Aloha everyone!
This week we had a really good week. My companion and I led the zone in lots of different categories including investigators with a baptismal date, with member lessons, total lessons, and RCLAs. There's honestly no greater joy than the one found in sharing the gospel.
We had a super solid zone conference yesterday. We had really good trainings about the importance of companionship unity, and how to better introduce the Book of Mormon to investigators so they get interested in the story line and actually want to read it. Our mission president pointed out that the Book of Mormon is just like a story book. That it contains the journeying, sorrows, and joys of a family. There's romance, bloodshed, betrayal (sounds like a chick flick to me). But too often as missionaries we don't give the Book of Mormon the respect that we should. We just give them the book and say read it.
Our president helped us understand yesterday how we can better give our investigators a desire to read, and by doing so, build their faith and testimony. Our zone leaders in their training asked the question "Why is the Book of Mormon so powerful?" One of the answers that I came up with was because it's written for us today. That every story and every verse is put in there just for us.
I then shared the story of one of the less-active members in my last area that we were working with, Nick. He felt like because of his sins in the past, he wasn't worthy to come to church anymore. We tried to teach him about the atonement and how it can cleanse all sins, but it just didn't work with him. One day me and my companion were talking about him and I said his story is kind of similar to Alma the Younger's. So we decided to read that story with him our next lesson. I feel like he was able to relate to that story because Alma was kind of a punk when he was a kid. But we then pointed out that even though Alma was one of the worst kind of people imaginable, an anti-Christ, he was still forgiven of all of his sins, and nothing was more exquisite than his joy. We told Nick that he could have this same joy, that the Savior extends the same invitation to everyone. To repent and come unto Him.
The Book of Mormon is so powerful. The prophets have said it's the keystone of our religion, and that a man will come closer to God by abiding by its' precepts than by any other book.
It's also said that the Book of Mormon has the answer to every question or hardship, and I've found that to be true. The Book of Mormon can help with anything in our life. No matter our past or current situation. And I'm just grateful that God loves us enough to give us such a great tool to help us come closer to Him and understand His ways more fully. I hope you all follow the counsel of the prophets and read from the Book of Mormon every day. Love you guys!
-Elder Merrill
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