This week was awesome. Also sorry for the long email :D
Like I mentioned last week, the work here in Langen is doing awesome. We are working on getting 6 people to baptism right now, and we are spending almost all of our energy on them. We are in a pretty heavy teaching phase of the work and it's awesome.
Mary is doing awesome. She already understands a lot of principles from the gospel, she just needs a little clarity and guidance to put all the pieces together. She's doing fantastic though, and we've been bringing a whiteboard with us to our lessons and is helped a TON. She is clearly a visual learner, and she has been understanding so much better with the added visual aid. She will be baptized next Saturday in the 26th :)
Phillip is another date we set this last week. He has on and off been coming to church for 6 years and has been coming consistently for 8 months. He's really awesome, and though he is nervous about telling his family, he's committed to baptism on the 2nd of September :) I'm way excited to see him commit to this major step in his life. He just needed someone to nudge him to finally make a decision, but it's a decision he made a long time ago. Way way excited for him.
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| Us and the Manics and the bag of their tabacco and coffee |
The Manics are doing great. They have been struggling with living what we call the Word of Wisdom, which entails not drinking Alcohol, coffee, tea (green, black, and white), not smoking, and not using illegal drugs. Mlodn struggles with smoking and Dzula struggles with coffee. Well this last week we taught them about Fasting and we all decided to fast together for them. Then the next day we came over and had Mlodn crush his cigarettes and throw them into a trash bag. Dzula threw out her coffee and they both committed to live the word of wisdom. So far, it's been 5 days and they are totally clean. It's truly a miracle, because Mlodn has been smoking since he was 11 and he has wanted to quit. But Fasting is awesome, and it's truly been amazing. They are awesome and I'm way way proud of them.
Went on 2 splits this week with Elder Rösner and Elder Sticht. Way fun, and I stayed here in Langen for both. Way way fun.
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| Us all at a Baptism in Darmstadt |
K so on Saturday we get our transfer calls. I'm probably leaving this time, though it is always possible that I stay. We'll see, but next week I may be in a new area and a new companion. Stay tuned. I love it here but I'm also ready for something new. Mal schauen (dunno if that translates well. But it means "we'll see")
K so I also have a long spiritual thought this week too. It was something I studied I studied in my personal study.
When do we sin? Is it sin to have bad thoughts or think about doing bad things? Does God punish us for the thoughts that pop into our heads? If I imagine myself killing someone, is it a sin?
While I would say that it is not a good thing to dwell on such thoughts when they appear in our minds, thinking something and doing something are vastly different. Thinking about killing someone doesn't hold even come close to the gravity of actually murdering someone. Sin is not simply thought. We sin when we knowingly act in disharmony with God's laws.
True to the Faith (a book we use) defines sin as such:
"When we willfully disobey God’s commandments, we commit sin. We also commit sin when we fail to act righteously despite our knowledge of the truth (see James 4:17)."
It is not simply the thought that counts when it comes to sin. Simply thinking bad things is not a sin.
Again, when bad thoughts are dwelt on, they usually lead to bad actions, so don't be thinking that you can think whatever you want and nothing bad will ever happen. While we cannot always control which thoughts pop into our head, we can control what stays there. Thoughts lead to actions, so it is very important to control and discipline our thoughts, but bad thoughts themselves are not usually sins. The thought does NOT count. It is our action that is the sin.
However, this same concept applies to faith and works.
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| Last district meeting for the transfer |
We cannot expect God to judge what we have done wrong by our actions and what we have done good by our thoughts.
James describes it very well in the New Testament. James 2:17-18 reads:
"17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."
Faith without works is dead. Simply loving God and professing our faith in him is not enough. If we do not act upon the faith we have, our faith is" dead". James actually explains it further really well in the very next verse.
"19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."
Satan has faith to too. He knows darn well that there is a God. He knows that God is our father, that Christ is our Redeemer, that Christ suffered and died for us. He knows that the Book of Mormon is true, he knows that it is important to be baptized, he knows it all. "the devils also believe, and tremble". So the difference is that while Satan has faith, his actions are those of pure evil. He knows, and actively chooses otherwise. It is not enough to simply have faith, or to have a testimony of the gospel. If our actions do not line up with what we profess to believe, it is all for naught.
Christ didn't say "Come, think about following me". He calls to us, "Come, follow me".
If we don't strive to live the gospel and truly live our lives the way Christ would live them, our faith is dead. Action is how we show God and our fellow man our faith. Our faith grows and increases in power and confidence as we live in accordance with what we believe. We are happier and more at peace. We can truly feel the Savior's love as we strive to follow in his footsteps.
Now this is often mistaken and thought that this means that we have to earn our way to heaven by our works. This is not true.
"we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." 2 Nephi 25:23
We are only saved by Christ's amazing grace. Christ has already paid the price. He extends salvation to us when we truly try our hardest to follow him and love God. He doesn't care how good our bad we are, he cares about how hard we are trying. The Pharisees were incredibly Obedient to the law, but they were not trying to follow Christ or he charitable. The publicans and the harlots were sinners, but they were humble and tried to follow Christ. (See Matthew 21:23-32)
Faith without works is dead. But I also like to say that faith by works lives. If you truly want to feel the power of God more in your life, try to follow Christ more. If you want to show God your faith, do his will. Act. "If ye love [Him], keep [His] commandments" (John 14:15). Go out today and be a little better. Pray and ask for help in your journey to become as He is. Come, follow Him.
Love you all! Have a great week! Sorry for the long email!
Tschüß!
Elder Harps
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| A cool garden in Darmstadt |
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| Taco Night a few weeks ago |
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