Hola from Elder Zierenberg.
It’s my 4th pday (preparation day),
but 5th week I think.
I had the worst headache ever last
night. I was dehydrated and didn't sleep well the night before.
So my headache grew worse and worse
last night. I tried to go to bed a little early, but I woke up at like 1:18 in
the morning because my head hurt so intensely. I tossed and turned and cried,
half-awake. I got so nauseated that I went to the bathroom to throw up. Then I
walked back to my bed and tried to sleep again. I got delusional because I wanted to go to sleep but I
thought people were making me fill out pamphlets and sign papers and stuff. When I realized that I was lying in my
bed and that no one was bothering me, I thought that if I could just fall
asleep that the pain would be gone. I can't remember falling asleep but I
remember praying a bunch. When I woke up I felt fine. And today has been
awesome!
I still haven’t heard a word about my
Visa yet. I'm probably going to be
here till Oct 22. Pray for my
Visa!!!
I asked the Travel Office about it today. They said they don't know, but they'll
let me know when I get my flight plans. I could leave as soon as one day after receiving them. I'm not worried though. I'm content with whatever happens.
Thanks for the letters, packages, and love.
General Conference was
amazing, and definitely the best I've ever witnessed! Some say that it's always better when
you're on a mission, but I seriously think that all the talks were the best
I've ever heard. Hearing the
modern Prophet and Apostles of the Lord is such a privilege. My testimony of the Restored Gospel of
Jesus Christ grows everyday.
Everyone always talks about Faith,
but many make it sound too confusing. It's actually a very simple
concept. Developing Faith is an easy process.
The first step of Faith is: Having
the desire to know for yourself of the TRUTH of something. You don't know
if something is true until you find the truth for yourself, but you need to
have the desire to know before you can find it.
Then with that motivation to find the
truth for yourself, you are lead to experiment and test the truth of it. Everyone can gain a personal testimony
once they have exercised their faith and tested it out for themselves. The test
is a simple one.
The Book of Mormon, like the Bible,
is another testament of Jesus Christ. It is an ancient record of prophets that lived in the
Americas. Joseph Smith was lead to find it buried in the ground and was given
the power to translate it. The
Book of Mormon contains many important truths.
If you were to know that the Book of
Mormon was true, then you would know that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet of
God. And if you knew that the Book
of Mormon was true, and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, then you
would know that The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was the true
church of Christ, fully restored in our modern day. And if you knew this, you would
know that Thomas S. Monson is God's prophet, and that this church is lead by
Jesus Christ through his servants, the prophets.
In Amos, chapter 3, verse 7 it says: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing,
but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."
Christ's Church is perfect and he has
only one Church.
In Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 5, it
reads: "One Lord, one faith, one
baptism"
Jesus Christ established His Church,
with Apostles and Prophets, during His earthly ministry.
In Ephesians, chapter 2, verses
19-21, it says to the saints of Christ's Church:
19) "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20) And are
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone; 21) In whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.
If you know that this church is true,
then you will know that God is our Heavenly Father, and that he loves each and
every one of His children. (Romans chapter 8, verse 16) You will know that God has a plan for
his children, and that this life, is a chance for us to be tested and to grow
and obtain our own testimonies.
All of this would be known if you
knew that the Book of Mormon was true.
So how can you know if the Book of
Mormon is true, you ask.
Easy.
In the Book of Mormon a prophet named
Moroni, made a promise.
In his writings in Moroni chapter 9,
verses 4 and 5, he 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."
If we read The Book of Mormon, or if
we read from it, we can pray to know if what we read was true. And if we really want to know with all
our hearts, we will receive an answer from God through the Holy Ghost.
Joseph smith grew up in New York
during a time when there was a lot of religious excitement going on. Joseph Smith had a lot of questions when
he was 14. He wanted to know which
Church was true. He went to many
churches, but knew that Christ had one true Church. He didn't know which to join, because each Church claimed to
be the One True Church. This
caused Joseph Smith much uneasiness, and he didn't know what to do; not until
one day that he was reading in the Bible, James chapter 1, verse 5. Joseph
read:
"If any of ye lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
In all his Bible reading, Joseph
Smith had never read a scripture that had hit him with as much power as this
scripture did at this time. He knew he would get an answer if he prayed
and asked God. So one early spring morning Joseph Smith walked away from
his house and into a private grove of trees and prayed to God to know which
church he should join.
God the Father and Jesus Christ
appeared to Joseph and told him that he should join none of them. Although many of the churches had many
good people with good intentions, none of them had the fullness of Christ's
gospel, nor His Authority. The
Fullness of the Gospel had been taken when Christ and the foundation of church
leaders that he had established were killed. Many people had tried to continue Christ's church, but they
didn't have His authority nor his leadership. People within the church disagreed about doctrines and split
into many groups, becoming their own churches. As time went on, more and more churches disagreed and split,
and soon there were hundreds of churches. During this time, the Fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
was missing from the Earth. This
time is known as the Great Apostasy, and was prophesied in the Bible.
In the book of Amos, Chapter 8,
verses 11 and 12, it says:
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will
send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but
of hearing the words of the Lord:
And they shall wonder from sea to sea, and from the north even
to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall
not find it."
And in 2nd Thessalonians, chapter 2
verses 1-3, Paul says:
"Now we beseech you brethren, by the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ , and by our gathering together unto him,
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by
spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at
hand.
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;"
(Also see 2nd Timothy chapter 4,
verses 3 and 4)
This "falling away" or The
Great Apostasy as we call it, ended when Jesus Christ restored the Fullness of
His Gospel through his Prophet Joseph Smith.
The Holy Ghost bears witness to us in
our hearts and minds of the truth of things that we pray for sincerely. And once we receive our answer we must
continue to follow the Truth and commit to enduring with the Truth forever. We can rely on that answer in hard times
and doubt it not.
As President Uchtdorf said in General
Conference last weekend, "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your
Faith."
In Doctrine and Covenants section 6,
verse 21-23, it says:
21) "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I am
the same that came unto mine own and mine own received me not. I am the
light which shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth not.
22) Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further
witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart,
that you might know concerning the truth of these things.
23) Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter?
What greater witness can you have than from God?"
If you haven't received a witness for
yourself of the truth of these things,
what are you waiting for?
The Lord is waiting for You.
I know that if you ask God and pray
with a sincere heart and a true desire to know, and if you do commit yourself
to following the Truth, should you receive it, you will receive an answer of
its truthfulness and you will feel the confirmation of it in your heart through
the power of the Holy Ghost.
Love, Elder Zierenberg
