Called To Serve

Yo, so Tuesday was so crazy. We had a Zoom call with the mission because Elder Soares was coming to Puerto Rico... R.I.P. me and the other 11 elders on the islands... But then, not only then, the Skinners kept us after the meeting, all 12 island elders (I mean, we are all on an island, but we are the ones on the Virgin Islands, St. Kitts, Antigua, and Dominica), the Lesser Antilles. We were kept after and given the most hype news of our lives. They told us we are all coming back for the temple open house from Dec 12th-16th, and we are going to go to the Christmas party as well. I was just super excited I'll get to go to the temple open house. I was also hyped I'll get to be there for the "Called to Serve" with the mission as well. We do this thing every transfer where, as a mission, we get together when the new missionaries arrive and we sing "Called to Serve." It's honestly probably my favorite thing we do. It's very spiritual for me. I love to be there for it because I feel really close to God, and it feels like I've been there before. It's just special. I think a lot has to do with premortality stuff and knowing all these missionaries, but it's cool to be together. All of us missionaries set apart to a higher plane of thought and behavior, and most of us are just living the gospel, so we are really close to God. Not because we are wearing a plaque, but because we are doing all in our power to have the Spirit of the Lord, and we are just really close to God. In my humble opinion, I think the apostles are the only people closer to God than the Lord's missionaries (when they are worthy of having the Spirit and obedient, of course). But I really was happy I get to be there for this one because I haven't been in Puerto Rico for the past three transfers, so I have missed it three times now, and it's kinda sad. So that was a cool tender mercy.

We had an amazing devotional with Elder Soares, which was good. We had some awesome counsel from him and some good things I learned. He talked a lot about becoming a missionary that just has the Spirit with them because that, at the end of the day, is what makes the difference and the impact on people. And it's true, and I hope I am that kind of missionary. I pray that I am that missionary who can have the Spirit with me wherever I go and with whatever I do. It's so essential I have come to know that's why we do the things that we do as missionaries. Everything we do, everything we say, is to help us always remember Him. And if we always remember Him, we can always have His Spirit to be with us. That's a promise from the Lord in the sacrament. And I think that's what came to my head while Elder Soares was talking. If we always remember Him, we can always have His Spirit. If we live the gospel principles, we will always have His Spirit. If we serve, love, and keep covenants, we will always have His Spirit. If we always remember Him in thought and action, but not only that, it caused me to think a lot about our teachings or our ways as missionaries. Sometimes you share the Restoration so many times, and you are like, "Well, they already know about Jesus." Emphasize Joseph Smith restoring Jesus Christ's church, and I truthfully think that it's all about Jesus. Always remembering Him in our own teachings as well, having His name on our lips, and Him in everything we say and do as we teach. Joseph Smith was vital, but why? So we could be in Jesus Christ's Church. It's cool to think about just remembering Him more in my own teachings but also life as well will help so much with having the Spirit. But not just missionaries, everyone, right? Just always remember Him, and you will always have His Spirit to be with you! And isn't that what we all want? To be close to God, to do the things God wants us to do, to follow Him in such a way, right? I mean, logically, why would I put myself in a position where I could not have God's help? He's God; He knows all; He controls the universe. Why would I not want His Spirit to lead me and guide me in the work? I am only going to have success if He is there helping, so I need to be worthy of His Spirit, which is also why we are exactly obedient. That brings miracles. I mean, when you have God's Spirit and His hand, you see many, many miracles, and that's the most important part—having His hand and His Spirit. That's the only thing that can do this work. That's why missionaries are exactly obedient. Nothing can afford to offend the Spirit. We need it. At least, I know I need the Spirit. I can't do this without it.

We went walking this week in a neighborhood, and we met a really nice lady. She had two young daughters that were super funny. They kept being silly; they were about 6-8 or 9, maybe. And they were writing notes and kept holding them up behind their mom, "you're handsome," and the next one, "can I get your number?" It was funny. They gave us one, and I have it taped in my journal. It was just cool to see that they had such courage to be so silly. I think it's a good example to me to always be yourself and to always have no fear. I mean, they are like 7 or 8 and just being silly. And I thought it was such a good teaching moment for me to always be yourself and not shy down from who you are.

We went knocking in this neighborhood this week, and there was this baby doll covered in makeup, and I was traumatized by it.

The Skinners (our mission president and his wife) came to our island this weekend, and honestly, I forgot they existed in real life. It was so weird to see other missionaries/my mission president. I haven't seen him in 3 months, so that was nice. He took us to lunch and spent about an hour with us, then came to the branch and gave us interviews. It was a good Sunday and Saturday having them here with us on Tortola.

