I have been asked to speak about how the gospel has influenced lives while on my mission and how the gospel and the mission have strengthened my testimony. After much thinking and prayer I think I’ve found what I can focus on. It is one of the most important things that I’ve learned on my mission. Something that men and philosophers have been searching for for centuries and maybe even millennia. Something that money cant by and thats absolutely free, and that is... The key to happiness. On my mission I learned how to be happy, and how to help others to be happy.
In The Book of Mormon, in 2Nephi 2:25, Nephi teaches us that, “Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy”
I mean thats what its all about right? Finding happiness and joy in this life and securing it in the life hereafter. Eternal life is eternal joy.
Now there are a few variables in this formula of the elixir of happiness but the source and the root of it all is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now I know that can be a vague idea and even slightly obvious but, in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ lie the basic principles and ordinances that can and will lead one to inner peace and happiness. As missionaries we teach a series of five lessons that are found in Preach My Gospel, of these five lessons the third lesson is called the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This lesson contains really what the gospel is and as we would teach investigators, holds five steps which are the only steps that will lead us to eternal life and true happiness. Following these steps will make us happy. These steps are so simple that the primary even recites the first four which are found in the 4th article of faith and are the first principles and ordinances of the gospel. These steps are:
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
Repentance
Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins
The laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost
and then the fifth step is perseverance or enduring to the end.
Now I would like to talk a little bit about each of these steps and how they are essential to salvation and to find true happiness and I would like to do it using some examples from my mission.
The first step as we mentioned is faith. On my mission I found that most people think that faith is a simple belief in the existence of Christ, but in reality its a lot more than just that. The prophet Joseph Smith taught in his discourses on faith that 3 things are necessary in order for someone to have and develop this power that we call faith. First is to have the idea that God really exists, second is to have a correct idea of his qualities, perfections, and attributes. Third is having the true Knowledge and surety that the course of life that which you follow is in harmony with Christ’s teachings and Gods will.
So even if we believe in God and meet with those first 2 requirements we still cannot have or exercise faith if our life’s course isn’t in harmony with God’s will. If we are not living his teachings, we can’t have faith. We cant have faith because we can’t even have faith in ourselves that what we are doing is right and that it’s what God wants us to do, we can’t believe in ourselves.
I had been out on my mission for about 7 months and was serving in the coastal port town of Talcahuano, just north of Concepcion. It was just another normal day in the mission field. We ended our day with companionship prayer, some planning for investigators, then lights out. Our room was on the 4th floor of an apartment complex with 4 Elders in our house. At about 3 am we awoke to a loud noise followed by a soft rumble. We had just felt one of these little tremors the week before so I wasn’t too worried. But with every second the shaking only got stronger and stronger until the floor and really the whole building was violently shaking. I remember things falling off the shelves, crashing sounds all around us. In my mind was the images of the recent quake in Haiti. I seriously thought for a little bit that the whole building was going to fall over. So I did the only thing that I could do, I just stayed in my bed and prayed. No one said anything until the movement had almost stopped. Thats when a missionary from the adjacent room called over to ask if we were all right. So I immediately ended my prayer, responded, and got out of bed. Miraculously I had a flash light on the ground by my bed that was still there and flip-flops as well. We then all headed out and bolted down the stairs as soon as we could just in case the weakened building could still be knocked down by a strong aftershock.
From there, the night becomes a blur, going out onto the streets with dogs barking, people desperately calling for their loved ones in panicked voices, crying, and the sounds of vomiting. People all over the streets in the dark not knowing what to do. Us calling the two sets of missionaries from down in the port for them to meet us at our chapel up in the hills and the call miraculously going through. Well, I could go on for hours more about this experience and all the little miracles that we saw during it but what I really want to talk about with this experience is the difference in the reactions from the people who really had faith to the people who didn't. I’m sure most or all of those people believed in God and his son Jesus Christ, but fewer were those who could have faith that their course of life was following the will of God, and you could tell the difference. Those who couldn’t or didn’t have that faith were gripped by panic, hysteria and in some cases wild and unconsolable grief. I heard grown men sobbing in last minute death bed type confessions to God. I heard good Christian people curse God’s name in bitter anger. And you know what, I saw people who just went through the same situation calmly organize to get their families through the ordeal and to help each other out. I saw a bishop do everything he could to help his ward members out with food and shelter when unbeknownst to everyone else, his own home had slid off the hill and was left in very poor condition. That same selfless bishop died one year later, and on his death bed was more concerned for the welfare of his ward then his own deteriorating physical state.
Now the second group of people lost the same things as the first group. Possessions, homes, and loved ones. I’m sure it would have been easy for them and for us to act hysterically as well crying and panicking and pillaging. But their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ put those fears aside. Because of this faith we had the confidence that no matter what happened we would be ok. We had the faith to know that even though we weren’t perfect that if our time came we would be ready to stand before God. This experienced helped me to see that the faith we need is a faith we exercise, that we act upon, and through this we will move forward along the path to happiness and to eternal life. I have learned that this kind of faith needs to constantly be fed and nourished through obedience to the commandments of God, prayer and scripture study. Because without it, it becomes superficial, and if its not fortified upon that rock of Christ, when those trials come our faith will be too week to hold.
