Because I knew a dentist was about to examine my teeth...
But you see, the damage was already done, the cavity was already there, no amount of last minute brushing could change that. So why did I do that? And I know I'm not the only one... how many of y'all have done that exact thing??? Thought to yourself "Oup I've got a dentist appt today better floss for the first time in weeks and pull out that mouthwash I haven't used in months..." Whyyyyy do we do that?!?!?!! Why when it comes time to be accountable we rush and try to brush up last minute??? And I'm not just talking about teeth. We shove everything in a drawer or closet when we have guests, we paste on a smile and are more obedient when there are church leaders around, we are on better behaviors when we know people are watching. It's those last minute fixes that are just cover ups. The cavities are still there, the mess, the disobedient attitude, and sins are still there, the damage has already been done.
And then we try to cover it up, but how different would it have been if we would have been making those little efforts to stay clean the entire time? The cavity wouldn't have developed, the mess wouldn't have been made, the sin wouldn't have been committed.
Before I draw this all to a conclusion I want to also confess that at least for me after my visit to the dentist is over I don't know about y'all but I LOVE the feeling of slick clean teeth and I commit to myself pretty much every time I go to the dentist that I'm going to have that feeling for the next 6 months until I go back again. And I do pretty dang good for a couple of weeks at least... my flossing is consistent, my brushing lasts for at least two minutes, I rinse, and use whitening products, and it feels good. Then one late night out with friends, or one rushed morning, or one justification of "nah I'll be fine" and all of the sudden I'm out of habit and I lose the pattern and consistency of what I've been striving for.
From what I've heard from many "about to return home" missionaries and returned missionaries I've noticed a common fear that they are scared to go home and into old habits and distractions. They want that "slick, clean" feeling they have developed in their lives and they don't want it to go away. And I am beginning to feel the same way. I recognize that I won't ever live the missionary schedule, the way I am, by myself, ever again. I know that. But that doesn't mean I should stop studying, stop relying on prayer and having that be my go to. It doesn't mean I should stop going to all three of my church meetings and other meetings on top of that. It doesn't mean I should stop saying hi to people I would normally just walk past in Wal-Mart, it doesn't mean I should be unmotivated to not do my visiting teaching after seeing the effects of doing it and not doing it has on the ward as a whole. I don't need to stop having a couple of pass along cards in my bag to leave around randomly, and it doesn't mean that I need to stop sharing my beliefs and living the gospel. It doesn't mean I shpuld stop doing the basics. And see that's exactly the answer to the concern about giving up and breaking those patterns that have helped us become "slick and clean" the answer is to stay true and cling to the basics. Praying, reading the scriptures, and going to church and attending the temple is the same as flossing, brushing, rinsing, and whitening... They are those small habits but they are what make all of the difference. And when that one late night with friends comes, or the hectic morning or one justification of "nah I'll be fine without it" without prayer, without reading my scriptures, without church, without the temple. When those times come we need to stop it right after, repent and change right then and keep those basics habits, keep them priorities. Because if we do we won't cavities to worry about, or sins to cover up. Dang... all this tooth talk... maybe I should be a dentist...?
But I want to share an experience I've had with each of those basics this week: prayer, scripture study, church, and the temple.
PRAYER: I just want to testify that there is nothing better than watching an investigator grow and change and one of my personal favorite changes is when they pray. I remember in Mexico our "investigator" we taught in the CCM who was actually our teacher, I remember her praying at the end of our lesson and I remember tears streaming down my face. I'll never forget that experience. And I'll never forget the experiences I've had out here with investigators and their prayers. I guess the best way to describe it is you know when a little kid prays and it is so sweet and innocent and a little bit stuttered but at the same time just kind of completely perfect? That's what it's like. Listening to someone who for over 20 years didn't know who God was pray to Him thanking Him for the beautiful weather, for blessings, for us missioanries, for the opportunity to be here right now, for the things he is learning. Aw man... that's what the line
"More happiness awaits you than you have ever experienced as you labor among His children." (PMG V)
is all about... happiness you never knew existed. Joy you never knew was available, change you never thought possible. And being not only a firsthand witness of it but also a guide in their journey. It's incredible.
SCRIPTURE STUDY: well I could write for literally days on this subject ask any of my companions and I'm sure they would admit to sometimes regretting the question "Sister Hall what did you learn in personal study today?" Because I get so pumped and just talk and talk and talk. The scriptures are just so amazing and I can honestly say I've fallen in love with them I remember hearing this quote in seminary and thinking to myself... hmm... I don't know about that, that is a really odd way to put it...
“I am grateful for emphasis on reading the scriptures. I hope that for you this will become something far more enjoyable than a duty; that, rather, it will become a love affair with the word of God. I promise you that as you read, your minds will be enlightened and your spirits will be lifted. At first it may seem tedious, but that will change into a wondrous experience with thoughts and words of things divine” Gordon B. Hinkley
But here I am age 19 in Tennessee and that is the way I feel about my scriptures. I love them, if there was a fire that burned them or if I were to lose them I would be devastated. I love them because they have enlightened my mind and lifted my spirit. There have been times when it has been tedious and when I have read out of a duty to do so... But now... oh my goodness they are delicious to me. I love them.
