So, this week I headed out to a new area. Luckily a member in Swedru offered to drive me
all the way to my new area so I took the opportunity. I love that member! He is just a sweet dude
trying his best to do the right thing. After that car ride to my new home I got
settled and went out to go do stuff like normal.
We had some good days of work and a really funny story for a
mid-week break. So there was an All
Africa Service Project on Saturday, and so Wednesday night at mid-week, they
were announcing it and the Brother got up and said "next Saturday"
and someone shouts out "No it’s this Saturday" and the brother said “yes
I know, next Saturday” and they were just arguing and then EVERYONE had to add
their 2 cents to the matter, so the whole building was just a bunch of shouting
about what it should be, “this” or “next” and I just looked at the senior couples
and just started to laugh with them. It was just unnecessarily funny.
After that we did other things (I have a bad memory chip)
But! Saturday was the service project thingy-thing and our
assignment as a branch was to start at one side of the Branch boundary and walk
the whole main road to the other side just cleaning up the dirt and chopping
the bush away and burning all the junk.
So, like the good boy scouts we all are we took a bunch of dead weeds
and burnt them right under all the trees on the side of the road. I wish I had a picture haha Luckily, no
natural disasters or actual disasters happen in Ghana so the fire didn’t spread
for some reason or another :)
BUT with that service project--Mom you'd be so proud because
I actually worked! I didn't just go and
stand around like I did when we helped someone move. I worked so hard I got like 8 blisters and a
super sore back. It hurts to sit, but we
made the road somewhat better :)
Then during personal study on Sunday (actually I was led by
the service project--whilst swinging my cutlass (sword)(better known as
machete) at a bunch of leaves my mind shot back to fig leaves and Adam and Eve
and also I read in Mark about how Jesus cursed the Fig tree and I wondered if
there was a connection there. So, I
thought about why Jesus cursed the fig tree in Mark and I didn’t really
understand why he would do that. I mean I couldn't really believe it was
because he was hungry and it didn’t have anything to eat on it. That just didn’t seem like something Jesus
Christ would do so I then went to the Bible dictionary and while turning the
pages I said in my mind “this cannot be here, the bible dictionary has so few
things, how could fig trees be here?” But
I still turned to the page just to make sure and I found it and it completely
explained why He cursed the fig tree it was sweet that I found that answer!
But I tell that story to show the difference between doubt
and questions of faith and to show that we need to ponder when we don’t know
the answer and that Heavenly Father always answers our prayers. Some are not
when or what we expect, but they all require work and a sincerity of heart.
Okay, back to the faith and doubt thing:
My thought about the bible dictionary could truly be said
that that was a doubt. But then if we
look at what it led me to do it shows that it was a question of faith somehow.
The difference is that after my thought of “oh this cannot be true" I didn’t
stop pursuing my course. True it might have been because I just wanted to prove
myself right, but I still kept to my original thought of let’s check here.
Now Doubts are not good. Doubts have us stop keeping our
covenants while questions or even disbelieving of faith have us questioning but
continuing with keeping our covenants and commandments until a sure answer is
found.
Some people might say "it says Christ will be born in
Jerusalem in the Book of Mormon, I don’t know what that means" and then
they stop reading right at Alma 7: 10. That is a doubt. That is not good.
But the one with the question of faith will say "it says Christ will be
Born in Jerusalem I don’t know what that means but I’ve felt the spirit while
reading this Book so let me continue on and pray because if this book is true
then there HAS to be an answer so let me continue and that answer will
come".
Don’t doubt. Keep the promises you’ve made. You know and
have had it testified to you keep that testimony strong or it will go away.
faith is like a ball. only the ball is forever on a slope and there are
no plateaus. Either you work to keep it
going up, or stop and let it roll back down.
Love you all a bunch this is my 4th area in 10
months--I’m a traveler
So the new apartment we painted. I put tape on it spelling
out my companion's name and it looks sweet! Now it will be there as long as the
paint is there!!! I was gonna put mine but I didn't have enough tape :)
We have play dough in the new apartment
I get bored
really easily
This is banku and I drove the whole thing until the very end. It's a workout
--
HEY I FOUND OUT HOW TO CHANGE THIS THING
-Elder Ellsworth
