This week was pretty cool.
Elder Clark and I made it a companionship goal
to step up our contacting efforts. Rather than accomplish the standard
"10" contacts a day, we were hitting up in the 16's-17's this week.
Sometimes we'll just be riding down a street and Clark will say
"Okay, everyone who isn't selling something on this street we WILL
contact". So that's what we do. Clark has me initiate just
about every contact and I'm pretty confident at this point.
I remember my first few weeks here, when he
had me initiate contacts...One time I contacted these three teen-aged kids
outside their house...I got all my khmae right.. but it just ended up like an
interrogation as I tried to assess their level of understanding of God, Jesus
Christ, the bible, etc. They were all so quiet and really confused. They had no knowledge of anything I
brought up. They ended up not interested, so we left. As we biked
away, I said to Elder Clark "Wow, that was like nothing I've ever
encountered..". He laughed and retorted:"....THAT...was like
nothing THEY'VE ever encountered". We both laughed and continued to
contact.
The past few weeks I've gotten better at
contacting. I can talk to people about more than just missionary/gospel
related stuff. Usually we'll bike along the side of the river, which is
always hopping with excitement and activity, and we get contacts there.
We talk to people while they fish most of the time.
Last night we saw about 6 young guys playing
the popular Khmae hacky-sack game. They are super good at keeping this
thing off the ground, passing it around in a circle. Elder Clark and I
just got into the game. I was doing surprisingly well.. I think the Spirit
was helping to be honest. After playing a little while they stopped to
take a break and that's when we contacted them. So we just find fun ways
like that to befriend people and then contact them.
A few nights ago we awoke to a loud noise
coming from the AC unit (which is about 8 inches from my pillow). Apparently a chunk of ice had formed
and fallen into the fan of the machine. We were able to resolve the
problem and go back to sleep.
On Thursday I bought a cool hammock
from a little military gear shop. I got one just like elder Clark's,
except the material on mine is a little more durable. It’s super nice and
will last beyond my two years here. The hammock is large, comfy, and has
a built in zip-up mosquito net. I wish I had this thing when I was in
YM's going on all those camping trips. It was like 10 bucks and its made
in Thailand (In the US it could sell for $75-$100). Elder Clark has slept
in his hammock 80% of his mission, based on the bed/house situation each
transfer. One perk is that the hammock folds/zips up into a small
portable bag that is easy for travel.
In the next few weeks, half the missionaries
in Kampong Cham are "dying" or finishing their missions. They
are all concerned, saying that they will feel out of place and out of the loop
on everything. Maybe I'll feel that way too when my time comes.
So this whole time I've been in Cambodia, I
keep seeing these fake $100 bills (US) on the street and in the gutters. The
stuff is everywhere. I picked one up once...If I didn't know better I'd
probably think it was real. The print is basically exact, the paper
texture is close, and it’s the same size as a real bill. The only
difference is that there are small Khmae "aksaw" characters
underneath George Washington's picture. Clark told me that the Khmae's
burn fake money so it will go to their ancestors almost like a burnt offering.
But it’s fake so I don't get it. They also burn food (so their
ancestors won't starve). -People who do not perform these rituals
daily?/weekly?....Its believed that they are bringing on the wrath of their
ancestors and will be cursed. Sometimes I put the fake $100 bills in my
wallet as a joke...The Khmae's see it and think its real because "I'm
white" says Clark.
On P-day we spent a few hours trying to fix
the senior couple's computer. The Dilworth's had downloaded a virus and
we did our best to resolve it. Because we had lost quite a few hours of
our P-day, they took us out to lunch on Tuesday. We went to a
restaurant on the riverside run by a French guy. Best hamburger I've had
in a while. After lunch they drove us around to see the extent of the
flooding that had occurred in the past week and a half. Areas where we
had previously ridden our bikes through and visited people, now flooded 6-8
feet deep. Over at the river-side area, there is a long wall that
separates the land from the water (imagine the seawall at the beach house just
smaller) The water had risen so high that its almost over the wall.
Many houses on stilts are safe, others were flooded.
On Friday we did a service
project and planted rice in a field. A member in the third branch needed
our help so that was fun. Leeches, spiders, crabs, and other stuff were
swimming/crawling all around our legs. The Khmae elders were catching crabs to
eat later. It was fun and muddy. I've officially planted
rice.
Quote of the week:
"I'm just waiting for
someone to bear their testimony to me about Buddha" -Me (During
contacting)
All is well in the KC 2nd Branch. I
anticipate a good week.
Love your guys, Elder Z (The one in Cambodia)
President Moon's email to us
Remission of Sins
Dear Elders and Sisters,
An important part of our purpose is to help people repent and be baptized so
that they may receive forgiveness-- a remission of sins. John the Baptist
demonstrated this when “he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching
the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;” (Luke 3:3).
Sometimes we mistakenly teach or imply that receiving the ordinance of baptism
and receiving a remission of sins are the same thing. They are not.
