Time, Time, Time
"Wait a minute. Wasn't P-day yesterday?"
Well welcome back folks! Here's some more classic "vague Elder Ebbert statements which cryptically hint at the events of the week because he's lazy and can't be bothered to talk about everything in detail':
-Fasting works!
-Kids know more than we know
-We still have not negotiated with that one gang
-The institute manuals are epic
-I'm still tired lol but its ok we chilling
Ok I'm gonna talk about the institute manuals again because seriously if you want to get more out of your scripture study or just know how Jesus is going to be a Dyson Sphere in New Jerusalem (Isaiah is crazy dude), go and use the institute manuals. They're in Gospel Library under "Books and Lessons" > "Institute". Or, it is equally possible to encounter the manuals by clicking on the 90th letter 'e' in this email. Your choice.
The Forging of Faith
To give you the experience of missionary time distortion, I erased all the email in between the first section and the spiritual thought segment! Now the fullness of my email will be known only unto the Gnomes which read the alpha and beta drafts to check for Cradle references.
So this week I started over the Book of Mormon with the aforementioned institute manuals as companion study. It's been amazing. It's actually fascinating how there are so many tiny quirks in the Book of Mormon from it being like, a compiled work with many authors. Like, Nephi has his own voice in writing which is different from Mormon, Moroni, and the various historians who maintained the Large Plates before they were compiled. The more I study the Book of Mormon, the more its various authorships and authenticity become apparent.
But anyways, that's not what we're talking about lol. I want to talk about suffering. Diligent suffering, specifically.
Nephi suffered a ton. And he was also one of like, the most righteous dudes ever. So this teaches us a couple things:
-Righteousness/obedience does not prevent, or even alleviate discomfort, pain, or suffering
-The attitude with which trials are approached- specifically, the presence of faith and hope- determines the ultimate outcome of the trial with respect to our personal growth
For example: Nephi was supermega obedient to the Lord and had enough faith to receive grand visions and do great things. Yet, he still experienced many trials; and in fact, his trials were the very reason why his faith developed because he approached them with faith that the Lord would help him and with a hope that they would be 'consecrated for his gain'. Nephi didn't spontaneously come out of the womb with this incredible faith; he developed it diligently, by choosing the right thing every time (of the many, many times) that he was opposed or faced with a trial. To put it in other terms, Tony Stark wouldn't have made an Arc Reactor if he wasn't about to die, Po wouldn't have found inner peace without dealing with Shen and his own repressed memories, and Lindon wouldn't have become... well, everything he became if he hadn't been Unsouled. Not that we all have to experience near death, having our parents murdered, or being ostracized by our family, but we have to consistently approach the mundane trials and sufferings of life with that same attitude of learning which comes from hope and faith.
The diligence is really the key of it; as much as I personally, in my chronic impatience, would like to instantly develop the faith and hope I need to do everything right now, sometimes I barely have the hope necessary to make it the last three hours of the day when I'm exhausted. So, that's exactly why those last three hours of the day are given to me. That's why every trial, whether exquisite or mundane, is given to us; so that we can 'continue in patience until we are perfected,' with faith that 'all our trials will give us experience and be consecrated for our gain'. In fact, I think the higher, holier way is to have gratitude for our trials.
In short: a soul cannot be forged without the furnace of affliction. So, be grateful to be in the hands of the Master Craftsman, and let Him mold you instead of just wallowing in the heat of it.
Elder Ebbert Will Return
A short one this week, and I'm not sure my spiritual thought made any sense because lo-key am juggling like 3 different great lessons this week. And frankly, I don't understand them yet! But that's the joy of it. But if you were confused, just go watch this video that explains it way better than I did lol
(I just think being forged like a sword is cool guys it's literally like Andúril come on that's pretty sick)
Anyways, hope you all have an awesome week full of hard things that you learn from!
God is Good,
Elder Ebbert
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