Subject: livin la vida locaaaa - week 2 in misery
Oh dang. Welp what a week it has been here in Missouri, or maybe better said as “misery”.
Just kidding yea it’s been quite tough but also good stuff going on. The mission really is the best and worst of times, but I have a lot to say in this email. So ladies and gentlemen buckle your seat belts and hold on to your kids because it’s going to be quite the (w)ride. I’ve been amazed at how many people have told me they read all my emails, so that’s why I keep making them longer jaja. Butttt it’s p day and I really wanna play spikeball (which I am a beast at) so I’ll try to leave non essential things out more or less. I’m gonna start off with weird/funny stuff to get you all comfortable and then I’ll start to get more spiritually oriented at the end.
1 - Living in misery
2 - Our apartment and those who inhabit it
3 - Rich kids
4 - Adjusting to missionary life
5 - Hey Jim!
6 - Music
7 - Broken Elevator
8 - Challenges as a modern day missionary
9 - Lesson with the Weigels
10 - Lesson with the Ereksons
11 - Brother Conder and Tung
12 - Highlight of the week!!! (you don’t have to read the whole thing but if you want you will be spiritually edified)
13 - Hilarious missionary joke that Elder Kimball just told me and it brought tears to my eyes and none of you will think it’s funny but I don't care because it’s hilarious!
14 - Zone conference, park cleaning, and devotional
- Alrighty soooo give me a sec to actually think about what went on this week. Lets see. Alright got it. So yea, Missouri has been quite the adventure. It feels like I'm in the jungle in a way. Like there are super big and weird bugs just chilling in the trees and they literally scream all day. They’re like half the size of a fist and no joke, all day every day they just yell. Just imagine a bug screaming constantly. So whenever we’re outside there is so much noise. At first it lowkey drove me crazy, but now I'm used to it and kinda like it. I think growing up with 11 other kids in the house has made that adjustment easier. One of these days I’ll have to record the bugs screaming. But yea it’s wild. Also apparently all the grass here is like toxic. There’s these little red bugs that are in all the grass and they have the same effect as mosquitos but you can’t see them, so basically don’t let your skin touch the grass.
- Our apartment is going good. Elder Bowles is still engaged to a non-member he hasn’t met in person who plays D&D jaja. In all honesty, Elder Bowles is dope but I’m not sure if I ship that couple. We’ll see. He’s fantastic though. The other day he asked if I wanted to play a game with him. I said no, but he went on with it anyways. He was holding a deck of cards and was like “have you ever played 52 card pickup?”. Finally I said I’d play, and then he dumped the entire deck of cards on the floor and said “okay have fun”. No, I didn’t pick them up but he had a fun time cleaning up his own mess.
Elder McNeil is quite the character. He is literally OBSESSED with Chevrolet cars. Like obsessed. He’s got like no joke 30 chevy stickers on his water bottle. He also HATES Ford as much as he loves chevy. The other day I mixed the two up, so when I asked Elder McNeil how his “Ford Fettish” is going he glared at me so hardcore. It took me a minute to realize the grave mistake I had made, and I quickly asked for forgiveness before he kicked me out of the car (which is a chevy). I drove a ford back home which also bothers him. We have sort of a running joke that Elder McNeil is from Mexico, which is funny because he is the whitest person ever. Sometimes I’ll just be like “yo elder mcneil, where in Mexico are you from again” and he goes absolutely berserk. He also has a rubiks cube that I like to solve when I get bored, but he gets really mad when I forget to ask for permission. Oh funny story, yesterday Elder Mcneil sneezed and none of us said “bless you”. So, he was like “excuse me”. Nothing. He said it again, “excuse me”. Still nobody said anything. Then, louder, he was like “EXCUSE ME” and elder bowles yelled “BLESS YOU” and then Elder McNeil was like “SHUT UP.”. I was rolling over laughing. It was great. Not sure why but It was real funny. Oh, one more McNeil story. So we were driving and listening to “Glorious” by David Archuleta. I, of course, with my soothing voice was singing along. Elder McNeil was like “hey Elder Wride, who sings this song?” I was like “David Archuleta” and then he was like “THEN WHY DON’T YOU LET HIM”. It’s great. I enjoy it. I know it sounds like I’m being bullied but I promise it’s all fun. They’re really nice and spiritual dudes. I don’t really understand D&D every night, but they’re great guys. I’m just the greenie so I get teased the most.
