As May 19th approached which was my date to enter boot camp I started to have more and more conversations with my Nana about Christ and his gospel.(remember her from my whyIamamormon blog) She was absolutely thrilled about my new found walk with Christ and we had conversations at least once or twice a week about every gospel topic under the sun. I suggested to her that she might want to meet with a few of my friends(aka the elders) who might be able to answer some her questions better than I could. I explained that all they did was study and preach the gospel so they knew a lot more than I did. So she accepted this invitation to hear the gospel and I called the mission office there in Texas and got the phone number to the missionaries in her area. I called them up on the phone and preceded to give them all the information about my Nana. Within a few days they had taught her one lesson and set an appointment for the next one.
My Nana called me through the next few weeks with many questions. Where things really started to get cool was when Nana came out for my graduation from community college. Well I decided I wanted to go out to Texas with my Nana and visit some of my family out there before I went to boot camp so went back to Texas with Nana. She had been meeting with the missionaries since I had sent them her way and on the way out to Texas between Sheena and I we talked a lot with Nana about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and by the time we arrived in Texas I had committed Nana to get baptized while I was there.
Well Nana called the missionaries and told them that she wanted to be baptized and that she wanted to be baptized before I left for boot camp. Well the missionaries made it happen and I baptized Nana that May there at the ranch by Coleman Texas. Nana was baptized in the pond down by the house in a wonderful little baptismal service where the spirit was bountiful.
After Nana was baptized I only had a few days before it was time for me to leave for boot camp. We drove out to Colorado to meet my mother and Larry at their cabin near Dolores, Colorado. I spent my last few days of civilian life there with my mother and then left to go back to Utah to meet Staff Sergent Keach and leave for boot camp.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Why I served a Mormon Mission Part VII
So there I was without a clue as to what I was going to say when I gave Marco a blessing. All that Rob and Trevor would tell me was to just say whatever the spirit told me to say. Well the next few minutes flew by and it was time to go downstairs to Marco's room. When I got down there I noticed my buddy Jeff who was baptized a few weeks after me was also there (he had been ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood at the same time as me) and he said he was supposed to anoint Marco's head with oil. Well Jeff valiantly stepped behind Marco and asked Marco his full name and proceeded to put oil oil that had been set apart for the healing of the sick and afflicted on the top of Marco's head. He then called Macro by his full name and having the power and authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood anointed him.
It was then my turn. I figured that Jeff had gotten off easy. I wished that I could have done what he did that seemed a lot easier than figuring out what to say. Well it was time to man up so I went and laid my hands on Marco's head and called him by name and said that I sealed Jeff's anointing (because that's what you're supposed to say) by the power and authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood and in the name of Jesus Christ. Then one of the most miraculous things happened. As I started to worry about what to say words all of the sudden were spoken to my mind and spirit. I felt that someone had such amazing love for Marco and all of the sudden I just started to speak and the words were there. I wasn't simply just making up things to say or coming up with random platitudes but was relaying thoughts and feelings that were not my own. I can't tell you what I said because I don't remember. It wasn't for me to remember but what I do remember is this. That the words were not mine. They came from my Father in Heaven and I was simply acting as a voice.
However on this subject of priesthood blessing there was a lesson that I learned several years afterwards. I was visiting a family in North Carolina. It was a family that the missionaries before me had found and we were checking up on them. When we arrived in the trailer park they lived in we found two young boys playing catch with football in the front yard. We asked them if there mother or father were home and they said that they both were inside. We then went and knocked on the trailer's door and the mother answered. We explained who we were and that we would like to share a message with her about Jesus Christ. She said that her daddy was a minister and she would welcome anyone into her home who spoke of Jesus and that her husband was interested in different beliefs. Well that sounded good to us and it wasn't a slammed door.
We went inside and found the husband laying on one of the couches with an IV tube stuck in his arm leading up to an IV bag. After some getting to know you talk we finally asked why he had an IV and he explained the he had an accident at work where he was using a metal drill bit and drilling into a sheet of steal and something went wrong and the bit exploded and sent metal splinters into his arm and hand and that they hadn't been able get all the splinters out and some had become infected and they were worried about the smaller ones getting into his blood stream.
We shared the first lesson with them and left a Book of Mormon with them and Mark(the father) seemed very excited to read it. We set up a return appointment to come back in two days so that we could talk to him about what he read. He said he would read it and have questions for us.
