Dear Family and Friends,
This week we had All Souls Day, and today was All Saints Day! We don't celebrate Halloween here like in the USA but it has a great alternative. BAsically what you do is visit your deceased in the grave yard and stay with them all day. You eat with them (and yes, they do leave food for them on the tombstone), take naps with them, and spend the day (sometimes overnight) in the graveyard! We tried to go there and talk to people about the Plan of Salvation but most of them were too busy or drunk to listen. But hey! We tried!
Earlier today We were reading in our missionary handbooks when we came across a part that read "you are expected to keep the commandments willingly". It could have just said "keep the commandments" but why did they have to use the word willingly? One reason is that the gospel is just as much about what we do as where are hearts are. The Lord's gospel is not just a list of ways to live a happier life, but a path to get closer to him. When we obey the commandments "just because" we miss an essential part of the gospel and are essentially "kicking against the pricks". In most cases if you ask a mother what her secret ingredient is in her cooking she might answer with "love". We can make a cake, but if its not made with love its just not the same. The same is true for the gospel, if we simply follow a recipe we will get a cake. When put love into what we do, we get a cake that people want to come back for.
Everything is going well for us in Asingan, not much was damaged because of the typhoon, so we've been out and working hard! I hope you guys all know I love you!
Mahal ko kayo
Elder Trevor Kent Johnson (TWMYK)
This week we had All Souls Day, and today was All Saints Day! We don't celebrate Halloween here like in the USA but it has a great alternative. BAsically what you do is visit your deceased in the grave yard and stay with them all day. You eat with them (and yes, they do leave food for them on the tombstone), take naps with them, and spend the day (sometimes overnight) in the graveyard! We tried to go there and talk to people about the Plan of Salvation but most of them were too busy or drunk to listen. But hey! We tried!
Earlier today We were reading in our missionary handbooks when we came across a part that read "you are expected to keep the commandments willingly". It could have just said "keep the commandments" but why did they have to use the word willingly? One reason is that the gospel is just as much about what we do as where are hearts are. The Lord's gospel is not just a list of ways to live a happier life, but a path to get closer to him. When we obey the commandments "just because" we miss an essential part of the gospel and are essentially "kicking against the pricks". In most cases if you ask a mother what her secret ingredient is in her cooking she might answer with "love". We can make a cake, but if its not made with love its just not the same. The same is true for the gospel, if we simply follow a recipe we will get a cake. When put love into what we do, we get a cake that people want to come back for.
Everything is going well for us in Asingan, not much was damaged because of the typhoon, so we've been out and working hard! I hope you guys all know I love you!
Mahal ko kayo
Elder Trevor Kent Johnson (TWMYK)