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| Southampton halloween reunion! |
I hope your week has been sweet! I know mine has! October is already winding down to its final days and Halloween is around the corner once again.. strangely enough that is weird... however, with the addition to last weeks commentary, I'd actually like to keep it that way and share more about myself and what I am actually doing in England to explain more to those that don't know or just to enlighten others with my own notes and feelings towards things! Enjoy!
Thursday: October 20th, 2016
Due to moves this week, today was preparation day. We drove down to Plymouth to prepare for our Specialized Zone Training with the Plymouth Zone... such a long drive. But the good thing about it is that a drive to Cali will be a piece of cake when I get home.
Friday: October 21st, 2016
The Training went super well. President taught again about questions of the soul such as: Who am I? Who is He? Why am I here? It was such a powerful meeting again and it's just amazing when you can feel the Spirit testify of these things over and over again to you. It's a comforting reminder of who I truly am underneath the skin. After the training we made another drive back down to Southampton for a baptism that Elder Cloward was taking place in. On our way we stopped in Poole to get dinner and oh boy... we found one of the best burger places ever! It was called Smokey's Flame and Grilled Burgers and wow... it was one of the best burgers I've had in England.
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| Carving pumpkins missionary style!#31 |
Before the baptism we had the chance to stop and have lunch with Brother John Ozard, one of my favorite members in Southampton and then we also had time with the famous Dave Hutton. The baptism went super well! Following the baptism of Chris, we had a small Halloween activity and then headed to Chef China (most genuine Chinese food I've ever had) (yes... better than Panda) Heading back was rough... the M25 (major highway to get us home) was closed due to maintenance work and so we had to take a HUGE detour through the forest roads in pitch black weather. Let's just say... due to that, we didn't get home for a "while".
Sunday: October 23rd, 2016
Amazing day at church again of course! It's amazing to take the Sacrament each week and have a fresh start! We were invited to the Ryan's for dinner and then we saw the Ashpole's again! Wow! It was a super good lesson but we really needed to help the, understand a few things. They are making good progress but we need to get them to church. We taught CPR to them which is Church, Prayer, and Reading. Or in others words, Spiritual CPR! Super good lesson and they understood it well and we will be seeing them again this week following their holiday trip. Keep them in your prayers please!:)
Monday: October 24th, 2016
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| Dab. |
Tuesday: October 25th, 2016
We headed to Staines today for our 2nd SZT and it was even better then the first.(that happens often haha) President added some extras to his presentation on the portion of where we are going and how no matter how hard we try to imagine or think about the Celestial Kingdom, we will never ever come close to its reality. (1 Corinthians 2:9) We can only comprehend the beauty and majesty of a telestial world and although you find so many beautiful things in this world... they are nowhere close to what God has prepared for us to experience.
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| Staines SZT! |
Wednesday: October 26th, 2016
Today well, the continuation of college apps for BYU and other things preparing for this week as we have another busy week with a SZT in Reading and also in hometown Crawley. It will be good!
I thought I'd try and keep the commentary going a bit more due to the fact that it probably has SO MUCH more meaning than just a small little "journal entry" like email. So hopefully this helps someone who is reading this to come to know and understand something new.
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| One of the best...! |
Verse of the Week:
Mosiah 21:35
"They were desirous to be baptized as a witness and a testimony that they were willing to serve God with all their hearts."
Now if there be any mistakes below, they are the mistakes of man, so please forgive haha!=)
Why do we need the Book of Mormon?
There are many people that I have met in England over the course of my missions and a lot of them ask the same thing... "Why do we need the Book of Mormon?" Most of the world believes that revelation and prophecies and the work of God among the children of men has ceased. Many believe that when the Christ was crucified, the Apostles were killed (except John), and the Bible came forth that that was all. No more revelation. No more Apostles. No more scripture. Well, in the most blunt and honest way I can and with boldness I say, this is false and all those that believe this have been deceived by the enemy himself who is the devil. This is exactly what he wants the world to believe because he can blind you and close you off to discovering the very things a God has revealed and brought forth in these days. "The Savior warned that in the last days even those of the covenant, the very elect, could be deceived by the enemy of truth."(Safety for the Soul, Jefferey R. Holland) Sadly, I have seen this happen with my very own eyes. I am a witness that Jesus Christ and our Father and Heaven live and love us so much that they continue to speak to us. There is still revelation. There are Apostles on the earth today. There is more scripture that has been given to us today for OUR benefit.
So why do we need the Book of Mormon? Well, to put it plain and simply, without the Book of Mormon, you won't ever come to know God like you should. You won't ever be the person God expects you to be. You will never make it to the Celestial Kingdom. You will never know true happiness and you will never... ever... be able to truly come to know Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion and it holds everything together. Just as Elder Jefferey R. Holland once said, "If anyone is foolish enough or misled enough to reject 531 pages of a heretofore unknown text teeming with literary and Semitic complexity without honestly attempting to account for the origin of those pages--especially without accounting for their powerful witness of Jesus Christ and the profound spiritual impact that witness has had on what is now tens of millions of readers. I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this latter-day work--and thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in these, our times--until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies." I add my witness to that of Elder Holland's, the Book of Mormon is true and it is the most influential book any person could read. It will bring you closer to God than any other book could.