Well two days passed by and we returned to Mark's house to follow up on his reading and see where he was. He seemed a little worse off today than he was a few days back and seemed a little disheartened. We asked him if he had read and he said he was only able to get through the title page and introduction and started on third Nephi Chp 11. He asked us some questions about Joseph Smith and how the book of Mormon was found and then asked if Christ really did visit America and we responded that he had. About halfway through our explanation of Christ's visit to the Americas Mark excused himself and went quickly into the back room and we heard some coughing and hacking coming from the bathroom. His wife quickly got up and went into the bathroom. She came back out five awkward minutes later and asked us if we could come back that evening that Mark wasn't doing to well. I got a feeling that I should ask her or him if he wanted a blessing but I decided that I shouldn't and suppressed this feeling.
Well we came back that evening and Mark's wife answered the door and invited us in. We asked how Mark was and she told us Mark was in the bedroom and wasn't feeling to well but that she said she would listen to what we had to teach and share it all with Mark. Well that sounded okay to us so we taught part of the second lesson and four or five times our lesson was interrupted because she had to get up and check on Mark when we heard a really bad set of coughing. Each time she got up I got this little feeling that I should mention Priesthood blessings and that I should offer to give Mark a blessing. But each time I didn't listen to it. I was worried about if she would think we were weird or that we some kind of cult. I was also worried about what if we gave him a blessing and he didn't get better or he got worse. I was also worried about losing this family as investigators if somehow our blessing failed. So each time I got a feeling to give Mark a blessing or ask if we could I silenced that feeling and buried it deep inside me. We ended up only getting through about half the second lesson and it was time to go. We said our good byes and walked out the door. As we were walking out the front door I received a very strong impression to give mark a blessing but I walked out the door anyway. As got in the car and my companion started to drive away I received an impression to ask my companion to turn the car around and for us to knock on Mark's door and give him a blessing. However just like all the other times that day I ignored it and let my companion drive because I was afraid to give him a blessing.
We stopped by Mark's house the next day to check and see how he was doing only to find his wife crying on the front steps. Concerned we went up and asked what was wrong. She told us that Mark had gotten worse after we left and that a few hours after we left he started to get real sick and she called 911 and that Mark had died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Well the first thing I thought of was the feelings and impressions I had from the previous day to give him a blessing. I felt about as low as a man can feel but I sucked it up and asked her if she we could share one of the happiest things that we knew about. She said any ray of light would be a good appreciated.
Well we then started to explain to her about the eternal nature of families and how husbands and wives can be together forever. We explained about temples and we finished the rest of the plan of salvation lesson. She asked how it was that marriage could be forever because she had always been taught that there was no marriage in heaven. We then explained the sealing power of the priesthood and how what was sealed on Earth by this power was also sealed in Heaven. We also explained the differences between a civil marriage till Death do we part and a celestial marriage where you are sealed for time and all eternity.
She then asked us about this sealing power and the priesthood. My companion then went into all the different things that the priesthood can do and all men in the church who are in good standing can hold the Priesthood. Now comes one of the worst times in my life. She asked if we had the priesthood. My companion said that we did and all during this talk about the priesthood my heart kept getting lower and lower. She then asked if we could heal the sick with the priesthood just like Jesus did. My companion responded that we could. She then asked a question that would haunt me for many months to come. She asked, "Then why didn't you heal my husband with this power and make him better?"
Well I had thought that my heart had gotten about as low as it could get and that I couldn't get any lower but with that last question it was all I could do not to break down into tears and beg for her and my Heavenly Father's forgiveness. I felt like the lowest of the low and that I wasn't even worthy to crawl on my stomach let alone stand and be counted as one of the privileged few in these latter-days who has the blessing of being a holder of the priesthood with the ability and privilege to bless God's children. I just wanted to sit there and cry and tell her how sorry I was that I didn't ask because I was too afraid.
I didn't have anything to say and I just buried my face in my hands and tried not to cry. My companion said something that I don't remember and I didn't say anything and we left and never got to meet with Mark's family again because she moved back to Tennessee to live with her parents.
For months afterwards I was haunted with feelings of guilt and inadequacy over not giving Mark a blessing and often wondered if I would have given him a blessing if he would have gotten better and lived. However as I prayed and sought the counsel of my Father in Heaven I came to understand the lesson that I had learned. I have the power of God to bless his children. Its not something that we make up but a reality and I had it. I had the same power that caused the world to be organized out of chaos. I had the power that Christ had to heal the sick and the afflicted to cause the blind to see and the lame to walk. I wasn't given this power to simply sit their dormant but I was to use it when presented with opportunities to do so. I wasn't to seek out such opportunities but when I was presented with them I should act with faith as did my master Jesus Christ and call upon the powers of heaven to heal the sick and afflicted and bless them however my Father in Heaven directed me to.