Baptism is required for us to receive forgiveness, but it does not automatically
wash away our sins and make us clean. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the
Quorum of the Twelve recently taught this principle when he said, “The gospel
of Jesus Christ includes the making and keeping of sacred covenants, the first
of which is the covenant of baptism. The act of baptism itself does not
wash sin away. Thanks to the Atonement, the effects of sin depart when
one faithfully keeps the baptism covenant to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(2014 Seminar for New Mission Presidents, June 2014) As we faithfully
keep the covenant and obey the commandments in our life the Atonement cleanses
us from sin and the Lord forgives our sins.
Sometimes I have even heard members who are watching a baptism service say,
after someone is baptized, “Forgiven!” as if the act of being immersed in the
water is what automatically brings about a forgiveness of sins. This is
not right. Baptism is a symbolic ordinance—as are all ordinances in the
gospel—and it is the keeping of those covenants associated with the ordinance
that allows the power and blessings of the ordinance to result in our
life. The ratifying seal of the Spirit is necessary for an ordinance to
be valid and effective in our life. Someone who has not fully complied
with the requirements of repentance and prepared themselves appropriately for
baptism cannot expect to be forgiven simply because the participated in the
ordinance—Moroni cautions, “See that ye are not baptized unworthily…” (Mormon 9:29)
For one who has fully complied with the law of repentance and receives baptism
worthily, sins are washed away in the waters of baptism. But the baptism
of fire and the Holy Ghost, manifested by the companionship of the Spirit in
our life, is also necessary for us to be cleansed and purified from sin.
It is important for us to understand this doctrine clearly in our own minds,
and to teach it clearly to our investigators and recent converts. It is
the continual striving and faithful keeping of our covenants that brings the
Holy Spirit into our life and sanctifies and cleanses us, and prepares us to
live again in God’s presence.
This means that when we contact using the picture of a baptism, or when we
teach a new investigator about baptism for the first time, it is important that
we introduce the concept of baptism and forgiveness of sins correctly. We
should not say “baptism is an ordinance in our church that makes you clean from
sin” or “when you are baptized you are forgiven of your sins”. Instead,
we should say “baptism is an ordinance that can help you be forgiven of your
sins” or “baptism is an ordinance that is necessary to enter the path to become
clean and worthy to return to live with God again”, or “baptism can lead to
feelings of being clean and forgiven of your sins”. Another way to say
it, as you are teaching, would be to say, “through faith on Jesus Christ,
repentance, baptism, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Atonement of
Jesus Christ can make you clean from sin and allow you to receive forgiveness”.
The scriptures teach us clearly that the Holy Spirit, often symbolized by fire
in the scriptures, is an important sanctifying agent necessary to receiving a
remission of our sins. Nephi taught, “For the gate by which ye should
enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your
sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Nephi 31:17) This is also made
clear in revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith in our day: “And of tenets thou
shalt not talk, but thou shalt declare repentance and faith on the Savior, and remission
of sins by baptism, and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost.” (D&C 19:31)
We are baptized unto repentance (see Alma 7:14). Repentance means
making the changes necessary in our life to keep God’s commandments.
Keeping the commandments allows us to receive the Holy Ghost and feel the
Spirit’s influence and guidance in our life. The sanctifying and
purifying influence, or fire, of the Holy Spirit refines us, changes our hearts
and desires, and makes us clean and pure.
King Benjamin teaches us powerfully that humility, prayer, and steadfast
obedience are key to retaining a remission of our sins: “…if ye have
known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a
remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your
souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in
remembrance, the greatness of God… and humble yourselves even in the depths of
humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in
the faith of that which is to come…I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall
always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a
remission of your sins…” (Mosiah 4:11-12) A remission of sins is not a
one-time event in our life. If our investigators mistakenly believe that
baptism is an easy checklist procedure that immediately washes away the effects
of previous sins they will have less desire to continue in faithful adherence
to the commandments. We absolutely want them to have faith and believe
that through repentance and baptism they can be made clean—but we also want
them to understand that keeping the covenants they make at baptism is a key
part of becoming clean and holy and worthy to live again in God’s presence.
We must be help our investigators and members understand that “[putting] off
the natural man and [becoming] a saint through the atonement of Christ the
Lord” is not a simple easy procedure like taking a bath. It requires
humility, patience, yielding to the Holy Spirit, and a willingness to submit to
the trials and adversities of life with faith and trust in the Lord (see Mosiah 3:19).
Please teach this clearly to your investigators. Baptism is not a quick
and easy fix to past sins. It is the gate we enter to start on the path
of becoming clean and pure.
I testify that the remission of sins is real. Likely you have felt its
power and influence already in your own life. The sweet peace that comes
from feeling the Lord’s Spirit and the companionship of the Holy Ghost—which is
a sign and indication of the Lord’s forgiveness of your sins—brings joy and
spiritual contentment into our lives. I know that the Atonement of Jesus
Christ offers each of us the opportunity to receive a full and complete
remission of our sins, so complete that the Lord will “remember them no more.”
(D&C 58:42) May the Lord bless you as you teach this important
doctrine to others. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
With love,
President David C. Moon
