WOOOO!!! I've had a great week, complete opposite of last week.
Where to begin?!
On Sunday I was still feeling the effects of our district switch and I was really trying to feel the spirit all day. I didn't really feel it until one of the Elders in my district, Elder Tropna, and I went and watched a documentary about President Monson. During the video the spirit was so strong in the room and the first time I really felt it a thought went through my head. the thought was "what have I been doing?" I realized I had been wasting so much time moping around and complaining about the district change and I wasn't trying to give it a chance. I started to think about all of the differences between my new class and my old class. My new class is more focused around learning the language and figuring out how to be a missionary by yourself, my other class was figuring out how to be a missionary and learn the language on your own. I came to the conclusion that Heavenly Father has a plan for me, a plan that I can't understand or fully comprehend at this moment and that the switch happened for a reason. The reason is simply that Heavenly Father trusts me to become my own missionary and that I need to focus on learning french right now. My old companion, Elder Laurie, told me that he thinks I know how to be a missionary already, I know how to teach the lessons and I know how to teach with power, but I need to learn the language now. I can continue to move forward with faith that everything will work out. I think a quote from Gordon B. Hinckley fit my situation perfectly when he said, "Carry on. Things will work out. If you keep trying and praying and working, things will work out. They always do."
On Tuesday our weekly devotional speaker was Elder W. Craig Zhwick and his wife. They gave wonderful talks which were focused on creating a vision for what the Lord wants us to become and increasing our faith to build the kingdom of God. One of the best quote's from Elder Zhwick's talk was "You can change lives just by who you are." How awesome is that??? I'm sure there are plenty of missionaries who feel inadequate about their gospel knowledge or their ability to communicate in a new language, but it really doesn't matter. We have been called by God to serve in our missions, there are people out there prepared to receive the message of the restoration of the gospel and we are capable of sharing that message just as we are. I don't remember much else from his talk, all I remember is the incredible spirit that I felt throughout his talk. This was his last talk at the MTC as he will be released from the Quorum of the Seventy in this next general conference. All I can say is, Elder Zhwick taught with power, he taught with the spirit, and there was no denying his testimony of this work.
I have to put in a small segment about my old teacher Frere Adams. He met with me this week to see how I was doing and if I needed any help with teaching the lessons, and we pretty much came to the conclusion that I can teach all of the lessons in a simple enough way the investigator can understand. Then we started talking about my companionship and how that was going, He made me realize I was being a little stubborn about not giving my new companion a try and that got me thinking a lot. I reflected on myself and what I could do better, so I decided I needed to be more kind and show more Christ like love. It's made all the difference in our relationship. My teacher also met with my companion, and I have no idea what he said to Elder Greenland, but ever since then my companion has been super happy and talkative and we are getting along GREAT! I think my biggest flaw is judging too quickly and not having enough patience, I'll be working on that for the next two years. My companion is also a marine, so I workout with him during our gym time and it's so AWESOME. The workouts are super tough and you don't really get to rest at all. I love it.
My last paragraph will be about the power of the gift of tongues. Last night my companion and I were addressing a question our investigator, Hospice, had. The question was "why is the gospel important for me personally?" We decided to teach him using Alma chapter 36. Our goal was to really make the gospel feel important for him and for him to receive that confirmation through the spirit. The lesson was amazing. We went in there and began reading the scriptures and asking him questions, questions that made him figure out why the gospel was right for him. The context of Alma 36, is Alma telling his son Helaman about his conversion and how he called upon Jesus Christ seeking forgiveness for his sins. The gift of tongues took over in that lesson. I pretty much gave the entire lesson, which was about 30 minutes long, and I got the message across I wanted to. Hospice stopped us half way through one of the scriptures and told us he felt pain in his heart for his sins and he wanted to be forgiven of them as Alma was. I bore a testimony to him that he can be forgiven of his sins and that he can receive the same joy Alma felt. Our "investigator," for those that don't know, is our teacher playing someone he met on his own mission. But let me tell you that the spirit was so strong in that room that it almost made him cry. When it comes down to it though, It wasn't me that taught that lesson; it was the spirit. The spirit confirms truth and it confirmed the simple truth that Christ can heal us of all our sins. My companion and I walked out of that lesson and we were both ecstatic. It was the best lesson we have taught so far. I apologized for talking for the whole time and he told me "no no, it's fine! I couldn't understand anything you were saying, but it was amazing!" I can really bear witness of the power of the gift of tongues. The gift of tongues allows me to speak french, but it also allows me to speak and teach with the spirit and that is who really does the teaching.
After that lesson I had class and we studied the Book of Mormon. I want to share one little scripture that stuck out to me. Recently I have been studying the question of "Who is Christ?" I know and have a testimony of what he did, now I need to know who he is. I was having trouble figuring this question out because I didn't want just a cliche answer, I was searching for something else and I wasn't sure what I was searching for; until I found it. In Alma 7:12 it says,
"And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."
I understood that Christ suffered for us, so that we can return to live with him and Heavenly Father again, but the line that caught my eye was "that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." The scripture caught me off guard because I realized that Christ has as much agency as we have and he CHOSE to suffer for us. He chose to suffer for us for the sole reason of knowing exactly what his people would feel. He knows what we feel spiritually but he wanted to know what we felt in the flesh and so he suffered pains and afflictions that we can't comprehend, so that he could "succor his people." I think that is such a tender thought and that made me see the Atonement in a whole new light.
After we read that scripture we finished class and our teacher said the closing prayer in French and I was able to understand it all.
I just want to leave you with my testimony, that I know this is truly the Lord's work. I have never felt so much love for people I hardly know, never felt such a strong spirit and focus as I devote my all to serving Heavenly Father's children. The gospel of Jesus Christ brings joy, not just temporal joy, but Eternal joy, a joy that is never ending. I am so grateful for my knowledge of the restored gospel and that I have the opportunity to represent Jesus Christ as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The work is true, I love the work, I love the people, and I love the gospel.
A bientot!
Elder Molinari
(Elder Molinari's new district)
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