Chiasmus

Dear Mother,

The library was closed yesterday so I was unable to email. This week was great! We found five new investigators and set a few more baptismal dates. We are working hard! 

This week I have been studying as I always do. And I learned some thing new :O (Like I always do) So this week I was studying about Chiasmus. Its an ancient Hebrew form of writing. The way it works is that there are corresponding word or phrases starting on the outside and work there way into the center which is the main point like a-b-c-d-e-e-d-c-b-a. Well as I have been doing my reading in the Book of Mormon. All the sudden I started noticing a pattern in 3 Nephi 19. It goes like this.

a-21. I PRAY thee

    b-21. in their WORDS.

        c-22. FATHER, thou

            d-22. and they PRAY unto me

                f-22. I AM with them (JESUS)

                    g-23. I PRAY unto for them

                        h-23. on their WORDS

                            i-23. THAT I MAY BE IN THEM AS THOU, FATHER, ART IN ME, THAT WE MAY BE ONE.

                                   j-24. thus PRAYED unto

                                    k-24. the FATHER 

                                        l-24. many WORDS

                                            m-24. should PRAY 

                                                n-25. that JESUS blessed them

                                 o-25. HIS COUNTENANCE

                                         o-25. COUNTENANCE . . . OF JESUS

                                                n-26. and JESUS said

                                            m-28. I PRAY for

                                        l-28. their WORDS

                                    k-29. FATHER

                                j-29. I PRAY 

                            i-29. THAT I MAY BE IN THEM AS THOU, FATHER, ART IN ME, THAT WE MAY BE ONE.

                        h-30. these WORDS

                    g-30. did PRAY steadfastly

                f-30. even as JESUS

            d- 31. PRAYED unto

        c-31. the FATHER

    b-32. the WORDS which 

a- 32. he PRAYED.

Is it not amazing!! When we read this part we can truly see what the author was trying to get across. He wants us to pray unto the father as Christ (His son) would! So that we may be blessed to be one with the Father and the Son. We do this through prayer which brings "His" countenance upon us. We then become one with God and our Savior as we bring the countenance of Jesus upon us. Christ wants us to be ONE with him! How amazing is that! 

Another interesting fact is that this form of writing also strengthens my testimony of the Book of Mormon! How could Joseph Smith who had a 3rd grade education write in a Hebrew form of writing when NO ONE else in america knew what a Chiasmus was! Its just proof that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the Gift of God. Because God knows all and is able to get the authors point across a lot better than a normal translator. 

I know the Book of Mormon is true with all my heart and not only because of this but because I have read it and have prayed and asked God if it is true. I have received an answer from Him, THAT IT IS HIS WORD! I know it with all my heart!!  I also know that any honest seeker of truth ... will find that it is as well! 

Love Y'all!!

Transfer and Baptism

So this week I got transfered to a new area called Valladolid! It's very familiar to me because my first area was Pulupandan and Valadolid is RIGHT under it.. so it's good to be back in the same zone as I was at first! My companion is Elder David.. you don't say it like David and Goliath...  you say Elder 

D-uh-vid  (that's how you say it in the Philippines)! He's the best companion I've had so far in the mission. We are exactly the same.. he's been in the area for five months.  So, he will probably get transferred soon. This week has been great.. had a baptism last week and have one each week until July!!! The people are prepared here in this area and everything is great here! 

LOVE YOU ALL!!

Love, Elder Johnson

Where did we come from?

This week has been amazing we busted our hides working! We had a super, good week and we found four new investigators! Thanks for the prayers. 

We were teaching a man this week named Rene. He has been investigating the church for a few months now and he is in his 70s and is a different religion.  Every time we go over to teach him he brings up these strange ideas.  We would answer his questions about where we came from and where we are going after we die.  We discuss his strange ideas about Adam, Eve and aliens and all sorts of gibberish. We would discuss them... answer them and then begin to move on and he would re-discuss them after we moved on. He had been doing this for the last three or four lessons so we decided it was time to let him go. As he brought up another one of his "strange doctrine" for the umpteenth time, I looked at him and asked, "is that even important? What does any of this have to do with your salvation? Who cares where Adam and Eve came from or if it was a myth or a real event (of course it was real God created them and put them in the garden of Eden), who cares how all the different races came about, and aliens don't matter. NONE of that is important or has anything to do with your salvation or our Savior, Jesus Christ! You are blessed with the opportunity to hear the restored gospel and to come closer to Christ and you have not done anything we have invited you to do. You have not come to church, you have not prayed and you have not read from the Book of Mormon or the Bible and yet you claim to be a God fearing man." After I said all this he replied how he doesn't have to do any of that and that God has blessed him with "knowledge".  That one day we will remember the things he said and believed all when aliens come to the earth. As we left a bit baffled by his beliefs, we then parted ways.  

I was thinking about this poor, confused man and how he always asked, "Where did we come from"?  Of course, we answered it several time and tried to teach him where he came from, but he just could not accept it. He had doubt and fear.

"Many people wonder, “Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going?” Our Eternal Father did not send us to earth on an aimless, meaningless journey. He provided for us a plan to follow. He is the author of that plan. It is designed for man’s progress and ultimate salvation and exaltation. Quoting from the missionary guide, Preach My Gospel:  

“God is the Father of our spirits. We are literally His children, and He loves us. We lived as spirit children of our Father in Heaven before we were born on this earth. We were not, however, like our Heavenly Father, nor could we ever become like Him and enjoy all the blessings that He enjoys without the experience of living in mortality with a physical body.

“God’s whole purpose—His work and His glory—is to enable each of us to enjoy all His blessings. He has provided a perfect plan to accomplish His purpose. We understood and accepted this plan before we came to the earth” ([2004], 48).

Yet many people in the world today continue to struggle to find answers to life’s most basic questions. The cries of “Lo, here” and “Lo, there” only grow louder and many, many times more confusing. Technology has multiplied the confusion by spreading these messages throughout the airwaves and across the massive amounts of cable lines that now cover the earth. There are so many avenues to broadcast more and more different messages, I guess it should not be surprising that people are confused. Centuries ago Paul predicted:

“The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

“And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3–4).

We need not be confused. The answers to the puzzling questions regarding the purpose of life have again been given to mankind for our guidance."--Elder Tom Perry

I reflected, how blessed are we as members of Christ's true church to know that we are children of our Father in Heaven.  That we have the opportunity to be just like him! We have infinite potential and ability, being his children, and there is nothing in life that we can't overcome! We have an identity and He knows us and cares for us. 

"Challenges, difficulties, questions, doubts—these are part of our mortality. But we are not alone. As disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have enormous spiritual reservoirs of light and truth available to us. Fear and faith cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time. In our days of difficulty, we choose the road of faith. Jesus said, “Be not afraid, only believe.” 

Through the years we take these important spiritual steps over and over again. We begin to see that “he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.”--Elder Neil Anderson

Our questions and doubts are resolved or become less concerning to us. Our faith becomes simple and pure. We come to know what we already knew.

That knowledge is such a blessing! I love teaching people about their true potential and how it always inspires them to be better! Everything is going great over here. I love serving and wouldn't trade this for anything! 

Love y'all!!

Mother's Day