The lesson I learned was to use the priesthood when I had an opportunity and not to be afraid of what might happen but to set into the darkness and have faith in my Savior Jesus Christ that he would light the way before me that it would no longer be darkness but light. After I realized the lesson I had learned I always listened to that voice and prompting to at least ask if someone wants a blessing from God. If they say no then its on their head but at least I have done all that I can. Since that day with Mark I have never failed to simply ask.
It was then my turn. I figured that Jeff had gotten off easy. I wished that I could have done what he did that seemed a lot easier than figuring out what to say. Well it was time to man up so I went and laid my hands on Marco's head and called him by name and said that I sealed Jeff's anointing (because that's what you're supposed to say) by the power and authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood and in the name of Jesus Christ. Then one of the most miraculous things happened. As I started to worry about what to say words all of the sudden were spoken to my mind and spirit. I felt that someone had such amazing love for Marco and all of the sudden I just started to speak and the words were there. I wasn't simply just making up things to say or coming up with random platitudes but was relaying thoughts and feelings that were not my own. I can't tell you what I said because I don't remember. It wasn't for me to remember but what I do remember is this. That the words were not mine. They came from my Father in Heaven and I was simply acting as a voice.
However on this subject of priesthood blessing there was a lesson that I learned several years afterwards. I was visiting a family in North Carolina. It was a family that the missionaries before me had found and we were checking up on them. When we arrived in the trailer park they lived in we found two young boys playing catch with football in the front yard. We asked them if there mother or father were home and they said that they both were inside. We then went and knocked on the trailer's door and the mother answered. We explained who we were and that we would like to share a message with her about Jesus Christ. She said that her daddy was a minister and she would welcome anyone into her home who spoke of Jesus and that her husband was interested in different beliefs. Well that sounded good to us and it wasn't a slammed door.
We went inside and found the husband laying on one of the couches with an IV tube stuck in his arm leading up to an IV bag. After some getting to know you talk we finally asked why he had an IV and he explained the he had an accident at work where he was using a metal drill bit and drilling into a sheet of steal and something went wrong and the bit exploded and sent metal splinters into his arm and hand and that they hadn't been able get all the splinters out and some had become infected and they were worried about the smaller ones getting into his blood stream.
We shared the first lesson with them and left a Book of Mormon with them and Mark(the father) seemed very excited to read it. We set up a return appointment to come back in two days so that we could talk to him about what he read. He said he would read it and have questions for us.
Well two days passed by and we returned to Mark's house to follow up on his reading and see where he was. He seemed a little worse off today than he was a few days back and seemed a little disheartened. We asked him if he had read and he said he was only able to get through the title page and introduction and started on third Nephi Chp 11. He asked us some questions about Joseph Smith and how the book of Mormon was found and then asked if Christ really did visit America and we responded that he had. About halfway through our explanation of Christ's visit to the Americas Mark excused himself and went quickly into the back room and we heard some coughing and hacking coming from the bathroom. His wife quickly got up and went into the bathroom. She came back out five awkward minutes later and asked us if we could come back that evening that Mark wasn't doing to well. I got a feeling that I should ask her or him if he wanted a blessing but I decided that I shouldn't and suppressed this feeling.
Well we came back that evening and Mark's wife answered the door and invited us in. We asked how Mark was and she told us Mark was in the bedroom and wasn't feeling to well but that she said she would listen to what we had to teach and share it all with Mark. Well that sounded okay to us so we taught part of the second lesson and four or five times our lesson was interrupted because she had to get up and check on Mark when we heard a really bad set of coughing. Each time she got up I got this little feeling that I should mention Priesthood blessings and that I should offer to give Mark a blessing. But each time I didn't listen to it. I was worried about if she would think we were weird or that we some kind of cult. I was also worried about what if we gave him a blessing and he didn't get better or he got worse. I was also worried about losing this family as investigators if somehow our blessing failed. So each time I got a feeling to give Mark a blessing or ask if we could I silenced that feeling and buried it deep inside me. We ended up only getting through about half the second lesson and it was time to go. We said our good byes and walked out the door. As we were walking out the front door I received a very strong impression to give mark a blessing but I walked out the door anyway. As got in the car and my companion started to drive away I received an impression to ask my companion to turn the car around and for us to knock on Mark's door and give him a blessing. However just like all the other times that day I ignored it and let my companion drive because I was afraid to give him a blessing.
