What's crackalackin?!
This week was great. The highlight of this week was the opportunity we had to do some service for a part member family. The mother of the family was baptized about a year or so ago. The father is an incredible man. He has been in Africa for the better part of the last year now and has recently returned to live here again. His wife is pregnant and they have 7 or 9 year old son. We are currently teaching the father Z---- D----. He is doing so well. He has expressed how grateful he is to the church for how they treated and helped his wife out while he was gone. He also asked us about missionary work and how much he needs to start saving so his son can serve. He believes all of the commandments are great and can see the value of living the life we, as members of the church, live. His problem is he doesn't know how to believe in God. We have begun teaching him Alma 32 and he really enjoyed reading it. He recognizes that his seed of faith has already grown and that it might take a while but he really desires to know these things are true. I've been pondering the question of what the difference of hope, faith, and belief are. I'm having some troubles figuring out what the answer to the question is. Our investigator Zhang has the hope that it is true and I believe that he even has some faith. Is the belief necessary to make that step towards baptism? Is faith enough? Faith is a hope in things that are not seen which are true. I believe he has this hope for things that are not seen which are true. I'm just trying to figure out what the relation to belief is and how to get there. If you have any suggestions I would really appreciate it.
For zone meeting this week we had a training on humility. What I learned is that humility requires obedience and a willingness to submit to the Lord's will. Those two things, I believe, are one in the same. So I guess that being humble is pretty difficult. I believe some people think that God will eventually change his mind to conform to their will. That just isn't going to happen. He is perfect and will never change. We just have to figure out how conform our wills to God's.
This week I was super grateful to the Lord. I am by no means a perfect missionary but I still feel so blessed by Him. I am grateful for my ability to relate, love, and communicate with people. Especially people who are having a rough time in life. It is harder to help these people progress but it is totally possible! Even if they end up not progressing I hope that I can still be a positive influence in the lives of at least a few of them. Last night an investigator told my companion and I that he really wanted to stop smoking. He asked me to make a schedule for him. I really am going to prayerfully going to try to create it for him. I believe he can totally do it. He has a long way to go before he becomes a member of the church but I hope my influence in his life right now will help him eventually make that step.
I read a talk in the April 2012 Liahona by Elder Bednar about the atonement. Seriously changed my view on the atonement and increased my understanding a lot. He talked mainly about how righteous people really need to use the atonement. It is through GRACE that righteous people are able to use the power of the atonement. It is through grace that Nephi was able to break the bands that his brothers had tied around him. What is interesting about this experience is that Nephi did not ask for his situation to be changed. He asked God for the strength to change his situation. In this way he was putting his full faith and trust in the Lord and he knew that the power to overcome this trial would be given. People often pray for or hope that God will "magically" change their situation. Which is simply not that common. Their are extraordinary miracles that occur but more often God answers our prayers or changes our situations in subtle ways. Therefore, our job is to pray for the ability to bear our trial and to ask God to give us the necessary means to change our situation in the way that he wants us to. So interesting!!
My companion and I are great as ever. We get the work done and have a super fun time while we are doing it. We have yet to have an argument and there has never been a time where I have been unhappy with our companionship. The Lord definitely put us together for a reason. There are so many people we have had the opportunity to find and teach together. There are some who are progressing and others who aren't but we know that our efforts are changing the lives of so many people. We have a goal to never have anyone we come in contact with have a bad taste in their mouth about the missionaries and I seriously believe we have accomplished this goal so far.
So probably one of the things that gives me the most joy out here on the mission is teaching slang to the taiwanese missionaries. It is seriously the best thing in the world. There is a Taiwanese sister in our district and every time she calls us she always says, "sup G." It is so great. I've taught her dope, chill, shweet, crackalackin, and many many others. Also another Taiwanese sister is being taught how to be a hick. Man it is the funniest thing ever. There are so many things on the mission that are just so fun. I don't get how anybody could not enjoy this experience. Yea there are tough times and hot days but hey it's all good. Speaking of hot days we had a day of 39.5 C or 103 degrees. It also happened to be the day we were outside the most. Go figure. It was also the day we say many small miracles. God works in mysterious ways. ;)
Well ya'll have an awesome week. Life is crazy sometimes but when you think you've got it bad just think about those who have it worse. I can guarantee you that there are so many more people. Life back in the states is cake compared to what the people here experience. I see poverty and sadness everyday out here. The members don't have much but they help us missionaries out all the time. Reach out to the missionaries in your area. You will receive blessings for it.
Love,
Elder Meeks
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