. It does not come unless we seek
it. It is requisite for our salvation
(Matthew 16:25, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24, 17:33, John 12:25).
It occurred to me last night as I read the Isaiah reference
cited above that I have a real opportunity here as a missionary. The full verses read:
"If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from
doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of
the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor
finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
"Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I
will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with
the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken
it."
As missionaries we have the chance to "turn away...from
doing [our] pleasure" on this holy day of our lives. The blessings are real. The more we give ourselves up, the more we do
the Lord's will, the more we love the work.
You can have a great time without fully consecrating yourself to this work,
but the same blessings aren't realized.
When we commit ourselves fully to this work the Lord causes us to
"ride upon the high places of the earth," and we are blessed in each
of our own missions, in every area we serve, in our own promised lands. The blessings of the covenants missionaries
make are realized.
This opportunity is unique and may never come again. This is a time when I can turn my life fully
over to God. This is the Sabbath of my
life, and I am loving it!
-Elder Jared Cummings
No comments:
Post a Comment