- So right now I’m living in an area called Frontenac. It is super nice. It’s like the nicest place to live in Missouri I believe. All the houses are literally castles. These are the nicest houses I have ever seen. So, we have been getting fed very well. Our bishop sent an email to the ward about helping the missionaries more, so we’re just getting tons of food. I would prefer people to teach by far, but the food is still good. So, Mom, Dad, I know you’ve talked a lot in the past about a time where I would miss food being provided for me but I think I’m getting spoiled. We’ve literally been throwing food away from the fridge because it’s going bad. When members don’t provide meals I cook pork rice and beans. I’m getting fed way too well, like I honestly think I’m getting fat. I gained two pounds this week jaja. But yea it’s a really nice area. Very contrary to Elder Pugsley who is living in the hood. Honestly I’m jealous. I like poor areas. When I was a salesman some of my favorite hood to knock was in the really sketch areas. It’s just super exciting, lots of interesting people.
- So yea the adjustment has been a bit weird. We have phones, but before we ever send a message we have to approve it with our companion. It’s kinda of annoying if I’m being honest. It’s gotten to the point where Elder Morgan reads me a message, I don’t really pay attention but respond with “you have my blessing” or “permission granted”. Sometimes, just to switch things up, he’ll approve a text with me and I just say “NO” and he sends it anyway jaja. So I need to do a better job of being sincere about that. It’s kinda funny though. So every week me and elder morgan switch take turns with the sim card. We’ve had people tell us that they can always tell who has the phone jaja because of how we talk. For example, the frontenac sisters asked if we wanted a phone number for this one member and Elder Morgan would respond with something like “Sounds great! Thank you (:” whereas I responded with “sounds litty. Send da numburover **sunglasses emoji**”
- So this was kinda funny. I was just looking people up who lived in Frontenac on facebook and sending them a little gospel sales pitch. The first guy I sent a message to was named “Jim”, so I started the message off with “Hey Jim!”. Well, I am an idiot, because I just copy and pasted that message to tons of people and started each one off with “Hey Jim!”. I’m an idiot. Still cringing about it. And you guessed it, nobody responded back. Not even Jim!
- Music has been really hard for me out here. We’re not allowed to listen to anything that isn’t produced by the church, so it’s a lot of TabCATs (MoTab) and weird “strive to be” music produced by ten year olds with loud beats and no sense of feeling. It’s annoying because a ton of these songs do not invite the spirit at all and yet they’re what we listen to. One really funny thing though is that one of TabCAT’s new albums is called “a night at the movies” and they have songs like “Duel of the Fates” from the phantom menace that would probably not normally be approved. But, it’s produced by the church so we listen to it! One song MoTab did that I love so much is Circle of life from Lion king. It gives me goosebumps every time! Y’all actually go listen to circle of life by tabcats right now. It’s my jam!
- So yesterday, funny story; the sister missionaries got stuck in the elevator at the mission office. We saw them get in, and we took the elevator after them, but they never came out! Then we heard them freaking out in there jaja and so we said a prayer to get them out. Then Elder McNeil got a screwdriver and kinda went crazy on the elevator and it opened. Cool miracle!
- I said last week that I thought this week was gonna be better, and it definitely was, but still was tough. And what made this week so much better was 100% the gospel. I actually taught a lesson to someone on Monday, and made me so happy (they are members but it was still good). I filled the hole that was missing. But, after the call was over I was back to being in the apartment with nothing to do really. This covid thing is driving me crazy, not really because of the restrictions, but because of the excuse. I feel like some of the missionaries here are in the attitude of “well we would do this but because of covid…” and just don’t do as much. Coronavirus is no freaking excuse. There is so much we can be doing, and we need to be doing it!!! There’s a lot I want to be doing, but I’m literally still being trained so I don’t feel like I have a place to really say anything. This past week though I’ve been getting more courage and trying to push for things to get done. I know I have 2 years, but it really does feel like a timer is going and I want to gather Israel for crying out loud. Another thing that’s been hard is we literally plan so much. It’s driving me crazy. For multiple hours in the day, we just sit and plan. ! don’t want to plan, I want to teach!!! I WANT TO BAPTIZE. This was kinda my attitude when I did summer sales too. Confession, I really didn’t do the training, I just liked to go out on the doors and learn it for myself. Anyways, that’s kinda been my dilemma this week. To be honest I’m not really sure what’s going on, but I don’t like the feeling of 0 new people, 0 at church, and 0 on date. I want to feel like I’m doing something.