We stopped by Mark's house the next day to check and see how he was doing only to find his wife crying on the front steps. Concerned we went up and asked what was wrong. She told us that Mark had gotten worse after we left and that a few hours after we left he started to get real sick and she called 911 and that Mark had died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Well the first thing I thought of was the feelings and impressions I had from the previous day to give him a blessing. I felt about as low as a man can feel but I sucked it up and asked her if she we could share one of the happiest things that we knew about. She said any ray of light would be a good appreciated.
Well we then started to explain to her about the eternal nature of families and how husbands and wives can be together forever. We explained about temples and we finished the rest of the plan of salvation lesson. She asked how it was that marriage could be forever because she had always been taught that there was no marriage in heaven. We then explained the sealing power of the priesthood and how what was sealed on Earth by this power was also sealed in Heaven. We also explained the differences between a civil marriage till Death do we part and a celestial marriage where you are sealed for time and all eternity.
She then asked us about this sealing power and the priesthood. My companion then went into all the different things that the priesthood can do and all men in the church who are in good standing can hold the Priesthood. Now comes one of the worst times in my life. She asked if we had the priesthood. My companion said that we did and all during this talk about the priesthood my heart kept getting lower and lower. She then asked if we could heal the sick with the priesthood just like Jesus did. My companion responded that we could. She then asked a question that would haunt me for many months to come. She asked, "Then why didn't you heal my husband with this power and make him better?"
Well I had thought that my heart had gotten about as low as it could get and that I couldn't get any lower but with that last question it was all I could do not to break down into tears and beg for her and my Heavenly Father's forgiveness. I felt like the lowest of the low and that I wasn't even worthy to crawl on my stomach let alone stand and be counted as one of the privileged few in these latter-days who has the blessing of being a holder of the priesthood with the ability and privilege to bless God's children. I just wanted to sit there and cry and tell her how sorry I was that I didn't ask because I was too afraid.
I didn't have anything to say and I just buried my face in my hands and tried not to cry. My companion said something that I don't remember and I didn't say anything and we left and never got to meet with Mark's family again because she moved back to Tennessee to live with her parents.
For months afterwards I was haunted with feelings of guilt and inadequacy over not giving Mark a blessing and often wondered if I would have given him a blessing if he would have gotten better and lived. However as I prayed and sought the counsel of my Father in Heaven I came to understand the lesson that I had learned. I have the power of God to bless his children. Its not something that we make up but a reality and I had it. I had the same power that caused the world to be organized out of chaos. I had the power that Christ had to heal the sick and the afflicted to cause the blind to see and the lame to walk. I wasn't given this power to simply sit their dormant but I was to use it when presented with opportunities to do so. I wasn't to seek out such opportunities but when I was presented with them I should act with faith as did my master Jesus Christ and call upon the powers of heaven to heal the sick and afflicted and bless them however my Father in Heaven directed me to.
The lesson I learned was to use the priesthood when I had an opportunity and not to be afraid of what might happen but to set into the darkness and have faith in my Savior Jesus Christ that he would light the way before me that it would no longer be darkness but light. After I realized the lesson I had learned I always listened to that voice and prompting to at least ask if someone wants a blessing from God. If they say no then its on their head but at least I have done all that I can. Since that day with Mark I have never failed to simply ask.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Why I served a Mormon Mission part VI
As the spring semster pressed on I continued to go to church and go to institute as well as all the other activities that I never new existed like Faimily Home Evening(FHE), the Instittute Men's Association (IMA), prayer meetings on Sunday nights and Friday devotionals and going to the temple to do baptisms. sIt was an amazing new experince for me and I continuted to learn and grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
One of the neatest new expeinces was taking more insititute classes than just the Book of Mormon class that I had taken that fall from President Clark. I signed up for a Doctrine and Covenants Class from Brother John Cardon who is simply amazing and helped introduce me both to Church History and revelations for our day that give us guidence as well as firmer foundation on which to understand the gospel in these latter days. Brother Cardon was a stud and he helped me also as another person that I could go to when I had gospel questions and concerns. I also took a New Testament class from Brother Morgan who had a teaching style that quickly captivated and held you attention. These great men helped to suppy the water and nutrients so that my roots could sink deep down into the ground and that I would contuinue to grow in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am eternanlly greatful to these men for doing what they do. Institute was a place I could go to increase my knowledge of the restored gospel and also learn at the feet of men who knew so much more than me.
Finally stake confrence appraoched and I was interviewed by Bishop Donaldson and by President Cox to see if I was worthy and prepared to recieve the Melchizdec Priesthood. I guess I passed because I was ordained an Elder in the Melchizdec Preisthood by Stephen W. Clark(the same guy who baptised me) that confrence. Jeff Spears was also ordained an Elder as was T.J.
