Merry Christmas

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Christ is speaking in this verse as a follow up to a question: How will one come to know of the Lord? He answers that it will be by and through the power of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. It is through that same Spirit that the peace Jesus talked about comes to us...

When He says, "Not as the world giveth, give I unto you", it makes me think of all the things we have here. The beauty and the joy to be had in this world... it's beyond exquisite, yes? Yet no matter all the amusement parks in the world, all the money in the banks, and all the serenity that nature has to offer (or whatever else floats your boat), it cannot hold a candle to the peace He offers. Even the greatest of all that is around us pales in comparison to its Master.


After All, He Created It In The First Place

Kay

Had a moment the other day.

I was in Fairview, the land of all that is beautiful. We were passing out flyers for a Christmas party to some of the people who had been in contact with missionaries for the last few months, and we were met with smiles and warm appreciation for being invited. The afternoon was still young, but we were coming to the last household we had planned to invite that day, a home that was set in a quiet little neighborhood not too far from the main road.


Yes, That Is The Actual Town. No, I Didn't Take The Picture.

 I had been getting out of the car, somewhat on auto-pilot, following the excellent Elder Huffaker as the day wore on and our stack of fliers depleted. I was doing the same now, no Book of Mormon in hand and my backpack in the car, as we started out towards the last door. All of a sudden, I felt something.

I needed to pause, to wake up for half a second and recognize what I felt. The feeling was very distinct:

You are going to need your scriptures.

I returned to the car quickly and grabbed a Book of Mormon, one of many we have close at hand. I closed the cardoor, and started back towards Elder Huffaker as he waited patiently at the door. Again I had the very distinct feeling, this time with a little extra:

You are going to need your scriptures... all of them.



The Record From The Americas AND The Record From Jerusalem

 I had left my backpack in the car, but the door had already been knocked on and the door opened shortly after. The family was happy to see us, this being the first time they had talked to missionaries in their home since they had moved to Fairview. Though we had only originally planned on dropping off a flyer, we ended up talking for over an hour, mostly about the gospel and answering questions about the church.

There were times I easily could convey a point or answer a question, there were times when I needed the help of the Book of Mormon... and there was one point in particular when I needed the Bible. I keep my personal set of scriptures, my Book of Mormon and well worn KJV Bible, in my backpack. You know, the one which just so happened to be left in the backseat of the car despite my being told to bring my scriptures.

It wasn't the end of the world, but I wasn't as effective as a teacher because I didn't fully listen to the Spirit. I didn't go above and beyond to respond to the fullest capacity I could to the prompting to get my scriptures. I wasn't completely left out in the cold, but I was not as well off as I could have been.

All of us follow the Spirit to a degree less than what we are capable of at times. Once you clear the hurdle of following the spirit at all, you then get to try your hardest to follow it as precisely as you can. The better you do so, the better things go. Just like the Book of Mormon and the Bible would have given us a fuller picture and understanding of the gospel in that teaching situation, we can have the full blessing of the Spirits guidance when we do everything we can to follow exactly and completely.