Dear Family and Friends,
I can't believe I'm already in my last week at the CCM. I feel like I've been here forever but at the same time, not at all! It's amazing how time flies!
I received my flight itinerary yesterday, and my flight leaves Monday at 8:25 pm. Looks like it's going to be another red-eye flight... Which is great! I love sleeping on planes!... not really.
The flight is going to be 10 hours long to get to Santiago, Chile, from which we will board another plane and fly an hour to Concepción. What am I most excited for you ask? I GET A WINDOW SEAT. Through the flight to Concepción, I'll be able to look out the windows and enjoy the view of the Andes Mountains... That's honestly what I'm most excited for. That, meeting the Mission President, and meeting my trainer. :)
In my instructions I read today for the airport, it appears that there will be people in the airport that will try to carry my bags for me, and then either try to steal them or charge me insane amounts of money for doing so. O.o It's amazing what people will try to do.
So this week, we had a special opportunity to hear from a couple of brethren from mission headquarters on Thursday morning. They had some great talks about how we need to teach investigators a evenly balanced portion of all the Gospel, not just some parts of it, and the other talked about how we need to be a full-purpose missionary, and to completely convert to the Gospel. Serving a mission and then going home and returning to normal life is not what a mission is meant to do. It's meant to change your life forever and make you a better person, being more converted unto the Gospel.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission. It's amazing to me how God has made it possible for teenagers to leave home for two years to serve Him, spread the Gospel, and become life-long missionaries. My testimony has grown so much in my time here, and I can't wait to share that testimony with the people of Chile.
I'm so grateful for the Gift of Tongues. It's amazing to me the things I've learned here in the CCM and I contribute most if not all of it to the Lord and the blessings he's given me.
We listened to a talk by Elder Bednar on Sunday, where he talked about how we need to put off the natural man and become like Christ. He shared a story that I would like to share with you.
When Elder Bednar was a Stake President, he woke up at about 5 am to get ready for the day. He was in the shower when his wife came in and told him there was an emergency and that the phone was for him. He got out and went to the phone where a woman proceeded to tell him there had been a terrible accident and that 3 teenage girls were in the accident. So far, the news was that one of them had died, but they didn't know which one. The woman wanted him to go to the hospital where they were being taken and identify which of the girls had been the one that had died. The woman was a Ward Relief Society President, and her daughter was one of the three, which is why she so urgently wanted to know. As Bednar was talking to her, he understood that she had two phones and was talking to someone else at the same time. He realized it was a medical nurse who was at the scene, and as he was listening, he heard the nurse say, "Her identity has been confirmed. Your daughter is the one who has passed away."
Now at this point, Bednar took a moment to tell us that many people, including him, would at this point "turn in" as he put it. That they would turn to the natural man, to feel sorry for themselves, and to have that want for other people to feel sorry for them as well. The natural man at this point would be worried only about himself, but this woman did not do that. Immediately after hearing of her daughter's death, she said to Elder Bednar that he needed to contact the other mothers of the daughters and tell them that their daughters were not the ones that died. He was amazed that she the compassion and love, in essence the character of Christ, and did not do that which someone would instinctively want to do.
At the hospital, Bednar did identify all of the girls, and saw that the girl who had died was extremely disfigured. Knowing this, the Relief Society President talked to him a few days before the funeral. She let him know that the funeral would be a closed casket funeral because she had been so horribly disfigured from the accident. She then proceeded to tell him that the funeral home had done an exceedingly good job on her daughter, and that she wanted him, Elder Bednar, to come and have one last look at her daughter, so that the last image he would remember of her would not be of just after the accident.
Elder Bednar marveled at this. Having just lost her daughter, and preparing for her funeral, she still did not "turn in" to the natural man but instead "turned out" as Christ would do. The character of Christ that this woman displayed was amazing. Thinking only of others, she had invited Elder Bednar to have one last look at her daughter, so that the image he had of her would not be of when she was disfigured, but when she was again beautiful and peaceful.
This is not all however. This woman showed even more characteristics of Christ the day of her daughter's funeral. The morning of the funeral, the Relief Society President got a call from, as Elder Bednar put it, a "whiny, self-absorbed" woman in the ward, who called and chewed out the Relief Society President because the woman was sick with a simple cold, but had not received a meal from the Relief Society the night before as they had promised.
Apologizing, this Relief Society President let the woman know she was sorry, and on her way to HER OWN DAUGHTER'S FUNERAL, dropped a meal off to her.
Through all of Christ's life, he never "turned in". When he was tempted by Satan after 40 days of fasting, he didn't give in to the hunger he was feeling, and didn't attempt to gain any glory from showing forth to Satan the power he knew he had from being the Son of God. Through his ministry, he healed the sick, raised the dead, fed thousands, and didn't once ask for anything in return. Never once did he "turn in" and try to gain glory for the things he had done, but instead, invited all to "Follow Him."
Even near the end of his life, when going out into the wilderness to perform the Atonement, he still never turned in. All he asked of his apostles was, "Stay awake with me for about an hour, okay guys?" and upon his return, found them asleep, but he wasn't angry. Even after enduring the suffering for the sins of the world, a pain no mortal being could even imagine, he still had compassion on one of the men who were coming to take him, enough to simply heal his ear which Peter had sliced off.
And finally, on the cross, Jesus spake, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do."
Becoming the character of Christ should be all of our goals. That is truly what we can do to become better people and to come closer to Him. I challenge you all to do something special every day, whether it be something as simple as saying hi to someone you wouldn't say hi to normally, or something as wonderful as feeding a homeless person, or anything else you can think of. "Turn out" as Christ would turn out, and "putteth off the natural man, for the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the Fall of Adam." I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I love you all and will send my next email from Chile! Woohoo!