That evening after Stake Confrence the sisters came and knocked on my door and asked me if I would give Marco Biavia who was an international student from Itatly a blessing. My mouth about hit the ground. I told the sisters I would and they told me to meet them at Marco's apartment in twenty minutes however I felt very scared. I didn't know what a blessing was. Well, okay I knew what a blessing was but I didn't know how to give one. I mean what do you say? How do you say it? What if you say the wrong thing? These thoughts and others raced through my mind. When President Cox interviewed me he explained to me that one of the duties required of someone who holds the Melkisidec Priesthood is that they must be ready and worthy to give a blessing whenever and whereever they are asked. Well I really wanted to honor the Priesthood that I had just been ordained to but I didn't know how to give a blessing.
Since time was short and it was Sunday I couldn't exactly go over to the institute and ask Borther Cardon or President Clark what to do. I figured Bishop D was busy so I went over across the hall and asked Rob one of my friends who was an RM what to do. Rob was awesome and Trever Alvold who ordained me to the Arronic Preisthood was also there and they went over the basic wording that I needed to have in the Blessing. They told me I needed to call the Person by their full name and say that I was blessing him by the Power of the Melikisidec Priesthood that I held and to do so in the Name of Jesus Christ and close in the Name of Jesus Christ. However it was the inbetween part that frightened me. I didn't know what to do there still so I asked, "So, I understand how to start and end but what do I say in the middle, are there phrases that everyone uses or things that I need to say. What are the things you are supposed to say?" Rob and Trevor just looked at eachother and said "Whatever the Lord tells you to say". Well that didn't answear my question at all and put me back where I started. I didn't know what to say.
One of the neatest new expeinces was taking more insititute classes than just the Book of Mormon class that I had taken that fall from President Clark. I signed up for a Doctrine and Covenants Class from Brother John Cardon who is simply amazing and helped introduce me both to Church History and revelations for our day that give us guidence as well as firmer foundation on which to understand the gospel in these latter days. Brother Cardon was a stud and he helped me also as another person that I could go to when I had gospel questions and concerns. I also took a New Testament class from Brother Morgan who had a teaching style that quickly captivated and held you attention. These great men helped to suppy the water and nutrients so that my roots could sink deep down into the ground and that I would contuinue to grow in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am eternanlly greatful to these men for doing what they do. Institute was a place I could go to increase my knowledge of the restored gospel and also learn at the feet of men who knew so much more than me.
Finally stake confrence appraoched and I was interviewed by Bishop Donaldson and by President Cox to see if I was worthy and prepared to recieve the Melchizdec Priesthood. I guess I passed because I was ordained an Elder in the Melchizdec Preisthood by Stephen W. Clark(the same guy who baptised me) that confrence. Jeff Spears was also ordained an Elder as was T.J.
That evening after Stake Confrence the sisters came and knocked on my door and asked me if I would give Marco Biavia who was an international student from Itatly a blessing. My mouth about hit the ground. I told the sisters I would and they told me to meet them at Marco's apartment in twenty minutes however I felt very scared. I didn't know what a blessing was. Well, okay I knew what a blessing was but I didn't know how to give one. I mean what do you say? How do you say it? What if you say the wrong thing? These thoughts and others raced through my mind. When President Cox interviewed me he explained to me that one of the duties required of someone who holds the Melkisidec Priesthood is that they must be ready and worthy to give a blessing whenever and whereever they are asked. Well I really wanted to honor the Priesthood that I had just been ordained to but I didn't know how to give a blessing.
Since time was short and it was Sunday I couldn't exactly go over to the institute and ask Borther Cardon or President Clark what to do. I figured Bishop D was busy so I went over across the hall and asked Rob one of my friends who was an RM what to do. Rob was awesome and Trever Alvold who ordained me to the Arronic Preisthood was also there and they went over the basic wording that I needed to have in the Blessing. They told me I needed to call the Person by their full name and say that I was blessing him by the Power of the Melikisidec Priesthood that I held and to do so in the Name of Jesus Christ and close in the Name of Jesus Christ. However it was the inbetween part that frightened me. I didn't know what to do there still so I asked, "So, I understand how to start and end but what do I say in the middle, are there phrases that everyone uses or things that I need to say. What are the things you are supposed to say?" Rob and Trevor just looked at eachother and said "Whatever the Lord tells you to say". Well that didn't answear my question at all and put me back where I started. I didn't know what to say.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)