The Gospel is Easy

 Everything is going well in San Miguel. This upcoming month, it is supposed to rain. And apparently, here it rains a lot.


A couple of highlights:
- I did my first door contact in English!
- The Hymn: How Great the Wisdom and the Love is amazing. Go listen to it again!
- I taught the first vision to some of our young friends using a deck of cards and a little bit of magic
- We are going to San Salvador this evening and to the temple tomorrow! 

I want to share an experience we had this week while teaching a friend. We had just finished a lesson about faith and how we come to know truth through prayer. We asked our friend, who previously had a baptismal date that had expired, about her thoughts on baptism. She said she didn't know if churches, let alone ours, were an important part of worship, and while she liked meeting with the missionaries, she didn't have a testimony of our church.

I then asked her, "Have you prayed, asking God if what we teach is true?"
 
She explained that while she had been taking lessons for months and had first talked with the missionaries over two years ago, she had never asked God.

Gaining a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel is, in a lot of ways, similar to looking to the brass serpent to be healed. When the Israelites were afflicted in the wilderness, the Lord provided a way for them to exercise their faith by looking to the brass serpent that Moses was commanded to raise, "and because of the simpleness of the way...there were many who perished" (1 Nephi 17:41).

The prophet Nephi (son of Helaman) related the story of Moses and the serpent to salvation through the Savior: "And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal" (Helaman 8:15).

Christ himself made this same connection clear. When speaking with Nicodemos, He taught, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).

But then begs the question, if all we have to do is look unto Christ, why is it not that easy? Why do so many turn from Him and fall? The answer is the same as to why many Israelites wouldn't look to the serpent. Pride.

In Dallin H. Oaks' first address as President of the church, given at BYU, he quotes President Ezra Taft Benson, "'The antidote for pride,' he taught, 'is humility—meekness, submissiveness.' 'Humility responds to God’s will—to the fear of His judgments and to the needs of those around us.' 'Let us choose to be humble,' he pleaded. I add, look to the needs of others and humility follows" (President Nelson 2026).

In summary, many people miss out on the miraculous blessings of the gospel because they lack the humility to look unto Christ. But as soon as we rid ourselves of our pride, we are healed. Our faith and testimony are magnified when we choose to turn to Him.

How can we be like the obedient Israelites and be saved? Turn to Christ and look unto Him daily. When we get out of our beds in the morning, arise from the side that looks to Christ. Choose to follow Him, and the rest is easy.

Have a great week, I love you all. 

















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