I loved General Conference. Do you realize that every other dispensation has fallen into apostasy, but this one never will. May I offer one of the reasons I feel why? Because we have 1: The Book of Mormon and 2: We are instructed and taught by the Prophets and Apostles every 6 months. Never before in the history of the world has that been available. General Conference was great. I took many notes. I can’t tell you everything I loved, but it was just all great. I left feeling joy and strength. My faith was increased! (Jacob 4:4,6) What a Blessing it is for each of us to enjoy the blessings of this dispensation. For Priesthood session, the brethren here did an ice cream social. So I also got ice cream which was great. You know what they say "Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy ice cream, so pretty much the same thing." haha...
As far as the rest of the week, we had a zone meeting on Friday that was great. We talked about the atonement. It's always fun to see missionaries I haven't seen in a while.
This week held a lot of rejection. We talked to a lot of people, and very few wanted to listen. The scriptures often speak of a "hard heart" and of a "soft heart." We know that it isn't talking about the actual physical heart. The heart represents who we are, our desires, our wants, our passions. He asks us to give our heart to him. To gives ourselves to him so that he can make us better and better, so he can make us like he is. If we have a hard heart, we are rebellious, and we don't want to listen. We can't progress. If you want to read a really good chapter about this, go read Alma 12. Soften your heart so that God can make you become your FULL potential.
Paraphrasing C.S. Lewis the Lord says to us: "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work: I want You, all of You. I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man, but to kill it. No half-measures will do. I don't want to only prune a branch here and another there; rather, I want the whole tree out. Hand it all over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them all over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart." (Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, p. 167)
I love you all. I know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. He LIVES. There is a real Prophet on the earth, and his name is Thomas S. Monson. Jesus Christ is coming again. He has so much in store for us if we want it. It is up to us to choose.
Love,
Elder Josh Spencer
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