And I want to share one thing I've learned from them this past week. I just restarted the Book of Mormon... I am using a softback copy that we usually hand out. I'm reading it clear slate, blank pages, and I'm trying to find Christ in its pages. Already He is everywhere, I box around all the references and titles for Him. He's on every page... on some pages in nearly every verse, sometimes multiple times. And it's incredible. But a chapter that really stuck out to me from my studies this week was 1 Nephi 17 this is where Nephi is commanded to build a ship. So first of all he is prompted to go to the mountains and pray and he does so. And that is where the Lord commands him to build a ship and that he would show him how to build it. And you know what Nephi says in response? "Whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I might make tools to construct a ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?" He does NOT say... "How am I supposed to do that?!" Or "Why Lord? Why me? I'm insufficient... There is no way" "Why do we need to leave this land Bountiful, it's nice here, are you sure this isn't the promised land?" No he says (in effect) "Where do I go to get started? Where can I go to do my part and make tools that I'll need to do your work? "Where? Tell me where to go and I'll do it Lord." And then he receives his answer and he gets right to work making tools and he writes that he builds a fire which is unique because up until that time he says that they weren't able to build fires. Who knows why? Maybe it's so they could remain hidden and protected from hijackers and ancient highwaymen... who knows... all we know is that the Lord knew and also that Nephi writes that He provided a way for them to eat meat without cooking it and He was "their light in the wilderness" preparing the way for them and guiding them along. As long as they kept the commandments He would continue to do so. And then Nephi says... And I just love this
Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive to keep the commandments of the Lord, and I did exhort my brethren to faithfulness and diligence.
Please notice that no where it says "I Nephi did from that time forward perfectly keep all of the commandments of the Lord" No he said "I Nephi did STRIVE to keep the commandments" the word strive means to: attempt by employing effort and/or to exert much effort. That doesn't mean perfectly. It means giving your best effort, and trying... but really trying.
By stark contrast his brothers after seeing him molten ore and make tools and begin to build a boat they asked how? And Why? And they doubt in Nephi's abilities ultimately doubting in the Lord. They don't keep the commandments in fact they don't even try, unless someone compels them to usually through huge life shaking ways. So they begin to murmur once again and Nephi ah man I love him he finally gets to the point where he has had enough of their ignorance and he begins to throw down... to testify with such power calling them to repentance. From verses 23-50 he calls them out... And then he says in verse 50
And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?
He testifies that the same merciful God and redeeming Lord that has rescued, preserved and guided people throughout all time is the same Lord that is guiding their family. The same one that parted the sea and saved the children of Israel and provided for them. He is the same and will provide for them. He essentially asks them what one seminary teacher once asked me... "How puny is your God?" And that I have found is where Nephi's testimony is grounded. He knows the nature of God, he knows Christ has been, is and will always be merciful. And that He will always provide a way. I love that. I so admire him. And I just love the things that I'm learning on a daily basis and the things I apply on a daily basis.
CHURCH: I am so, extremely grateful for the opportunity to take the sacrament and I'm also so grateful for the organization of the church. Sister Allen and I attended the best ward council meeting I've been in, during my entire mission. We had emphasized the need for an outreach program to the dozens of less active families we have on our roster. On our group email to the ward council we expressed our frustration that we are overwhelmed by the amount there are and also by the fact that we can find them but we cannot be their fellowshippers because we are temporary. And ward members are not. And active members are the ones that understand why we go to church, but we are also the ones that are responsible for helping other people learn and understand that as well. Anyway long story short we had a ward council focused on the need for an increase in home and visiting teaching. And a member of our bishopric (this guy is my hero his two year old son was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and is truly a miracle in the making and their family are handling it with the most amazing perspective I have ever before witnessed, wow I am just blown away by them) so anyway this guy is a champ. But he shared how in his old stake in Illinois he worked closely with a stake President who had a theme of home and visiting teaching. And he broke it down into applications of the Saviors ministry. Home and visiting teaching is our ministry it is our offering to God and it shows our love to Him and Christ by visiting Their people. And he used Matthew 25:40 "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren he have done it unto me." This brother emphasized that phrase "the least of these my brethren" that it means "The least deserving, the least accepting, the least grateful, the least receptive" when we reach out to the leasts then that is reaching out to Christ. I LOOOOVE THAT!!!! He also taught that we can only minister as much as they will accept but we can do that consistently. And he shared an experience that he home taught a family that never opened the door even though lights were on and their big scary dogs were barking like crazy, but he kept going, and then eventually they came to the door and they chatted on the front porch, and then moved inside over the threshold, and into the living room, and the big scary dogs began to like him. And what did he see when he went into the living room? A wall full of pictures of this man with sets of missionaries, he loved missionaries they were his fellowshippers but he was missing ward member friendship. But through the efforts of his hometeacher he found it. That hometeacher eventually moved away from Illinois and into our ward and was relating this experience but before he left he made sure that that guy had a new solid home teacher. He has since heard that that man reactivated, his non member wife was baptized and they were sealed in the temple. THAT my friends is what happens when we all work together and do missionary work, when we all work together and do Christ's work. When we reach out to those who are lost and those who stray. Doesn't that make you want to go do your home teaching lesson and visiting teaching lesson maybe during the first week of September rather than the last??? Just sayin....
TEMPLE: ok and finally I just want to say how grateful I am for temples and the blessings that have come into my life and the life of my family. Standing talking to an investigator on date to be baptized in two weeks and discussing the temple with him and planning that we were going to go with him brought that unknown joy I never knew existed again. I was getting giddy pulling up pictures and telling him all about it. And honestly so was he. I'm so grateful for the peace and guidance and saving grace of the temple. And to have grown up with them so near. They are out of this world, truly. And they
I love y'all and I know the basics keep us clean and pure and on the right track. I know we can follow Christ and be perfected in Him. He is preparing the way and if we STRIVE to keep His commandments He will lead us along.
Have yourself a blessed week and brush dem teeth!!!
Love,
Hermana Hall
HAPPY HUMP DAY!!!!
9 down....
9 to go!!!
Becoming quite the chefs!
Tennessee is so beautiful!!!
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