Dear America,
This Sunday marked the second, third, fourth, and fifth baptisms of my mission. It's really wonderful to see our hard work paying off. Even though I feel like I did practically nothing, these people are just prepared. But the girl that I felt was the most prepared for baptism wasn't able to be baptized because she's under 18. And minors have to either live with a member or come to church for six solid months to qualify for baptism. Her name is Rebecca and we've been meeting with her for a little over two weeks now. She's one of the smartest investigators we've come across and she's totally ready for baptism. But we're doing everything we can to find a way for her to be baptized. She's in one of the worst home situations that I've seen. But she's really humble and seems a lot older than she actually is. Sometimes these rules bug me, so if you have any suggestions on how to get around six months of waiting, I'm open to suggestions.
This week I've been working on the Christlike attribute of virtue. I've had some interesting thoughts come on the subject of faith, hope, and charity. Which are gyidi, anidaso, and ado e, respectively-- in case you were wondering. The scriptures talk about these a lot, even if they aren't always called by name specifically. They're always present. So why are they so important? Out of all the qualities to seek after, why faith, hope, and charity? Here's how I've started to think about them: these three are kind of like the primary colors (red/yellow/blue). Any artist knows that you can create any other color on the color wheel out of a certain mixture of red, yellow, and blue. Likewise, I believe that any other Christlike attribute can be made from varying parts faith, hope, and charity. It's interesting to think about. All other characteristics are based on these three.
This explains why you can't just improve one Christlike attribute at a time-- they grow together. Virtue will surely affect diligence, humility, patience, etc. Obedience is closely tied to virtue and diligence. It's because they're all made of differing amounts of the same ingredients: faith, hope, and charity. For example, obedience might involve mostly faith, some hope, and a little charity. Virtue is a lot of hope with some charity and faith. Patience and humility are the closest to involving all three in equal amounts. I've included a picture of a chart I made to illustrate my point. It's a work in progress, but it helped me to organize my thoughts.
Elder Antwi gave some really good instruction in zone council on the subject of diligence. They like to pick on him because he doesn't talk much when the other missionaries are around. Transfers happen next Wednesday, so I'll have p day like normal. It always works that way here.
This Sunday marked the second, third, fourth, and fifth baptisms of my mission. It's really wonderful to see our hard work paying off. Even though I feel like I did practically nothing, these people are just prepared. But the girl that I felt was the most prepared for baptism wasn't able to be baptized because she's under 18. And minors have to either live with a member or come to church for six solid months to qualify for baptism. Her name is Rebecca and we've been meeting with her for a little over two weeks now. She's one of the smartest investigators we've come across and she's totally ready for baptism. But we're doing everything we can to find a way for her to be baptized. She's in one of the worst home situations that I've seen. But she's really humble and seems a lot older than she actually is. Sometimes these rules bug me, so if you have any suggestions on how to get around six months of waiting, I'm open to suggestions.
This week I've been working on the Christlike attribute of virtue. I've had some interesting thoughts come on the subject of faith, hope, and charity. Which are gyidi, anidaso, and ado e, respectively-- in case you were wondering. The scriptures talk about these a lot, even if they aren't always called by name specifically. They're always present. So why are they so important? Out of all the qualities to seek after, why faith, hope, and charity? Here's how I've started to think about them: these three are kind of like the primary colors (red/yellow/blue). Any artist knows that you can create any other color on the color wheel out of a certain mixture of red, yellow, and blue. Likewise, I believe that any other Christlike attribute can be made from varying parts faith, hope, and charity. It's interesting to think about. All other characteristics are based on these three.
This explains why you can't just improve one Christlike attribute at a time-- they grow together. Virtue will surely affect diligence, humility, patience, etc. Obedience is closely tied to virtue and diligence. It's because they're all made of differing amounts of the same ingredients: faith, hope, and charity. For example, obedience might involve mostly faith, some hope, and a little charity. Virtue is a lot of hope with some charity and faith. Patience and humility are the closest to involving all three in equal amounts. I've included a picture of a chart I made to illustrate my point. It's a work in progress, but it helped me to organize my thoughts.Elder Antwi gave some really good instruction in zone council on the subject of diligence. They like to pick on him because he doesn't talk much when the other missionaries are around. Transfers happen next Wednesday, so I'll have p day like normal. It always works that way here.
I need recipes. Like pancakes and rice pudding and dumplings. They have a lot of ingredients here, I just can't bake. So I'd rather have too many recipes than not enough. Thanks. I've started eating fruit and Milo for dinner. It makes me feel a ton better because I'm getting the nutrients that only a good pineapple can provide. Rice every night wears you down really fast. Elder Neville likes Milo in the morning, but I really love it right before I go to bed. I'm staying really healthy.
Peace.
The one and only,
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