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| Elder Fawcett and Elder Harps |
Hallo meine Freunde!
IT'S SPRING TIME!
So far in my life-outside-California's-
Also I figured out I have allergies. Yay!
This last Monday we went on splits (Changing up our companions and working together for a day) with the Zone Leaders. I stayed here in Langen and Elder Mortensen went up to Frankfurt. That was kinda interesting since I was the one who was "familiar" with Langen which basically meant both Elder Fawcett and I were both clueless haha. We had only one appointment scheduled for the day but it fell through, so we decided to drop by a less active member's house. She also wasn't there, so we then just wandered around the city knocking random doors. It was way fun. We talked to random people in the street, would suddenly veer off to the side and klingel a few houses, we basically just went with the flow. Which is not how we normally door houses. Usually is organized. But it was super fun to just explore and go with it. We ended up finding several interested people, and we have away two copies of the Das Buch Mormon. It was a cool day, and I got lots of practice at talking to strangers.
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| Easter Tree! |
So something super cool that I found in my studies this week:
So this week is been studying on charity again. I've been studying charity because I've really been struggling at talking normally with random people. And if I can have charity, if I can love them as Christ loves them, and see them for their potential, then it would be a lot easier to listen and care for these people.
So I've been studying about charity.
And I came across a scripture in 1 Corinthians 13 that really coolly ties this week's thought with last week's thought on faith. Verse 2 says:
"though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."
Last week I talked about the importance of faith. But Paul says that even if we have faith to move mountains, if we don't have charity, it's all for naught. If we don't live other people, or faith does us no good. Nothing does us really any good without love for other people.
Charity is everything. It's also impossible to achieve without Christ, because it is the "pure love of Christ" (Moroni 7:47). When we have charity, we see the people around us as Christ as them. We see them as Children of God. As of brothers and sisters. And we love them as He would. We want what is best for them, and we work out hardest to serve and edify those around us to the best of our ability. When we have charity, we work with all Faith, we work with all Diligence, we work with all Patience, we work with all Humility, we work as Christ would. When we truly have pure charity, we will be as Christ is. Every other attribute of Christ builds into charity, and charity builds into the others. That's why it's so important. Faith, Diligence, Patience, Humility, Virtue, Knowledge, everything is a part of Charity.
So how do we get it then? That was my question this week. We develop charity by consciously trying to live as Christ lived. We serve those around us. Pray for those around us. Be patient with those around us. Be kind and friendly to those around us. It's gonna be hard at first. Actually it's gonna be hard always basically. Because charity is the opposite of the natural man. It is selfless where we want to be selfish. But it's attainable through Christ. Pray for charity, work to serve those around you. You will be filled with His love.
One last blessing of Charity I feel like sharing. A member showed us this scripture during an appointment. It was really cool. The scripture comes from the Book of Job in the Old Testament.
For those of you not familiar with the story of Job, basically the Lord decides to test his faithful servant Job's faith. His Children die, he loses his house and property, friends revile him and mock him for his faith. His wife mocks his faith, he's stricken with disease, basically everything he had is taken away, anything bad that could possibly happen happens to him, and he is completely alone and without any support from family or friends. His life is made awful despite his faith and Obedience to the Commandments. The Lord is simply testing his faith and conversion.
So finally the Lord decides to relieve Job of his trial. Chapter 42 verse 10 reads:
"10 And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before."
When did the Lord turn his trial? WHEN HE PRAYED FOR HIS FRIENDS. When he prayed for these people who have done nothing but rob, mock, and betray him for years and years. Job prays for them. He has CHARITY. Only then does the Lord relieve him of his trials and struggles. The Lord will help us overcome our hardships as we seek to love and serve his other children.
I'm still working hard at developing charity. I probably will be for the rest of my life. But I'm already seeing blessings. It's getting easier. I'm overcoming my fears. I know it's possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
You are amazing. God loves you. He wants you to succeed. You will succeed as you accept his help and let Him change you.
My challenge this week is pretty simple. Pray and/or ponder for someone God wants you to serve or help this week, and then do it! Simply Serve :)
Sorry for the long email. I love you all! I hope you all have a great week!
Bis nächste Woche!
Elder Harps
PS funny German word of the week is the word for "smuggler" which is just "Schmuggler" haha
Pictures :
1) Cool German church we passed on our way to a members house
2) Coolest speech therapist building ever
3) Colorful German Wohnungen (Apartments/Houses)
4) Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof (Darmstadt Central Station)
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