- Despite not really teaching non-members the gospel was better because we actually got to visit members’ homes and eat dinner with them! It was really fantastic. The route we’re sort of going right now (I think) is trying to just get really close with the members so they will give us referrals. One family we had dinner with were the Weigels. It was really good. Me and my comp did yardwork for them last week but this week we got to actually get to know them. This is the guy who looks like doctor phil. I actually asked him if he was related to doctor phil during dinner and I think he was confused because he said “doctor phil can’t keep his wife” and i was like “eh?” and he was like “doctor phil is getting divorced” so that was awkward. Hopefully brother Weigel didn’t think I was referring to him as doctor phil for that reason. But I was absolutely shocked when he said that because doctor Phil is the G.O.A.T. and I couldn't believe he was getting divorced. So, confession, at the family history center I googled it. No, he isn’t getting divorced. Idk where Brother Weigel heard that.
Wow I got off topic real quick. But anyways, dinner with them was great. We had lasagna jaja which is funny because members give us lasagna a lot. When sister Weigel brought the food out I was like “oh nice, lasagna! We’ve been eating a lot of this lately” which was a bad move because apparently she gave us lasagna because she figured we hadn’t had it a while and wanted us to try something new. She literally just stopped and stared at me out of disbelief. Oh geez I’m making this visit sound horrible but I promise it was good. So we talked about the gospel a lot during dinner. Brother Weigel served a mission but then went inactive afterwards because he was living with sister Weigel jaja. I loved what he said too, he said he knew the church was true even when he was out of it. We then talked about how when people leave the church, they literally never go anywhere else, which is so true. Yet another testament of the gospel. There’s so much truth here that when people leave, they have nowhere else to go. And where would they? What other church is led by Jesus Christ himself? What other church has the priesthood, apostles, temples, and the fullness of the gospel? This is where it’s at baby! Anyways dinner with them was fantastic. They are such amazing people. Anyways but basically Sister Weigel got really sick and in the hospital started asking brother Weigel questions about life, which although he was inactive, he knew the answers and knew that they were true. He then said she could talk to the missionaries but if she did they would baptize her. This made her mad, so she called the missionaries right there and said “I want the lessons but do not even think about baptizing me!!!!”. Well long story short, and you guessed it, she got baptized! She’s actually teaching seminary right now too which is neat. Anyhow, I really enjoyed visiting with them. The spirit was strong and it was something I needed. They remind me a lot of my grandpa and grandma hibbert jaja. Just the way they talked to each other and their sense of humor. Made me miss my family too.
- So yea all of the lessons I’ve taught are to members. It makes me sad, but better than nothing. Yesterday me and Elder Morgan had dinner with the Ereksons from our ward. They are a big family with a bunch of little kids. It was super loud and chaotic. Kids screaming and making messes, and I loved it! I felt right at home. One of the little girls reminded me a lot of my sister Lily (love you Lil!). Another little kid reminded me of Daniel, but his name was Wesley. I think the parents were embarrassed at the noise at first but then I told them I was the 3rd oldest of 12 and then all of the sudden they didn’t seem to mind. Elder Morgan is the oldest of 6 too so everyone was happy. Also the older brother and the older sister reminded me of hyrum/wesley and melodie. The older brother had a nerf gun that we use at my house and was teasing his sister and threatening to shoot her with it jaja. (sorry to make you look bad hyrum and wes jaja). Hey kids back home, be nice to your sisters! It totally brought back memories of when I was that way to my sisters too, so even though it was funny to see these siblings interact, I wanted to tell that kid to be nice to her. I know he’ll figure it out eventually though! Me and my older sister Mel weren’t always tight in high school but now we are. Families are awesome! They asked me tons of questions about my family so I had them pull up “The House” video that I made and they watched the first part of it. That made me miss my family a lot too, but it was nice to be with them because they made me feel right at home. If you guys haven’t seen that you should. It’s pretty fuego!
- We had lots of lessons with members this week, but two other ones that I want to share are Brother Conder and Tung. Brother Conder is awesome. We met at his apartment and just talked to him to see how he’s doing. He’s gone through some really really hard stuff, but the spirit was way strong. I love the gospel! In another lesson with Elder Tung (this was over zoom) we taught him a bunch of good stuff. He’s a member too, but he’s going through hard stuff and recently lost his job. While we were teaching him, I had a really strong impression to promise him that he would find a job if he read the book of mormon every day. Elder Morgan was wrapping the lesson up, and I was like “I gotta interrupt him and make the promise” but then he said “I promise you brother Tung that if you read the book of mormon every day that you’ll find a job”. So that was sick! The church is true!