We were guided to this random house, and it was some Dominicans, so I was like, "Let's go Spanish!" And it's so fun and crazy here because they are always like, "First off, this dude is white, and secondly, why is he speaking Spanish to me on Tortola?" We had a very good conversation, then he told me he loved baseball, and I said, "Me too. Who's your favorite team?" And he said, "The Red Sox." What a bot. How could he say that team?

We had a lesson with our recent converts.

Algernons was memorable because it was completely changed and directed by the Spirit. We had gone into the lesson planning on teaching about FamilySearch some more and helping him with his tree a little more. Then he told us that his sister-in-law died, someone he was really close to. I just had this idea to read a talk I happened to know called "Doors of Death" by Russell M. Nelson. So we read it, and you could see a change in his spirit and countenance. He told me that was exactly what he needed to hear, and I was literally just following a thought to read that. I happened to stumble upon it a few weeks ago and was intrigued to read it because Elder Teuscher told me about it once. It turned out to be a big help.

Greg - we had a lesson with him about Exaltation and becoming a God. I think that's the only time I will have a lesson like that on my mission, but it was what Greg wanted to talk about. When we found him in the street, he said, "I think we should be able to become like God and be a god." We were like, "This dude is going to be baptized," and 2 weeks later, he was.

We had a lesson with one of our friends, Jeffrey, and we invited him to be baptized. He said no. We invited our friend Agatha to be baptized, and she said no. We invited our friend Maxwell to be baptized, and he said no. But Craig said yes, ayyyyyy! Missions are so funny; their reasons for saying no are all just baloney. Jeffrey couldn't because he's a Seventh-day Adventist, and that'd be like betraying his family. Plus, the fact that he was already baptized, that'd be like "not having trust in the first one." Well, I mean, yeah, that's what it was and is. The first one wasn't done with authority. Agatha said, "I'm already baptized, and at this point, I'm not in the process of converting to another religion. I made a decision, sorry for your inconvenience, and hope you all respect my decision." Which was fair, there was nothing we could do about her agency. Maxwell said, "You are trying to throw me off." I said, "Well, yeah, your pastor did not have authority to baptize you." He was shook but still said no. Then I invited him to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it.

For some reason, all these people we are finding want to be baptized by Pastor Charles. I was reading and studying a lot about the apostasy, and we were talking about it, President Skinner and I. It's so interesting how all the other churches please the natural man so much, yelling, shouting, screaming, rock bands, pay for freedom of sins. No work involved; you are just saved, etc. And then the true Church is the one that brings everlasting joy, and it's the one that pleases the Spirit. It's so hard to get people to feel the Spirit when they are not taught correctly.

"King Lamoni had been brought up with a belief that there was a God but that whatever the king did was right. He had been specifically taught false doctrine that might have made him impervious to feelings of guilt. Do you remember that when he heard where Ammon was, a feeling of guilt, of fear that he had done wrong in the killing of the servants, came over him (see Alma 18:5) ...

"I have always focused before on how mixed up Lamoni was in his doctrine, without seeing the miracle. The miracle was that a spiritual need was created in a man, that he might be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. His heart was broken. He felt guilt. And it came from the temporal things that Ammon had done..." - Henry B. Eyring.

I've been sitting here wondering this, now that people have been taught such false doctrine, they are impervious to the spiritual promptings. And it answers a lot of questions as to why my friends in the past wouldn't feel guilty for sins they were committing. They had been taught false doctrine and became impervious to guilt.

I've started thinking about this a lot with fasting. Fasting was a struggle for me in the beginning of my mission because I had no idea why God wanted us to starve ourselves to be closer to Him or have the Spirit. But I have come to this conclusion on my mission and through testimonies that have happened.

We are made up of a spiritual man and a natural man.

We have the spiritual man that needs to be fed and the natural man. When you are under the influence of the natural man, you make bad choices because the natural man is an enemy to God. When you are under the influence of the spiritual man, you make good choices. Right there, we have the two opposites.

So how do we always choose good? Your spiritual man has to be stronger than your natural man. I think this is why so many people are impervious to the Spirit. They have completely let their spirit die and let their natural man live.

It's like a workout. You work out, you gain muscle. If you don't, it deteriorates and you end up losing it.

Your spirit will die if you only feed the natural man.

Now, if you feed the spirit more than the natural man, you will prosper in the land, be happy, have peace and comfort in your own life, partake of the goodness, make correct choices, be happy, and be successful.

So when we fast, we kill the natural man and let the spiritual man prevail. We must let God prevail and the Spirit. Don't feed the natural man.

It's a simple equation that seems to work if you really try it. That's why the gospel is principles of action. They feed the spiritual man, and when you live the gospel, you come close to God. The black tag is not the reason we are close to God as missionaries. It's because we choose to live the gospel every day.

Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion. And once you are converted, you want nothing else.