Faith to serve (or beat the aliens)

Today I had the opportunity to share some of my thoughts on faith and experiences from my mission in sacrament meeting at church. I shared a similar talk three times before in congregations near my home. Maybe next time I get asked to talk I should write a new talk instead of recycling an old one. However, I like sharing this.

Returned home from unique mission

• Served 8 months in Slovenia/Croatia
• 14 months in Referral Center Mission

As the first principle of the Gospel. Faith is a principle of power. It gives power to enable all the other principles. How powerful is faith?

• Apostle Paul gives us example“Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” Hebrews 11:33-34
  
• With faith the Lord can help us beat the oncoming alien onslaught (pause for laughter)

Become independent...

• If we can take care of ourselves, we leave ourselves more open to receive revelation
• Have independent personal testimony
• Know the scriptures and read the Book of Mormon

D&C 84:85- "Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man."

• Eggs served at MTC are the same as at Scout Camp- If you can survive scout camp, you can survive a mission.

To gain faith in the Lord we need to serve him:

For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart? Mosiah 5:13

I gained experience with this on a mission. When walking through a thick, depressing fog with a
Zone Leader, I was asked, "how do you stay so optimistic when the weather and our lack of success are so depressing." I quoted Buckaroo Bonzai, rocket-scientist, brain surgeon, rock-star comic book hero from the cheesy 80s movie my dad would make me wath, the Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai across the eighth dimension, "No matter where you go, there you are [in the lord's service]."

I broke my foot in slovenia, walking 15-25 miles daily, and how Elder Nelson, a podiatrists son saved my foot from further injury. I shared how I was going to be sent home, and the reassurance that I received after reading D&C 50: 40-42]

40 Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.41 Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me;42 And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost.

Trust in Lord provided means to finish my mission.

I was transferred to the Referral Center where I could continue serving online. I had to accept the assignment on blind faith, not knowing what to expect until I arrived there.

Missionary work is being performed through Mormon.org chat, Facebook, Skype, Instant Messenger. Most lessons were typed rather than spoken.

[Joke about asking to have a projector set up and type out my talk rather than delivering it verbally.]

Can you feel the spirit over chat?

Can you feel the Spirit when you read scriptures, Ensigns, conference talks and other inspired printed communications?

The Referral Center Mission has the highest number of baptisms per missionary bringing gospel to all the world. This is fulfillment of the command to “Go ye unto all the world and preach the gospel unto every creature.” Mark 16:15

All who seek full happiness can find it in the gospel of Jesus Christ, taught in His Church. Through Christ’s doctrine, we are taught that we can be part of the great plan of happiness that He has prepared for all of us, His sons and daughters. As we keep His commandments, we are blessed and come to know true happiness. We learn that happiness lies in doing small things that build up, that increase our faith and testimony. - Elder Claudio Costa

Jaz vem da Jezus Kristus je naš Odrešenik in da On

Don't Deserve This

I finish volunteering as a full-time missionary in only a few months.  I've had mixed thoughts about this, between how glad I'll be to be spending more time with family again, and the loss it will be for awhile, not to experience serving the Lord so much and seeing quite so many miracles.  The train of thought continued until I was thinking over some of the miracles I've seen on my mission. 
I've watched people transform their lives, overcoming addictions when they felt hopelessly lost, set their lives straight after making choices which they feared would always haunt them, and repair relationships they thought they'd destroyed.  In each of these the light of Jesus Christ was clearly present and pushing people to make those changes.  I've even changed a great deal myself and become much more patient with other people and our Father in heaven.



At times in my mission, I really needed a miracle and the Lord came through for me, even though I doubt I deserved help in such a grand manner as the Lord chose.  Thinking about what my life will be like after my mission, I feel especially blessed.  It seems the Lord has been tweaking things on my behalf as I've been serving him.  Looking at some of the things that he has done for me, I know I don't possibly deserve all of it.  Today I was reading a verse in the Book of Mormon, which felt like King Benjamin was speaking to me:

And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast? [Mosiah 2:24]

I know that our Father in heaven has many more blessings he wants to give all of us.  We certainly don't deserve all of them, but as a loving Father he desires to offer them to us if we will only keep his commandments.  In the long run he desires to offer us immortality and eternal life like he has.  That's certainly not something we can earn on our own merits.

From at the Door to on the Screen

After breaking my foot while serving in Slovenia, a small country in Eastern Europe, I was no longer able to go door to door, as most Mormon missionaries do.  Complications arose and it became clear that it would be months to years before I'd be able to spend a great deal of time on my feet.  Heartbroken, I packed my bags and prepared for my return home.
Amid my disappointment about leaving Slovenia, which I had expected to stay in for more than a year, I turned to my Heavenly Father, and increased in prayer.  I also studied in the Doctrine and Covenants more vigorously, and some verses stuck out to me.

 Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.

  Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me; [D&C 50:40-41]

Two days before my flight, I received a call from my mission president.  There was a special assignment I could serve in as a missionary in the Missionary Training Center.  He didn't know hardly anything about it, what I'd be doing, or how what would be expected of me there.  I bravely accepted it as an invitation to put faith in the Lord and continue serving.
When I arrived at the Missionary Training Center, and began working with the other missionaries, it was an eye opener.  The missionaries there reached out and shared the gospel.  They had no physical boundaries either.  Nearly any one in any part of the world, with access to a computer could have the blessing of restored truth from one of Jesus Christ's representatives.  I had no idea that there had been full-time missionaries serving the Lord in that unusual capacity for more than a year.

Before my mission, I was a novice on the computer, especially when it came to online communications.  The Lord really did have plans for me to grow, and to bear more through his strength.  When I've come in contact online with someone who has a friend who is ready for answers, I've been able to contact them within minutes.  No need at all to travel and wait for the spark to cool.

How I Live My Faith

As a teenager in the church, I was eager and ready to follow the example of our savior and serving others.  I did this through my involvement in Boy Scouts, a young men's service organization.  My troop was sponsored by my local ward.  After I moved away from home, I was asked to teach a class for 18-30 year old men.  I was nervous about my first opportunity to serve as an adult, but faith is about being willing to act when you're unsure, and going forward to trust in blessings to come.  While teaching this class, I invited my friends to come to church, and see what I was teaching, which brought the gospel more into their lives.  After seeing the impact that I had sharing message of Jesus Christ, and his restored church with my friends in high school and college, I wanted to sign up to do it full time.  I became a full time missionary, and voluntarily took an assignment to teach about Jesus Christ and His Church in Eastern Europe where I learned to speak Slovene, and served the people there.  After eight months there, I started sharing the good news as an online missionary back in the United States.

My Mom's Profile

Ali je Bogu mar, kaj naredim s svojim življenjem?

I found this awesome new addition to the Church's Slovene website. I really wish we had pass along cards like this when I was there. This kind of thing should really step things up for the church there. When I saw Uroš Štampe in the video clip I was thrilled. I remember when my district had dinner at his house for Christmas last year. His comments really insightful. If you know Slovene check it out! Of course, if you don't know Slovene, check it out anyway, because of the spirit that you'll feel, and I'll fill you in on the great testimony he shared.
Here's the link: Ali je Bogu mar, kaj naredim s svojim življenjem?  Tell me what you think of it.

Našel sem ta čudovit dodatek na spletni stran o cerkvi. Res se želim da smo imeli takšne Kartice ko sem bil tam prešno leto. Takšna stvar naj se izboljša misijonarsko prizadevanje v sloveniji. Ko sem videl Uroša Štampeja v filmu sem bil tako navdušen. Spomnil sem se ko smo jedli večerjo z njim za Božič kot misijonarji. Tudi njegovi komentarji so navdušni. Če razumeš slovensko naj pogledaš nanj! Seveda, če ne razumeš, še naj pogledaš in zaradi vpliv ki ga boš občutil. Ti bom povedal o krasno pričevanje ki ga je pojasnil.
Lahko obiskaš na "Ali je Bogu mar, kaj naredim s svojim življenjem?"  Prosim povej mi kaj misliš o tem.

Online Missionaries- Our new turf!

New Mormon.org - LDS Newsroom

I was so excited to see this article in church news. Most people don't know much about the elders in the online mission, or what we do as we help teach people through the mormon.org website. It was cool to see the small reference to the dozen of us that help people who come looking for Christ on the internet. I really like the new Mormon.org too.  All the elders in our mission have been having fun with the changes we see on what we feel like is our proselyting area.

What beautiful feet?

After serving the wonderful people of Slovenia for several months, I learned that my foot was broken and that I'd have to return to the United States. I loved working with families in Slovenia and helping them find the blessings that the gospel can bring to their lives. Since I loved that so much, I wasn't ready to call it quits just because of a broken foot. I'm called as a missionary, and the Lord personally reminded me that I am of them which the Father hath given Him [D&C 50:41]. Instead of going home, I pleaded for an opportunity to serve the Lord, in which the problems with my foot would not interfere with the work. I know serve as a online missionary, bringing the glad tidings to all the world.
¶ 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