From a good, solid foundation of faith, comes the second step in the path of happiness and eternal life, this step is called repentance. Now this could be one of the hardest steps out of the five and requires a big step of faith. Repentance is a principle of change, of growth, and of putting trust in the Lord. Repentance is not easy but I’ve seen it work miracles in many lives including mine own on the mission. Repentance is taking the outstretched hand of the Lord, wrapping ourselves up in his arms, and letting his mercy heal us. His mercy can heal us, but only when we make the first move of repentance. I will never forget one story of repentance that touched me deeply early on in my mission.
It was only my second transfer and I was working in the Galvarino Ward in Los Ángeles, the North stake, with my companion Élder Terrazas from Mexico, who was finishing my training. At the time we were teaching a couple who were not married but had two small kids and were living together. The boyfriend, Marcos, was a member who went inactive at 13 years of age. He saw the missionaries pass by his house and even though they didn’t knock on his door he invited them in. The girl who he was living with, Marcela, was not a member but was very warm to us and to our message and was immediately receptive to it. She was just one of those people prepared by the hand of the Lord to accept our message. As we testified of Christ and his teachings the spirit was there and she felt it. She recognized us as servants of the Lord and knew that we would not lie to her. On her second time to church in the class held for investigators and recent converts the lesson was on the Law of chastity. She learned that her current relationship, living unmarried with her boyfriend, was not a relationship sanctioned by God. As I watched her I could see that she was troubled. As the lesson progressed she suddenly got up out of her seat and hurriedly left the room with tears in her eyes. A minute or so later when she didn't come back her boyfriend went after her. After the lesson we found them in an unoccupied room crying. He was trying his best to comfort her but she would not have it and just continued crying. When we asked her what was wrong she said that her boyfriend knew about this commandment of the law of chastity all along but never told her, and with tears in her eyes she kept asking him why he never told her if he knew all along. The spirit bore witness that what she had learned was true and she felt the pain and remorse of her actions.
Even though she had no prior knowledge of this commandment she felt guilt, sorrow, and in her tear streaked eyes I saw true repentance. Through faith, she convinced her boyfriend that they needed to marry so that they could follow this commandment of God, get baptized, and work towards building an eternal family. A few weeks later they were married and she was baptized. The great faith that she had led her to act, and to go to any measure to change, to follow the commandments of God and to repent. She could tell you today how sweet and liberating repentance is and that the Lord makes good on his promise when he says in the
Book of Matthew 12:28-29 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Now if we exercise our faith through repentance it leads us to the third step, without this step we cannot complete our repentance and liberate ourselves from sin. This step is the key to the kingdom of Heaven and the start of the path on the strait and narrow way, this third and essential step is baptism. When we are baptized by someone who holds the proper authority of God our sins our washed away and our repentance is completed. Baptism is the covenant we make with God to follow his commandments and to always remember his son Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. If we keep these covenants or promises God will wash us of our sins. Without baptism their is no contract, their is no promise, and their is no way to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is the gateway that we must enter on the path of eternal life.
When I had about ten months or so in the mission I was in one of my favorite sectors called Monte Águila, a small little town with very humble people. Here we taught a 60 year old lady named Irma. Often with older people they can be set in there ways and overcoming habits can be a great challenge. Irma liked the message of the restored gospel very much and invited us back to teach her again and she even went to church. Teaching Irma was an edifying experience. The spirit was strong in those meetings. We taught her about the priesthood authority which was restored, the authority to be baptize, and how she could receive a baptism by someone holding this authority and be washed clean of her sins. Irma’s eyes lit up. She looked as though she was recognizing hope for the first time in her life. Irma wanted to be baptized. She desperately wanted to be cleansed of her sins. Irma’s trials were not over though. It became difficult for her to attend church because of her responsibilities in carrying for a handicap child. Irma also had some word of wisdom hurdles to overcome and we worried that at her age she would find it to difficult to change. But teaching her was just an absolute treat because they spirit was always felt and she always understood. After teaching her about the word of wisdom she confessed that she drank a couple cups of tea daily and that she loves tea but without hesitation she said that she would give it up because its a commandment of the Lord. When I asked her how she knew that it was a commandment when we just taught her, she said that she knew us to be the Lords servants and that she felt the spirit bare witness to her of the truthfulness of these principles. Irma had many past trials to overcome. Bad decisions she made early in life wade on her heavily. Through her faith and diligence she was baptized. She accepted the saviors offer to pull the yoke with her, to lift the burden.
Before I left the sector she thanked me for teaching her the gospel, for going to her house to give her the sacrament when she couldn’t go, and more than anything else she thanked me for baptizing her. She called us angels sent to her house to help her learn how to be washed clean of her sins. It was a very humbling experience listening to her tell me these things while saying goodbye. What I didn’t know was that it would be the last time that I would get to see Irma in this life. When I went back to Monte Águila six months later to visit Irma and some of the other families I worked with, I found out that she had died about 4 months after her baptism from a sudden illness. It made me sad but also grateful to the Lord that he sent us into her life so that she could be baptized to become clean of her sins before she left this life. She was a woman who suffered a lot, but when the gospel entered her life and she was able to be follow the steps and be baptized, she found happiness. I know, as the spirit bore witness to me, that she passed on happy and that now she will have eternal happiness and joy because she followed these steps.