What role does the Book of Mormon have?
The main purpose of the Book of Mormon is to testify of Christ. Hence why it is "Another Testament of Jesus Christ". The Book of Mormon has 6607 verses in it and 3125 verses refer to and talk about the Savior of the world. Roughly, every 1.5 verses talks about Him. If this isn't enough evidence that the Book of Mormon is crawling with Jesus Christ in it, I don't know what else could. There is no other book like it. The Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel and it testifies of the divinity of Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God and the truthfulness of God's mouth still speaking to His children today. In these our times; in the fulness of times; the Last Days... only through reading and coming to know for yourself that the Book of Mormon is true and by giving strict heed unto the counsel and precepts it contains can you be safe and strong and even SURVIVE the Last Days. The Book of Mormon is a powerful evidence of the divinity of Christ. It is also proof of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith. If you take away the Book of Mormon, you lose a lot of things. The Prophet Joseph Smith once said, "Take away the Book of Mormon and the revelations, and where is our religion? We have none." The Book of Mormon is so key to understanding the Father in Heaven in which we love and worship each day and each night. Reading the Book of Mormon brings forth a witness of Jesus Christ, the fulness of doctrine, and a foundation for a testimony that will drive you to get closer and closer to Jesus Christ until you know him fully. The Lord himself said in the Doctrine and Covenants(latter-day scripture and revelation given to Joseph Smith), "And again, the elders, priests, and teachers of this church shall teach the principles of my gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in the which is the fulness of the gospel." Together these two canons of scripture along with the latter-days scripture that has come forth provide the children of men with all the necessary tools and resources to draw closer to Jesus Christ. The Bible can't do it alone and the Book of Mormon cannot do it alone. They must go hand in hand and together, they add two witnesses of the divinity of Jesus Christ and explains the fulness of the reality of the Godhead in which there are three separate beings including the Father, the Son(Jesus Christ), and the Personage of the Holy Ghost. The Book of Mormon is true.
How has the Book of Mormon changed my life?
For myself, I have come to know and understand the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon over time. It wasn't this one instant moment where I knew everything about it but as I continued to read it with an open mind and applied the teachings to my own life and personal circumstances, I saw the change that it was making in my life and finally, when it came time and I desired to know whether the Book of Mormon was true and was indeed the word of God, I knelt down and prayed to my Father in Heaven asking if it was true. I had as Moroni's says, "a sincere heart, real intent, having faith in Christ" and the answer came. I knew that God had answered my prayer and the Book of Mormon has been the foundation of my testimony and with it, I know my Savior more than ever before and I know who I am in relation to him and to my Father. I am a son of God. A literal son of God. Through the Book of Mormon, I have learned the importance of living a Christlike life and doing my best to do as Christ would do. In doing so, I have seen my own relationship with heaven come closer and become more of a reality. I know Jesus Christ lives and I will proudly, boldly, and joyfully proclaim the truth in which He has commanded me to share. I have come to earth at this time... in these last days to do this very thing. I made promises to Him that I would stand as a witness of Him at all times, all places, and in all things and I intend to keep my promise because I love Him and I will do anything for Him and that is because I have come to know Him more and He has taught me more about myself than I could have ever taught myself through my own efforts. I testify that He lives and that the Book of Mormon is true and if you haven't accepted the challenge stated in Moroni 10:3-5, I invite you to accept the challenge and find these things out for yourself for they are true and if you come not know them and come not to accept them, they will be a rock of stumbling unto you and if you believe them not and if you do not believe in the things in which I have shared, take the counsel Nephi gave in his final words found in 2 Nephi 33 which say, "And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye-- for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness." He goes on to say, " And you that will not partake of the goodness of God and respect the words of the Jews(the Bible), and also my words(the Book of Mormon), and the words which shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the Lamb of God(Latter-day scripture), behold, I bid you an everlasting farewell, for these words shall condemn you at the last day."
Accept the challenge so that you may rejoice in finding the peace, joy, and everlasting promises that God has made to those that keep His commandments and hearken unto His words continually for God's words never cease, but they continue to flow out of the mouth of His prophet on the earth today in Thomas S. Monson and through the scriptures in which he has laid before your very eyes to behold. Remember, "As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."(1 Corinthians 2:9)"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that give the to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."(James 1:5) "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall fine me; ask, and ye shall receive, knock, and it shall be opened unto you."(D&C 88:63)
For the promise is found in Moroni 10:3-5 which is: "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things(the Book of Mormon), if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things(the Book of Mormon), I would exhort you that ye would ask God the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere hearts with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." Of this I witness and testify that it is true in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Love,
-Elder Rivera
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