- Okay, so this week was a lot better because I was able to teach, but I still feel useless. I fasted for 30 hours yesterday in hope that I will find someone to teach. I know God is our loving heavenly father and my prayers are being heard, but I’m kinda stuck right now as to what to do about teaching someone. I want to bring someone truth! Anywho, my mind has been going crazy, and for the past couple days I’ve been having this burning desire to teach grow more, which it still is. On our mission facebook page, someone commented and said:
“The Bible vs joseph smith! The bible wins! Joseph smith was a false prophet”
I thought this was fascinating jaja, because he’s wrong! And Joseph smith was a firm believer in the Bible. Clearly this guy was confused. So, I sent him a message over facebook and said:
hey hows it going? my name is elder Wride. I'm a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. okay first off i gotta say your beard is so dope. I wish I could grow a beard. anyways I saw your comment on the st louis page and was wondering if you have any specific questions about the prophet Joseph Smith or the church in general that I could answer? Joseph Smith was a strong believer in the bible and he has helped strengthen my testimony of it. Let me know if you're interested, thanks!!!
thanx for the request I have a videos I need you to watch...it’s very urgent cause salvation is at hand. It’s pretty simple to prove Joseph’s Smith was a false prophet, using both the Book of Mormon and the Holy Bible.
In this day and time when we have all the knowledge at our fingertips living in lie is a choice
He then sent me some anti-mormon video which I was unable to watch because it’s blocked on my phone jaja, but then
Thanks for sharing! I'm unable to pull that up on my phone here but I will give it a look on a computer when I can. Meanwhile, you should really give this talk a listen. You seem like a great man, and I appreciate you wanting to show me what's true. I definitely don't want to believe anything that isn't true, but I do know without a shadow of a doubt that the book of Mormon is true, and Joseph Smith was a prophet. If you have any specific questions in particular you want to message me, I will gladly answer right here. I also see it as extremely obvious that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, however a testimony of that only comes through knowing that the book of Mormon is true.
the lack of archaeological evidence also proves the Book of Mormon is false..I can’t make you see truth, all I can do is show it to you. have a blessed day.
He probably thought the convo was over and had won it, but I really wanted to talk to him some more. Man you guys it just KILLS ME when I hear stuff like this. THE CHURCH IS SO TRUE. I swear to you it is. I can not even begin to comprehend or articulate how idiotic and unrealistic the idea people have that Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon is. That theory may quite possibly be one of the most unintelligent and brainless excuses I’ve ever heard. Like are you kidding me!? (sorry if I’m being a bit harsh jaja but I feel very strongly about this.) LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING ME
A true testimony of the Book of Mormon comes through sincere prayer, however there are COUNTLESS accounts of HARD FACTS and PURE LOGIC that prove it is historically what it says it is. Think about it logically. 65 days, 531 pages, about an ancient civilization with numerous amounts of complex characters and ideas. Joseph Smith had little to no education. Seriously. Imagine writing the Book of mormon yourself. You have to write something in 65 fetching days and you have no education. It has to be historically accurate, never contradicting itself. It has to add principles that complete the bible but not contradict it. The first edition can only have grammatical changes. The book has to be SO MOVING and SO POWERFUL that it will convince MILLIONS of people that’s it’s true. It has to be so good that missionaries will leave their friends and family for two years just to teach people about it. It also has to be supported by archaeological evidence. Then, after writing this book, you must defend it until your death, which will come because of your testimony. You have to get 11 witnesses to testify their entire lives that it’s true, even if they leave the church or die because of it. You must write in the style of different authors using various wordprints. You must also use hebrew poetry that nobody in the world even knows about.
Y’all, the Book of Mormon is true. I can’t even articulate how assuredly I know this. And if the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet, and if he was a prophet, this is Christ’s restored church on the earth today.
Anywho, as you might be able to tell, when this guy told me that “living a lie is a choice” because of all the resources we have, I felt a great sense of duty to educate him to the best of my ability. The plan in my response was to just send a simple testimony, however upon writing my message, I found I couldn’t stop! I had all of these spiritual thoughts built up inside of me and I just kinda went off (I was really nice though don’t worry). You guys don’t have to read it all, like it’s long. Heck this email is giant, but yea I’d be surprised if any of you even get this far in the email so if you want to read my response you can. I just copied and pasted it from my messenger app so that’s why it’s green.