The fourth step in the quest of happiness comes after baptism and is one of the greatest gifts of God that we can receive in this life, this is the reception of the gift of the Holy Ghost. After we are baptized, receiving this gift gives us the right to always have the companionship of the Holy Ghost as long as we are living the commandments. He prompts us to make right decisions, can comfort us when we are in need and just in general helps us get through this earth life with more joy and happiness. He also leads us to, and testifies to us of what is true and right. Without the Holy Ghost I couldn't do my job as a missionary because its the Holy Spirit that can speak to their heart and testify to them if its true or not. No matter how much we teach, a person wont know its true until the spirit testifies to them that its true.
From the time I got to Monte Águila to the time I left, there was this girl Raquel that was the sister of a member and had been taught by many missionaries before but was never interested in listening to us. When I first got there she said that she would talk to us and be nice but as soon as we started talking about the Church or the Book of Mormon that she would leave the room. So we started out with just talking to her, just trying to be her friend. She was a gothic antisocial type and was kind of apathetic at first but slowly and surely we became friends and even got her to attend some branch activities and family nights. Then we started to have gospel conversations with her member sister at the dinner table and slowly but surely Raquel started to participate and through those conversations and the family nights we began to teach her without her even knowing it. Meanwhile as the weeks passed she began to smile more and more, she started to talk and converse more freely and would even crack a joke every once in a while. She wasn’t realizing it at the time but she was starting to become happy. Then she even started to come to church! Which was a miracle in it of itself but she still would not read or talk about the Book of Mormon or baptism. Finally, on the last day in Monte Águila for my companion, Elder Leiva, we decided to once again try to give her a Book of Mormon with a scripture marked.
The scripture was 2 Nephi 32:10, which reads “And now, my beloved brethren, and also aJew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they fteach all men that they should do good.”
She reluctantly accepted the book and said that she only accepted it because she considered us friends but that she wasn’t actually going to read it. Later she said that she read that one marked scripture and that it touched her. So she decided that she would read the chapter that we left her to see if the book was indeed the words of Christ or not. The chapter was 3 Nephi 11, when Christ comes to the Americas. She said that she read and that after she read she prayed to ask God if the book was true. She said that upon praying that she was filled with an inner peace and happiness that she had never previously felt in her entire life. That for the first time ever she felt that God really cared about her and that she didn’t have to be alone. A month later she was baptized and the day after, received the gift of the Holy Ghost. One night in her house after her baptism she bore her testimony to me of the love that God has for her and of the power of the Holy Spirit to help one feel happy. She talked to me about the complete 180 degree turn her life took from a sad and depressed antisocial girl to a healthy, happy, and strong member of the Lord’s church. This is a change and happiness that can only be brought by the Holy Spirit and thats the same spirit that helps her maintain the faith, that helps her to do what is right, and that makes her happy.
Now after we have made all of these covenants and gone through these 4 steps the last and final step is just enduring to the end. Going to church on Sundays to renew baptismal covenants, praying, scripture reading and doing ones best to stay faithful to the Lord with baptismal covenants and keeping the commandments. Of course after baptism one wont be perfect. But through constant repentance and taking the sacrament on Sunday one can remain clean and really be happy in life as they walk the path to eternal life. Now a few months ago just before completing her first year as a member of the church she called me to let me know how she was doing and that she had only missed two Sundays of church since her baptism, and that she is really thinking about going on a mission, and the best part of all is that a year later and she is still happy. Thats what its all about. And if we’ve completed the first four steps and are sincerely working on that fifth one and enduring to the end then we will 777be happy! As long as we are doing are whole part in following Christ, then we have all of the tools to be happy and if we are not happy its because we chose not be, happiness is a choice. Thats when we need to look back and just see how blessed we’ve been and how grateful we need to be for those blessings.
Now I can promise you that by following those steps you can truly be happy, I know it because I’ve seen it time and time again, just how these few examples that I have shared with you today show. Also, I know it because these steps have made me happy. Serving the Lord has made me happier than I’ve ever been, and now even though I wont be able to do it full time anymore I wont be getting my priorities mixed up, and when things get tough I’ll always know what I need to do to be happy. As Christ has said in the scriptures he truly offers living water with his gospel. A water that is sweeter than any other, a water that is more refreshing and energizing than any other. And I know that partaking of it through living the gospel has made me happy, and that’s all of the evidence I need.
Se que hay un Dios y que El es nuestro Padre Celestial. Se que nos ama y por eso envio a su hijo Jesucristo, nuestro hermano mayor, que nos salvara. Se que solo podemos ser salvos por seguir estos pasos de que ya hablamos y tambien que solo podemos ser felices por seguir aquellos pasos. Amo este Evangelio, amo a Jesucristo y amo mi mision, jamas la olvidare, y digo estas cosas en el nombre del Señor Jesucristo, amen.
Posts