Con Amor,
Elder Spencer Layne Robertson
I can't believe I'm already in my last week at the CCM. I feel like I've been here forever but at the same time, not at all! It's amazing how time flies!
I received my flight itinerary yesterday, and my flight leaves Monday at 8:25 pm. Looks like it's going to be another red-eye flight... Which is great! I love sleeping on planes!... not really.
The flight is going to be 10 hours long to get to Santiago, Chile, from which we will board another plane and fly an hour to Concepción. What am I most excited for you ask? I GET A WINDOW SEAT. Through the flight to Concepción, I'll be able to look out the windows and enjoy the view of the Andes Mountains... That's honestly what I'm most excited for. That, meeting the Mission President, and meeting my trainer. :)
In my instructions I read today for the airport, it appears that there will be people in the airport that will try to carry my bags for me, and then either try to steal them or charge me insane amounts of money for doing so. O.o It's amazing what people will try to do.
So this week, we had a special opportunity to hear from a couple of brethren from mission headquarters on Thursday morning. They had some great talks about how we need to teach investigators a evenly balanced portion of all the Gospel, not just some parts of it, and the other talked about how we need to be a full-purpose missionary, and to completely convert to the Gospel. Serving a mission and then going home and returning to normal life is not what a mission is meant to do. It's meant to change your life forever and make you a better person, being more converted unto the Gospel.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission. It's amazing to me how God has made it possible for teenagers to leave home for two years to serve Him, spread the Gospel, and become life-long missionaries. My testimony has grown so much in my time here, and I can't wait to share that testimony with the people of Chile.
I'm so grateful for the Gift of Tongues. It's amazing to me the things I've learned here in the CCM and I contribute most if not all of it to the Lord and the blessings he's given me.
We listened to a talk by Elder Bednar on Sunday, where he talked about how we need to put off the natural man and become like Christ. He shared a story that I would like to share with you.
When Elder Bednar was a Stake President, he woke up at about 5 am to get ready for the day. He was in the shower when his wife came in and told him there was an emergency and that the phone was for him. He got out and went to the phone where a woman proceeded to tell him there had been a terrible accident and that 3 teenage girls were in the accident. So far, the news was that one of them had died, but they didn't know which one. The woman wanted him to go to the hospital where they were being taken and identify which of the girls had been the one that had died. The woman was a Ward Relief Society President, and her daughter was one of the three, which is why she so urgently wanted to know. As Bednar was talking to her, he understood that she had two phones and was talking to someone else at the same time. He realized it was a medical nurse who was at the scene, and as he was listening, he heard the nurse say, "Her identity has been confirmed. Your daughter is the one who has passed away."
Now at this point, Bednar took a moment to tell us that many people, including him, would at this point "turn in" as he put it. That they would turn to the natural man, to feel sorry for themselves, and to have that want for other people to feel sorry for them as well. The natural man at this point would be worried only about himself, but this woman did not do that. Immediately after hearing of her daughter's death, she said to Elder Bednar that he needed to contact the other mothers of the daughters and tell them that their daughters were not the ones that died. He was amazed that she the compassion and love, in essence the character of Christ, and did not do that which someone would instinctively want to do.
At the hospital, Bednar did identify all of the girls, and saw that the girl who had died was extremely disfigured. Knowing this, the Relief Society President talked to him a few days before the funeral. She let him know that the funeral would be a closed casket funeral because she had been so horribly disfigured from the accident. She then proceeded to tell him that the funeral home had done an exceedingly good job on her daughter, and that she wanted him, Elder Bednar, to come and have one last look at her daughter, so that the last image he would remember of her would not be of just after the accident.
Elder Bednar marveled at this. Having just lost her daughter, and preparing for her funeral, she still did not "turn in" to the natural man but instead "turned out" as Christ would do. The character of Christ that this woman displayed was amazing. Thinking only of others, she had invited Elder Bednar to have one last look at her daughter, so that the image he had of her would not be of when she was disfigured, but when she was again beautiful and peaceful.
This is not all however. This woman showed even more characteristics of Christ the day of her daughter's funeral. The morning of the funeral, the Relief Society President got a call from, as Elder Bednar put it, a "whiny, self-absorbed" woman in the ward, who called and chewed out the Relief Society President because the woman was sick with a simple cold, but had not received a meal from the Relief Society the night before as they had promised.
Apologizing, this Relief Society President let the woman know she was sorry, and on her way to HER OWN DAUGHTER'S FUNERAL, dropped a meal off to her.
Through all of Christ's life, he never "turned in". When he was tempted by Satan after 40 days of fasting, he didn't give in to the hunger he was feeling, and didn't attempt to gain any glory from showing forth to Satan the power he knew he had from being the Son of God. Through his ministry, he healed the sick, raised the dead, fed thousands, and didn't once ask for anything in return. Never once did he "turn in" and try to gain glory for the things he had done, but instead, invited all to "Follow Him."
Even near the end of his life, when going out into the wilderness to perform the Atonement, he still never turned in. All he asked of his apostles was, "Stay awake with me for about an hour, okay guys?" and upon his return, found them asleep, but he wasn't angry. Even after enduring the suffering for the sins of the world, a pain no mortal being could even imagine, he still had compassion on one of the men who were coming to take him, enough to simply heal his ear which Peter had sliced off.
And finally, on the cross, Jesus spake, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do."
Becoming the character of Christ should be all of our goals. That is truly what we can do to become better people and to come closer to Him. I challenge you all to do something special every day, whether it be something as simple as saying hi to someone you wouldn't say hi to normally, or something as wonderful as feeding a homeless person, or anything else you can think of. "Turn out" as Christ would turn out, and "putteth off the natural man, for the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the Fall of Adam." I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I love you all and will send my next email from Chile! Woohoo!
Con Amor,
Elder Spencer Layne Robertson