Tracting Shoes

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" [Isaiah 52:7]

I have to admit I was rather shocked when I saw this Mormonad poster the other day.  It combines a scripture that is very dear to me, as you might have already seen, and a pair of shoes that looks very much like the shoes that I once wore while tracting (going around inviting people to learn about Christ's restored church).  Mine are certainly much more worn in (or out).  Traveling by foot and stopping to share the good news with those you meet on the street for two years is certainly a way to become more familiar with the Master's recorded ministry.  Maybe these worn-out shoes are a reflection of the shape of my feet; however, it's certainly worth it.

Elder Moxley's Shoes August 22, 2009

  

That He Lives!

It's interesting to see that what Joseph Smith thought this was most important for everyone to know  out of all the facts about Jesus Christ.  Everything else that is important about Jesus Christ stems from his victory over death.  If he had no victory over death, he'd have little power over sin.  Had he no victory, he could not have been our Savior.  However, he does still live.  His directions to living prophets and the reestablishment of his Church are an evidence of that, and they hinge on the reality of it.

Missionary Media Gets More Attention

Alongside this blog I also manage a group blog which focuses on the videos we've made in our mission or that we use as we share Jesus Christ's gospel.  I started the Missionary Media blog when we needed a place to gather together all the great resources we'd found and made.  This morning, one of the missionaries I serve with, Elder LeeMaster, found a feature about Missionary Media on Mormon Times.

And did you know that there is a new community blog that features 20 current contributing missionaries? Wow! [...] I’d love to see more blogs that utilize missionaries in this collaborative and creative way!

 I'm glad for the help this brings in sharing the blog and the reminder to continue sharing these great videos.

Segullah: One in Thine Hand?

I love the New Testament, especially the four accounts of Christ's life by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
The Book of Mormon is certainly the Keystone of our religion, and especially important to us as "Mormons."  However, I don't believe this detracts from the New Testament or the Old Testament. I found a great post on the blog, Segullah, with a discussion I enjoyed reading about the relationship between the Book of Mormon and the Bible, especially the New Testament:

We celebrate having “two sticks” become one in our hands, right? The Church added the label “another witness of Christ” to the front of the Book of Mormon; wasn’t the Bible the first witness? Aren’t the Bible and the Book of Mormon a team – two witnesses that clarify what have been points of contention for centuries before the Restoration? 

 I hope you'll check it out and let me know what you glean from it that particularly helps you understand the relationship between this diamond and pearl.

Unity in Testimony - Christ's Doctrine

I made this chart as a visual aid to follow what Christ said in 3 Nephi 11:32.  

  Tell me about what you see going on it it.

And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.

[3 Nephi 11:32]

Sticks of Joseph and Judah

Many prophecies and events in the scriptures describe not only an immediate event or application, but also an important event in God's plans, which will apply to far distant future generations.

Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, understand Ezekiel 37:15-20 to be one of those with multiple meanings.

Returned with Honor

Over the weekend, in a rather hectic trip over to the post office to ship a package, I ran into a return missionary who baptized one of the great guys that I taught as an online missionary when I had barely started out back in March 2010. In fact, Jon, to whom he helped me extend the opportunity to be baptized in Jesus Christ's name, also gained answers about our purpose in life, that only come from Jesus Christ's gospel.

Part of online missionary work is that we rely so much on the missionaries who are there in person.  Learning about the gospel on the internet is a wonderful opportunity thanks to the technology that we have today.  However, it only does so much compared to face-to-face contact.  Missionaries like Elder Kirkpatrick and his companions brought a face to the gospel for Jon.   Along with myself, they shared our purpose and how to have the joy that comes from following Jesus Christ and his servants he's sent to guide us today.
Whether you're ready to meet representative of Jesus Christ face-to-face, or would like to learn a bit first, we can help.

We Learn By Doing

I love this quote which my mother sent me.  I've been carrying it around in my jacket pocket for months and felt like sharing it today.  This quote from the prophet Spencer W Kimball is so important to me because it ties in three of my favorite scriptures with my purpose as a missionary and with the service I will render in  Christ's Church my whole life. 

Helaman 5:12

Recipe for Faith

Since returning to the Missionary Training Center where I volunteer online, I haven't had the same opportunity/need to cook for myself as I did when I was in Slovenia, or as a college student.  I really enjoy cooking my own meals, and when I was in Slovenia, I'd especially enjoy cooking crepes on Sunday mornings.   Crepes are a French version of pancakes which was popular in Slovenia as well. Since my mother sent me farm fresh eggs from home, I've had a chance to make myself crepes here, and plan to make crepes again Sunday afternoon this week.  I make crepes using a recipe that my mother used my entire life which is as follows:

Recipe for Crepes

4 eggs

2 cups milk

2 cups flour

Pat of butter

Beat eggs, milk, and flower in a bowl until smooth.  Set stove to medium-low heat.  Melt butter on a frying pan and then pour about a cup of batter.  Flip when the top is no longer drippy and remove when both sides are golden brown. Top with fruit or yogurt.

