Hello my incredible family,
I love you all so much. There is a new mission president coming in this week. We will be meeting him on Wednesday June 29. I am excited to meet President and Sister Watkins! We were able to meet with Brad this week and he had a lot of questions. He has more of an agnostic beliefs where he kind of just chooses to leave the idea of God alone. He has studied Christianity before though and he had many great questions about the Plan of Salvation and so we worked on teaching through that. We strove to answer all of his questions with the Book of Mormon to help him see that it contains answers to his questions. I think that the things we said really hit him and he seemed to think about the things we taught a lot. He would constantly say that the things we taught made sense and that the way we explained the gospel was something he had never heard before. He still has a few concerns that we will study for and receive revelation as to how we can best help him to find answers to his questions. Please pray that the spirit may work in his heart and help him to know that truth about God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I know that he has many questions we just need to get down to the source of the questions to help him really be able to put his full trust in the Lord. Pray that he may understand that importance of the message which we bear since it is the only message of complete truth.
Brother Pan was able to come to church this week for all three hours! :D I called him before church and asked if he would be able to come and he said that he wasn't sure since he had gone to a party last night and didn't finish all of the homework he wanted to. I just felt that he really needed to come to church and to express that to him I asked questions about what would keep him from coming. Eventually he said that he would come for all three hours but I had to promise to get him a ride home. That was the easy part ;). I was so happy to see him at church and he was able to see all of the members that we had brought to previous lessons with him. I asked him in-between blocks how he felt and he said, "Peace." I hope that he had an experience that will draw him back to church each week. We will be inviting him to baptism again soon. Hopefully for the end of July. It will be a wonderful day for him as he is able to truly receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Please pray that he may learn the truth of the Book of Mormon for himself. That he may understand the words and how they apply to him. He is very stubborn about only reading english.
I began a study in the Book of Mormon focusing on the power of the word of God. I have been reading through the scriptures searching for all verses that talk about the power of God's word and the affect that it can have on us. I would like to share a couple of verses from my study to help us learn of how the word can work in our lives. I know that there is power in the word of God. If we desire to change then the word can help us.
I began a study in the Book of Mormon focusing on the power of the word of God. I have been reading through the scriptures searching for all verses that talk about the power of God's word and the affect that it can have on us. I would like to share a couple of verses from my study to help us learn of how the word can work in our lives. I know that there is power in the word of God. If we desire to change then the word can help us.
Alma 35:4 -- The Word of God destroys the craft of the wicked.
2 Nephi 9:40 -- The Word of God speaks against uncleanness.
Enos 1:3-4 -- Enos was moved to pray because of the Word of God.
1 Nephi 11:25 -- The Word of God leads us to living waters.
2 Nephi 33:4-5 -- The Word of God persuades us to do good.
Jacob 2:8 -- The Word of God heals the wounded soul.
Jacob 4:9 -- The Word of God created the world.
Alma 4:19 -- The Word of God pulls down pride and other sins.
Alma 26:13 -- The Word of God looses us from the pains of hell.
Something else that came into mind as I read was John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Through our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Word, we are able to receive all of the blessings that are talked about in these verses and more. I testify that I know this is true. The scriptures point us towards Christ. The scriptures, "talk of Christ, ...rejoice in Christ, ...preach of Christ, ...prophesy of Christ, ... that [all] may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:26) That is why the Book of Mormon, the Word of God, is the most powerful tool in conversion. I know that the scriptures are true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Sincerely,
Elder Christensen