Thank you, I appreciate your kindness, truly. If you do ever get the chance to read the book of Mormon though, I would encourage you to! It is the word of God and a man will get nearer by abiding by it's precepts than by any other book! The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Christs true and living church on the earth, and he is at the head of it. In the book of Mormon, Moroni 10:4-5 it says
"4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy ghost ye may know the truth of all things. "
Anyone who reads the Book of Mormon with a pure desire and following what Moroni says in those versus will also know. Through the Holy Ghost, God will manifest of it's truthfulness to you. I promise you that if you read it and put it to the test, God will tell you whether it be the work of God, or man. There are countless amounts of scientific proof that the book of Mormon is true as well, but a true testimony doesn't come from the hard facts, it comes from asking God directly.
Best of luck to you! I agree that there is so much knowledge at our fingertips. I'm grateful to also be guided by a living prophet, as it says in Amos 3:7:
"surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets".
Ongoing revelation is real, and Christ continues to guide his church on the earth today. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God and the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and it goes hand in hand with the Bible. John 10:16, we read:
"And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."
The people in the Book of Mormon were these sheep! As it says in 3 Nephi 15 when Christ visited the people of the Americas following his death in Jerusalem,
"21 And verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said: Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
22 And they understood me not, for they supposed it had been the Gentiles; for they understood not that the Gentiles should be converted through their preaching
23 And they understood me not that I said they shall hear my voice; and they understood me not that the Gentiles should not at any time hear my voice - that I should not manifest myself unto them save it were by the power of the Holy Ghost.
24 But behold, ye have both heard my voice, and seen me; and ye are my sheep, and ye are numbered among those whom the Father hath given me."
I know that this is true! Christ had people in the America's who were also his sheep, as recorded in the Book of Mormon. Their records were kept, and eventually fell into the hands of Joseph Smith, who translated them by the gift and power of God.
Joseph Smith had very little formal education, and could not have written the Book of Mormon. Joseph's wife even said that Joseph "could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter.". How could a man who had no education write something so complex and historically accurate in less than three months! The translation was completed in a little over two months, consisting of over 500 pages. He could not have written the Book of Mormon. Other's suggest that he was a creative genius, pulling ideas from documents around him, however he never had any other documents with him. His wife said that if he was using other documents "he could not have concealed them from me". After Joseph Smith and his scribe returned from taking breaks during the translation, Joseph always picked exactly where they had left off - without looking at the manuscript or asking to have parts of it read back to him. His wife also said,
"It would have been improbable that a learned man could [begin translating again without looking to see where he had been]; and, for one so ignorant and unlearned as [Joseph] was, it was simply impossible."
There are also countless forms of hebrew styles and poetry in the book of mormon that few people at this time in the world were even aware of, let alone Joseph Smith. No man could have written this book! If it were contrary to the words of Christ, I would not endorse it, but the book of mormon continues to affirm the Bible and Jesus Christ. Like it says in Matthew 18:16:
"16 But if he will not hear thee, then, take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established."
It also says in 2 Cor. 13:1
"...In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." In other words, when God really wants us to know something, he sends two or three witnesses to establish his word. The Book of Mormon is one of these witnesses. The Book of Mormon discusses this further, saying how in the last days many would disregard the Book of Mormon because of their sole belief in the Bible. It says in 2 Nephi 29:3:
"3 And because my words shall hiss forth - many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible.
6 Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews?
7 Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the seal and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?
8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word?Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.
9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.
10 Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written."
I testify that God loves all of his children, and continues to reveal things to all of them. The Book of Mormon does not teach anything that is contrary to the teachings of the Bible. It only supports it. If you love the Bible, you will LOVE the Book of Mormon! Many of the questions that remain unanswered from the Bible are answered in the Book of Mormon. God wanted to establish his word once more, and called on his servant Joseph Smith Jr. to continue to do so. With the death of the apostles, the true church of Jesus Christ and priesthood authority were taken from the earth. Like it says in 2 Thessalonians 2:3:
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"
In other words, before the second coming of the savior, an apostasy needed to occur. Because an apostasy had to occur, we needed a restoration. Joseph Smith was the man for this calling. Growing up in a very christian home, Joseph Smith was confused by all of the chaos and confusion that surrounded the churches in his area. He wanted to know which of them was true. When reading in James 1:5 he read that "if any of ye lack wisdom, let him ask of God". So that's what he did. He asked of God. Upon retreating to the woods near his home, he says:
"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other - This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"
God the father and his son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith that day. When Joseph inquired which church to join, Christ said that they were all wrong. He said "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof."
