Week 87 - Miami, Oklahama

Long email again.  Important stuff's in red.

Hey all!

Back in the saddle again. Oklahoma's a pretty wild place, that's for sure. Kinda reminds me of Fort Smith, AR, where I served last winter. Basically that means it's the cowboy hood. Plus we have a lot of Native American tribes here so that's sick. 

In other news, my friend Alex who we found knocking doors in Anderson two weeks ago is on date for baptism in March! He really is just the kind of person we missionaries look and look for. Please keep praying for him! They're working so far 

Song of the week: "Heat Wave" by Snail Mail 

~

Elder Ahmad Corbitt, a global Church leader in the Quorum of the Seventy, came to Joplin, Missouri for our semi-annual stake conference! It was so so so awesome. I took like ten pages of notes on the little spiral-bound notepad that now serves as my "phone" haha. I could go on and on about it, but I'll try to summarize the overarching theme of his messages. 

 The Book of Mormon teaches a unique lesson about faith in Jesus Christ: if we desire the faith of the prophets, we must "Look forward with the eye of faith and see the Lord's promise fulfilled." The Lord cannot lie. Therefore, if He says something will happen, it can be effectively treated as if it has already happened. One awesome example lies in the prophet Abinadi's teachings of Christ and His atoning sacrifice:

 And now if Christ had not come into the world, speaking of things to come as though they had already come, there could have been no redemption. 

 And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection. 

 But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ. 

 He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.

...Boy, do I love this book. 

 Anyways, Abinadi looked forward to the resurrection of Christ and knew that, despite it being over a century beforehand, the battle was already won. He consciously chose to live in ~148 B.C. as if Christ's suffering and victory had already occured, because he was utterly confident in the Lord's promise. 

 Let's apply this to some situations in our day: How would you act if the Second Coming of Christ had already happened? I know I would probably be a lot more bold in sharing my testimony of the Savior and zealous in following His every word. Wouldn't you? In that case, if the Lord's always good on His word then why not act that way now? You see, it may not have happened yet, but the when simply doesn't matter. It will happen, and that's the truth. 

 Here's another: One of my greatest life goals is to build a loving family of my own, rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. An impression that came to me as I listened to Elder Corbitt teach was, "How might I act differently in this meeting if my future family were sitting next to me right now?" When I look forward with the eye of faith, I know that someday, I will be a part of this family. Do my actions now matter any less than my actions at that future point in determining the kind of husband and father I am to them? Not on the Lord's timetable. 

I'm out of time and out of room, so I'll leave a lil' bibliography here for anyone who wants to do their personal study on looking forward on the Lord's promises with the eye of faith. Here's some scriptural examples Elder Corbitt shared with us:

Alma 5:15

Alma 33:19-20

Moroni 7:40-41

Alma 26:27

(PoGP) Moses 7:40-41

Mosiah 7:44-45, 47

Ether 3:12

Ether 12:19

Mosiah 16:6

Jarom 1:11

1 Nephi 2:20

1 Nephi 5:5

2 Nephi 25:24-25

(D&C) Doctrine and Covenants 111:11

(NT) Revelation 12:7-11

Alma 32:30-41

Jesus Christ is real. He did what He said He did and He is Who He says He is. And, His Church is alive right now. Aren't we lucky?

Love,

Elder Rigby