It's you. Thanks for making it. And thanks for taking the time to hear me out.
Poor week for morale. I came down with sickness that seriously tanked our momentum. We still went out and worked (with health precautions of course) because I couldn't fathom just staying in, but our pace took some damage.
I love feeling the rhythm and rate at which the Lord's work rolls forth. It helps me realize I have something to contribute. It helps me see that I can make a difference in the world. It helps me feel like I belong.
In any stirring arrangement, changes in tempo and key, both faster and slower, both higher and lower, make the music meaningful. And so it is in life and in discipleship. The longer I experience the symphony that is my mission, the more I learn to appreciate the high and lows, the fast and slow. Truly it is the trial in opposition to the triumph that gives our mortal experience meaning.
So, this week was beautiful in its own way. I learned on a small scale that, "[My] best, [my] heav’nly Friend, Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end."
My body didn't feel particularly sickly as much as it did sore and tired. The activities the Lord provided me to accomplish were perfectly suited to my condition. Surely He is aware of His children and His servants.
We drove President Smith's brand new 2023 Toyota Highlander off the lot. It was luxurious to say the least.
Thanksgiving was quaint. A small number of people compared to the Whipple/Winegar family gatherings I'm accustomed to. And yet the generosity and kindness of the members of the Church won it a special space in my heart. Our dinner appointment lasted 4 hours, in part because of the hour and a half game of Uno Showdown. It was a happy occasion.
After a week of drudgery we had two very spiritual meetings,a figurative breaking of the dawn after a dark week. After both meetings, both individuals expressed the desire to be baptized and enter into the Lord's fold and enjoy the lovingkindness of the Good Shepherd. I am humbled to be a part of the work of exaltation. It is miraculous to me.
In my moments of despondency this week I began to study and understand the Lord's mercy. The very intent of Jesus Christ's Atonement is to provide each of us mercy (Alma 34:15). We each experience mercy most poignantly when we taste the sweet forgiving that follows repentance. But with the proper perspective, we can see the mercy of God in all things. We read, "...and all things which are good cometh of Christ; otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good thing come unto them" (Moroni 7:24). Without the Atoning power of Christ the bands of death would remain unbroken and all good works that we could render of ourselves would inevitably come to an end with the death of humankind. Our own personal goodness becomes futile without the infinite mercy of Christ who did break the bands of death and enable all good things we do to endure forever.
I testify that Christ the Lord is risen! He lives! And because He lives so too will we, even beyond the veil of death. I testify that our good works can follow us and provide everlasting joy to ourselves and others. I testify that Jesus Christ is merciful, meaning that He is kind, forgiving, benevolent, gentle, and loving far beyond what we deserve. That's Him.
Songs 
Chinatown–Bleachers
Like or Like Like–Miniature Tigers
Godspeed the right,
Elder Winegar
Post a Comment