This was the beginning of the restoration. Through Joseph Smith, the church of Jesus Christ was restored!
More incredible as well is that Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum sealed their testimonies of the church and the book of mormon with their blood, leaving wives without their husbands, children without their fathers, and people without their leaders. They would not have died for something they had simply "made up". Joseph Smith was a man of God.
I testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints is the only true church on the earth today. The Book of Mormon testifies of the divinity and love of Jesus Christ on every page, with some form of Christ's name appearing on an average of every 1.5 or so versus, whereas the Bible is over every 2 versus. I know God and Jesus Christ live.
Just as God sent forth the Book of Mormon to witness of the Bible, he also sent forth witness to testify of the Book of Mormon. 11 witnesses in all saw the gold plates, but the three main witnesses saw an angel appear with the plates. Oliver Cowdry, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer saw the plates of which the Book of Mormon was translated from.
"And we declare words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true. And it is marvelous in our eyes..." (for the full account of their testimony, open the book of mormon to right after the introduction)
More incredibly is, not one of these witnesses ever denied their testimony, even though at one point every one of these three witness left the church for other reasons. Three of the 8 witnesses left the church at one point as well, but even then wouldn't deny their testimony. Even in public situations where they would have looked much better from a social standpoint in denying their testimonies, they never did. 11 men, 6 who left the church, and yet not one every denied their testimony, If the whole thing had been made up, shouldn't have at least one of them denied it at one point?
Most all of those who did leave the church came back, except for David Whitmer. Although he didn't deny come back to the church, even on his deathbed he was true to his testimony. This is another huge witness of the divinity of the Book of Mormon.
Sorry that this message is so long! I'm not sure if you'll have read it all, but I just can't help myself. I often feel like the prophet Alma did in the Book of Mormon. It says in Alma 29:1-2:
"1 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!
2 Yea I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth."
How badly I want the world to know of the gospel of Jesus Christ! You are so right! Salvation is nigh at hand! But, Alma continues in verse 3:
"But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me."
I am just a man, and I can do my best, but I can't do it all. That's why I'm serving a mission, to invite others to come unto Christ. He lives!!! He leads and guides the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. The Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God. I know this with all my heart, and I know that if you take the time to study and pray as I have, you will know it to. It's not the church of mormon, joseph smith, or any of those guys. It is the Church of Jesus Christ, and one of the very few churches that even bears his name. Remember the promise in Moroni 10:4-5, ask God with a sincere heart, with real intent, with faith in Christ, and he will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost. This is Christ's church. There were 12 apostles back then, there are twelve now. There was priesthood authority then, there is now. There were angles, miracles, and visions then. There is now. There were temples then. There is now. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true and living church on the earth today, the Book of Mormon is true, and Joseph Smith Jr. was a true prophet. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I don't even know you but already have so much love for you! Let me know if you need anything. I've spent way to much time writing this letter so I may not be able to respond but I will try.
Take care!
Well, there you have it folks. He read it but never responded. Also I meant every word of what I said in there. By the time I finished the email the spirit was so strong. Testifying really is the best thing we can do as missionaries. I know this church is true.
- Funniest thing I’ve ever heard----
Be the kind of missionary that when you wake up in the morning and your feet hit the ground, satan goes: “fetch. he’s awake”
- So some logistical things, we had a zone conference which was super neat! The church is true jaja. We also went to a park downtown and picked up trash for a couple hours. I tried to pick up elder pugsley but he was too big. Then last night we had a devotional with Elder Corbitt who’s a big deal in the church. The spirit was super strong. The lesson he taught was one my brother joseph had taught me before I came out. Revelation 12 baby! 7-11. That’s how we beat satan premortally and how we’ll do it again.
Oh wow, sorry for such a long email! I love you all! Email me if you can jaja. I can only respond on mondays before 6 pm but I can read emails all week. Hope you’re all doing wonderful back in ooohtah and that coronavirus isn’t being too crazy. Take care y’all! Hopefully I didn’t say anything apostate in this email because honestly now that I’ve finished I don’t even remember what i said.
Diosaerb ermanasherb!!!
(adios hermanas)
- Elder Wride
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