As a missionaries, we study the scriptures for two hours every day after breakfast.  I must caution you that studying the scriptures right after enjoying some delicious crepes produces some interesting results such as the following:

Recipe for Faith [Hebrews 11:1]

Start with Belief (acceptance it could be true)  

 [Hebrews 11:6; Alma 32:18,26]

Mix with Hope (desire for it to be true)

 [Romans 8:24-25; Ether 12:4,32]

Show forth Works (act on what you want to see)

 [James 2:17-20; 1 Thes 1:3; Alma 37:46]

Obtain Confirmation* (evidence it is true)

 [Ether 12:6; Moroni 7:37]

*If you don't see confirmation or results, you need to check that you followed the recipe properly, putting appropriate, sincere effort in or that your ingredients were pure, meaning that you started building faith from a true principle.  Another possible complication may be that you don't know how to identify the product or that additional baking time is needed.

These principles work whether trying to find out the nature of God, finding out if something is from God, applying the scientific method, or trying to find out whether you friend's experience is what its cracked up to be.

The White House... of the Lord

After being closed for several weeks because of the holidays, the temple reopened this week.  On Thursday mornings I volunteer with my mission in the temple to help make the temple a reverent place where people there can worship.  We assist people through a ceremony that outlines for them God's plan for our happiness and the means by which we can return to him.  Today we were able to do that again, and I loved it so much that we're probably visiting again tomorrow morning.



With the Christmas season well over now, it's wonderful to have the temple as a reminder of Christ to keep the Christmas spirit going.  I really do feel close to God in His temple.  I wonder, if it feels that good to visit the temple after it was closed for several weeks, it must be so much more of a difference between a world where there was no temple to our God after the temple in Jerusalem and now when God has enabled His people to build a temple again.

New Year, New Desk, New Roommate, New Friend to Teach With...

Elder Callahan and myself

After working with Elder Meza for several months, I've just been transferred to serve with Elder Zayne Callahan.  I'm excited to teach alongside him.  Since we volunteer within a particularly small mission, we already know each other fairly well.  Elder Callahan was an orphan in China, and has a rather unusual story, which you should check out on his blog.  Of course it's not good-bye for good to Elder Meza.  As an online missionary, I just switch room-mates and teaching companions, and move over to another desk as well.  I spent most of yesterday unpacking at my new desk and in my new room.  It's great to have a reminder like that to start off the new year right.

First chance or last chance.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormon Church we have the opportunity to express our feelings, faith, and convictions at an open mike during services of the first Sunday of each month.  This is part of what we call Fast Sunday.  For years while growing up in the Church, I've watched members line up behind the pulpit to share their feelings about Christ's Gospel, Church, scriptures, their family and so forth.  The line is usually the longest for the first Sunday in December.  There's nothing particularly wrong with shooting for one last chance to offer a testimony to uplift and strengthen the congregation.  In fact, I find it wonderful that many value that last chance to stand up and express their feelings to fellow followers, many of whom just might need that extra encouragement to continue enduring to the end with faith in Christ.
There are some who line up because they haven't taken the chance to share their testimony yet during the year even outside of testimony meetings.  Much more is that there are some who miss even that last chance because they feel they do not want to push the meeting on too long.  Our convictions about our faith are something that we should be sharing with friends, family, and acquaintances openly throughout the year, and not even wait until we have an open pulpit at church, especially not the last chance at an open pulpit.

To me the first chance to offer to my testimony during the year is much more valuable.  Worry that my testimony hadn't been offered to my ward or congregation that year is easily avoided by offering it the first of the year.  I didn't wait until Fast Sunday to offer it either.  Of course it was easy to be prepared to offer my testimony yesterday, because I volunteer full time as a missionary.  However, you don't have to be a missionary to make a chance to share your testimony with someone.
Of course you don't need to be a member of the church to go up to the pulpit on the first Sunday of the month after it has been opened to the congregation by the Bishop.  Visitors are welcome in our Sunday meetings and that welcome includes the invitation to come up and share feelings about faith and the Savior.
To find one of our churches near you, visit maps.lds.org.  If you're unsure what you might offer in your testimony, feel free to chat with a missionary on Mormon.org.