March 5, 2018
This week as I read in 2 Nephi chapter 28, I learned some profound insights on my purpose.Verse 16 reads "Wo unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of naught and revile against that which is good, and say that it is of no worth! For the day shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the earth; and in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity they shall perish."
Now that's some strong language, but the phrase "turn aside the just for a thing of naught" caught my attention. What does that mean? It means to treat the righteous as if they have little importance, not worth time or attention in comparison with the things of the world. It made me think of 1 Nephi chapter 19 where it says in verse 9: "And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men."
Nephi prophesied, and the New Testament confirms, that Jesus Christ, also was treated as a thing of naught.
So the Book of Mormon prophesies that both Christ and His followers will be treated as if they had no value. Both the of those prophesies have been fulfilled. Jesus came into the world, having been the Great Jehovah that created the earth itself. Yet he was born in the most humble of circumstances. Throughout His life, he would face persecution and false accusations, everywhere from casting out devils through the power of Satan (Matthew 12:24) to being born out of sexual sin because Mary and Joseph were not officially married when Jesus was conceived by the power of Heavenly Father (John 8:41), to ultimately being accused of trying to usurp authority from Rome and make himself King of Israel, for which falsity, He was tried and crucified. Though he was the greatest of all, he was treated as the least of all.
Elder Maxwell taught: “At the center of the Father’s plan is Jesus Christ, mankind’s Redeemer. Yet, as foreseen, many judge Jesus ‘to be a thing of naught’ (1 Nephi 19:9), or ‘consider him’ merely ‘a man’ (Mosiah 3:9). Whether others deny or delimit Jesus, for us He is our Lord and Savior! Comparatively, brothers and sisters, it matters very little what people think of us, but it matters very much what we think of Him. It matters very little, too, who others say we are; what matters is who we say Jesus is”.
If the very Son of God faced such disrespect and opposition, should anything else be expected as to what HIS church will have to face. We as members of the church, even those of us living inside the "Book of Mormon belt bubble" of Utah, Idaho, and Arizona, know that there are also many false accusations surrounding who we are. From anti-Mormon websites, to protesters on temple square. Christ's church gets treatment similar, perhaps not quite as poor, to that which He was called to endure. This should not surprise us. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ, we follow the Savior Jesus Christ. To follow the Savior, we must walk the path that He walked. It is by no means popular. It is lined with scorners and protesters and false accusers.
As a missionary, I feel like I have come to know, at least in a small portion, what it feels like to be treated as "a thing of naught".
Just about everyone I talk to will tell me that they already go to another church when I talk to them. Though they are respectful and kind usually, it's almost as if they are saying:
"I already go to church. I read the Bible. I pray to God. What could two 19 year old boys possibly teach me about God that I need to know. No thanks, I'm good."
As a full time missionary, I am called to represent the Savior Jesus Christ, so it should be no surprise that I am treated as if I have nothing to offer, for that is exactly what the already religiously educated scribes and Pharisees thought of Christ.
Just like the scribes and Pharisees, these people of other faiths have parts of the truth, but not all the
What is ultimately ironic is that these people have so much faith in and believe so whole heartedly that the story of Christ doing exactly what we are doing, and yet they still treat us as a thing of naught.
Studying this has really opened my eyes that what I'm doing is inviting others to come to the truth just as Christ did. Doing so has helped me to come unto Him, because I understand better and better just how perfect He was as I learn more about my own imperfections.
We had a really good week. This weekend we were able to take Joyce and Kenny up to Little Rock to see the adult session of Stake Conference. An area Seventy, Fred A. Parker, spoke. If you have seen the first Meet the Mormons, in the part about the African American Bishop in Atlanta, there is a scene where they have a Ward barbecue. One man brags that his barbecue is better than the Bishop's. That man is Elder Parker. He is awesome! He grew up Baptist, and you can tell. His brother is actually a pastor of a mega church in Atlanta that has over 12,000 attend every week. Elder Parker has that deep southern drawl, and he raises and lowers his voice in a way that makes him have your attention. He is also very funny. Joyce absolutely loved his talk and I went up to him afterwards and told him Joyce wanted to meet him.
He said: "Sister Joyce, I hear you are a recent convert"
Joyce answered: "Yes sir that is correct."
To which Elder Parker yelled: "Welcome to the Kingdom of God!"
It was so cool, Joyce was tickled to death to meet him. Kenny is doing well. We may have to push his baptismal date back because of some drama with an ex girlfriend and some other things going on, keep him in your prayers.
We really enjoyed finding this week. I'm doing my best to try and talk to as many people as possible, I still wimp out a lot sometimes, but I'm doing better.
I'm so glad to be here. This is the truth.
I love all y'all, have a wonderful week!
All I got for this week are some bathroom selfies, sorry
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