Hey Dad!
Thanks for the e-mail. Did you get to meet Elder Bednar? That´s great that he was there to teach you. I really like what he said about teaching. We really shouldn´t do all of the talking. All of these principles that I am learning on the mission, I am kind of re-learning. I had the spirit with me my senior year in high school. I remember really doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God. And when we do that, everything falls into place, and we have the promise of the Spirit. He taught me a lot my senior year, how to love and serve and teach. I really just kind of lost it, and closed my heart at BYU. And there is a scripture that says if we reject light, we´ll lose what we have, but if we have faith and receive light, it´ll grow brighter and brighter until the perfect day. I rejected light, or at least shut my heart and mind to it, and I lost a lot. It´s sad, but it´s what´s happened. And I think this mission will help me return to that childlike state I was in when I was in High School. One thing I´ve thought about and learned is that we must do everything with an eye single to the glory of God. If we don´t, we don´t receive the blessing. All things obey, and they have order. The stars all stay in their place, gravity, the universe all has order. Animals obey and do what their supposed to, plants work perfectly and the earth does what it´s supposed to . The planets circle the sun in harmony and order. And then there´s man. Disorganized, chaotic, without order in many parts. But if we follow the example of everything else in the universe and obey God, with an eye single to his glory, that gives us focus. We find ourselves leveling out and we become who we´re supposed to be. We have a drive and an order, our faith is as constant as the gravity, and we circle and focus ourselves around God and the Savior, just like the planets do around the sun. Order, peace, and harmony are the works of God. The test for man is to harmonize himself with God, and with the eternal nature of things. Faith repentance baptism the gift of the holy Ghost, and persevering to the end all work together to exalt us and make us holy and organized and pure, and eventually perfect. It´s kind of a theme across the world of harmony, the yin-yang, peace, nirvana. It all comes down to submitting ourselves to the will of God. That act of submission can be the hardest thing to do, the thing that will push us to the very limit, and test us and prepare us for life after this. This act of submission pushes the intellectual, unbelieving and ¨rich¨ of the world to their limits.
I have realized more and more that we really are dual beings. But we have to focus on BOTH sides. One proof that we really do have spirits is that we all have ¨spiritual¨ needs. We all have a gorge that only the principles of the gospel fill completely. We all need the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
It´s so true about the open hearts. At BYU I heard the first presidency speak to us, I sang in choirs for them, I read the scriptures, I heard powerful testimonies given, but really, I didn´t feel anything. If the hearts not open, NOTHING is going to happen. I love the quote ¨We should keep our eyes, and our HEARTS, wide open.¨ We need be wise, but humble and willing to receive with our hearts. There is a man named Rufo that we are teaching, and he is just not willing to open his heart wide open, and I can definitely understand. That´s why so many people have to be prepared to receive the gospel. Somethings force the heart to open: death, birth, accidents, and other drastic or traumatic things. One thing I´ve learned also is that music opens the heart. Inspirational music stirs the heart around enough to open it. Sometimes I envision hearts like clams, with varying degrees of openness. The Spirit is constantly ever ready to testify, to comfort, and to enlighten, but WE have to open our hearts first. It´s the only way. Agency is central to ALL. Sometimes the problem here is that the heart is too open, almost squishy, as opposed to hard, and they just accept and say ¨oh yeah that sounds good¨, but their hearts aren´t firm enough to truly understand and apply the principles. They´re a little bit spiritually lazy.
All of these theories that the world has about where we came from and that we all just came from chance I´ve decided to ignore. Since when have the people of God ever listened to the world and what it has to say? And since when has God ever left His people without life, knowledge, and the good and important things of life? So many things are, right now, incomprehensible. But the human mind has the capacity to grow and become like God. I liked a quote by Joseph Smith about the immortality of man. He said that the ¨mind¨ of man is eternal. It was interesting that he said mind. I think that our heart and our mind and our spirits make up our existence, but they are all eternal. Emotion is eternal. Love peace joy, all good things are eternal. If man were animal, He just wouldn´t have all of these things, and the spiritual capacity to grow and progress. Sometimes it all just seems too simple: we are children of God, He loves us, He has a plan for us, but it´s important for us to be like little children and just believe. Thanks Dad I hope all is well. Have a great week I Love you Russell