Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Wahoo!! Wittenberg!


Hey hey hey!

Well, I have good news. I'm out of the hospital! Woohoo! I got
released on Monday, and I was so happy. I'm really glad that I was
able to be taken care of in a good hospital with good, capable doctors
and a very nice and helpful staff, but man, 18 days was just a little
too much. I did learn a lot though while I was in the hospital. I had
a lot of questions, like why I had to go in two days before our
baptism, and why this had to happen to me now, near the end of my
mission. For a while I was upset, frustrated, and even a little angry.
I had all of these questions, and I felt like I wasn't getting any
answers.

The answers that I wanted didn't come immediately, but they did come,
and it was through the Book of Mormon. I wanted to know if the Savior
really knew what I was going through. I decided to read in 3 Nephi 11
where Jesus Christ himself comes and visits the Nephites, the crowning
point of the Book of Mormon. As I was reading, verses 14 and 15 really
stood out to me, which say,
" 14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into
my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands
and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the
God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their
hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands
and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until
they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with
their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was
he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come."

Here, Jesus Christ is giving the Nephites an invitation to find out
for themselves if Jesus truly is the Christ. This is the same type of
invitation he gives to us. We don't yet have the opportunity to feel
the prints in his hands, but we can still know that He is the Savior
of the world. We come to know this by reading his words, learning
about his life, work, and ministry, having experiences with his
spirit, and by praying unto the father to ask for a personal witness
that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten son of God.

This touched me in my moment of trial, and after praying to the father
and pleading for forgiveness from Him, I received the witness from the
spirit that I desired, and I knew that Christ suffered with me, and he
would help me. And he did, he bore me up with his spirit, and he sent
his angels to help me. One of these angels that came was Elder Charles
of the seventy. He came to visit the mission, and was very busy, but
he still took the time to come and visit me personally in the
hospital. We had a short little interview together, and it was such a
wonderful experience that just boosted my spirits so much.

Well, now I'm out and I'm back in action. My leg is doing better, I
don't have a cast on it anymore, I can wear a shoe again, but I still
can't put my full weight on my foot yet, no more that 15 kg. I'm also
starting physical therapy, so that'll be fun I guess.

Today for p day we got on a train and went to Wittenberg! It's a
rather small, but very famous city. It's where the Reformation really
started, with Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses on the door of the
Schlosskirche (Palace church). It was really cool to see, and learn
more about one of the great men who paved the way for the Restoration
to take place. Seeing the door where the theses was nailed was also
really cool. Martin Luther's actions lead to the reformation, which
led to expanded thinking and a pursuit of religious freedom. In order
to pursue their religious freedom, several groups of people left
Europe which started the foundation of modern day America, the country
where God could restore his church. This was probably the most
influential door in history!

















This is the door!




One more thing, transfers! I'm staying in the office, which means I'll
be finishing my mission here, and I'm totally happy with that. I'll
enjoy my time :)

Well, that's all from me. Have a great week!

No comments:

Post a Comment