This past week Elder Opare and I attended missionary leadership council up in Birmingham. Between the meeting and the driving time, it was a full day of sitting. BUT it was a great meeting and we learned a lot from President and Sister Sainsbury.
The rest of the week was spent preparing a couple of our investigators for baptism this coming weekend. We've been very blessed to be able to see some of the fruits of ours and previous missionaries labors!
Something that I wanted to share today was a training that President Hanks showed us when he was here. This past week I was asked to do a training of my own choice at a district meeting and I chose this one. I thought I'd share it with y'all as well!
"A young man once long ago claimed he had found a large diamond in his field as he
was plowing. He put the stone on display to the public free of charge, and everyone
took sides. A psychologist showed, by citing some famous case studies, that the
young man was suffering from a well-known form of delusion. An historian showed
that other men have also claimed to have found diamonds in fields and been
deceived. A geologist proved that there was no diamonds in the area but only
quartz. The young man had been found fooled by a quartz. When asked to inspect
the stone itself, the geologist declined with a weary, tolerant smile and a kindly
shake of the head. An English professor showed that the young man in describing
his stone used the very same language that others had used in describing uncut
diamonds; he was, therefore simply speaking the common language of his time. A
sociologist showed that only three out of 177 florists' assistants in four major cities
believed the stone was genuine. A clergyman wrote a book to show that it was not
the young man but someone else who had found the stone.
Finally an indigent jeweler named Snite pointed out that since the stone was still
available for examination the answer to the question of whether it was a diamond or
not had absolutely nothing to do with who found it, or whether the finder was
honest or sane, or who believed him, or whether he would know a diamond from a
brick, or whether diamonds had ever been found in fields, or whether people had
ever been fooled by quartz or glass, but was to be answered simply and solely by
putting the stone to certain well-known tests for diamonds. Experts on diamonds
were called in. Some of them declared that they could not very well jeopardize their
dignity and reputations by appearing to take the thing too seriously. To hide the bad
impression thus made, someone came out with the theory that the stone was really a
synthetic diamond, very skillfully made, but a fake just the same. The objection to
this is that the production of a good synthetic diamond 120 years ago would have
been an even more remarkable feat that the finding of a real one"
I really loved this Parable when I first heard it. When I first heard it, I hadn't been on my mission for very long and at this time was struggling to testify of the Book of Mormon when I knew there was a high chance of it being questioned and attacked. I found my self trying to hide the Book of Mormon behind the Bible and not introducing it as the life changing book that it is. This parable really reinforced in my mind exactly what the Book of Mormon has gone through and yet it still stands as a beacon of light and as the cornerstone of our Church.
I love the Paragraph in the introduction of the Book of Mormon that says "Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” This paragraph really shows the true power and importance of the Book of Mormon. This paragraph and the Parable really helped me to learn to testify of the Book with confidence and power! I hope it does the same for y'all!
Oh yeah, I should probably explain the title of this email! So yesterday morning Elder Opare said "Sunday around six is the best feeling sometimes... it's a good feeling knowing that deliverance is nigh!" (p-day) haha i thought this was pretty funny and perfectly explains how you feel at the end of a week full of hard work!
Anyways, that's all I've got! I hope all of you have a great week. Until we meet again!
