Greetings Mainlanders. I miss you all and will see you soon! I am very excited to come home and enjoy the spirit of Christmas at home. It feels like Hawaii is forcing the spirit of Christmas here. I don't know how else to explain it. It just seems so weird to be wearing nothing but boardshorts and a towel while walking to the beach and looking over my shoulder only to see christmas lights on a palm tree. It may be normal to some people, but not me. I have always associated christmas lights with tons of snow and big coats.
I have decided to post something different this week. I had to write a talk for my religion class this semester and I felt, since I can't give it in church, I will give it to the world, through my blog.It has some pretty odd and awesome experiences at the same time. I know you will really enjoy it, so please take the time to read it. I even included a few photos from my mission! Voila:
Wickedness Never Was Happiness
I learned a great lesson while on my mission. I was serving in a little French town called Agen. The streets were narrow and wound in all directions. The missionaries in this town always used bikes because there were very few buses and most of the members lived far away from each other. I was new to the mission, only 4-6 months in to the mission. I was beginning to learn not only the language, but also the culture and attitude of the French. I learned many lessons in this town, but one has always stuck out to me above the rest.
Though there were many streets to take, my companion and I always rode the same one when going to the church because it was a direct shot. The church was a ten minute trip on bike. I was very close with this companion and would often talk to him while we would make the journey to church, or wherever we were headed. We would always warn each other of pornographic materials on the ground or on billboards. It was just something that we did, I don’t know why, but I did it much more with this companion than with the rest. This small act of obedience proved to be a great blessing.
Not far from our house, along this direct path to the church, there was a shop that sold merchandise that did not promote keeping the law of chastity. It had inappropriate images all over the front windows and door. Because of the warnings we would give each other, we always made a joke about it as we rode by. Each time we passed by this shop, we would turn our heads toward the opposite wall and say, “Elder, look at that amazing door…is that not the most amazing door you have ever seen?” A small act that I never thought would go noticed by anyone. As the weeks went by, we continued that practice very faithfully. Then, on a Sunday afternoon, my companion and I were talking to people on the streets. We happened to be on that same street and stopped a guy not far from the shop itself. After greeting the man, we began to introduce ourselves. He quickly interrupted us saying, “I know you. You are the two guys that pass by my store every day. Every time you walk by you both look away from my store. Why do you do that? It is very rude. I do not want to hear about your church. I could never join a church that teaches others to look away like that. Goodbye!” It wasn’t the longest conversation we ever had, but it was definitely one of the most memorable.
After the man had said that, we both looked at each other in pure shock. We couldn’t believe it. Neither of us had expected anything to come from our childish joke. My first thought was that of gratitude. What if I had decided to not heed my companion’s warning? What if I decided to let him ride ahead of me so that I could get a look without him knowing? What would the man have said to us then? I was sure glad that I followed the spirit and stayed the course of obedience. Had I not, this man never would have noticed and may have even thought less of the church. I learned a lot that day. I learned that Wickedness never could be happiness. Here was a man laced in sin. He sold terrible products that only deprived people of what they needed. They sought after things that were only mimicking the true and unmatchable feelings of true love. You cannot fake it. Satan knows our generation very well. He knows that sex is selling more products than any other form of marketing. He knows that the natural man follows his body much quicker than his heart.
There is a scripture in the Book of Mormon that teaches this principle very well. King Benjamin had been teaching his people before giving up his throne. He had served long and hard for and with his people. He was no ordinary king in that aspect, for he truly served his people. In the spirit of what men’s natural tendencies were, he taught, “For the anatural bman is an cenemy to God, and has been from the dfall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he eyields to the enticings of the Holy fSpirit, and gputteth off the hnatural man and becometh a isaint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a jchild, ksubmissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father” (Mosiah 3:19). What a perfect scripture for this story! This man clearly did not understand what happiness really is. He had been so entrenched in sin that he didn’t even know it himself. Unfortunately this man did not accept the Gospel while I was there. I never did see him again on that street. I hope and pray that one day he will find the true light that comes from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I also hope and pray that the missionaries serving in that area uphold that same practice my companion and I did.
One of my favorite scriptures on this matter of what true happiness is, is Alma 41:10 from the Book of Mormon. In this passage, Alma was teaching his son Corianton. Corianton, though raised in a home of goodly parents, became a rebel in his later years of youth. He was called to be a missionary and to spread the good word to a wicked people. While on his mission, he caught the eye of a beautiful woman. This woman later seduced Corianton and it was not to his benefit. Alma took this opportunity to teach his wayward son of the gravity of his sin. He taught him of repentance and all that must take place in his life in order for him to be remitted in the presence of God. When speaking on the things to come after this life, Alma said, “Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10). Alma simply taught that a man cannot go from living a sinful life directly into the presence of God. A man must go through the process of repentance. He must have the spiritual change that was taught earlier by King Benjamin. You will not find peace in sin! You will not find happiness in transgression! That is Alma’s message. This may not have been what Corianton wanted to hear, but it is exactly what a loving father needed to tell his son. What else are fathers for, if they do not warn their children of the dangers in sin.
Just yesterday this lesson was reaffirmed to me. I went to Honolulu with some friends from school to see a movie. The movie was going great, even though the theater was a bit smaller than the size I was used to back on the mainland. There were only two sections of seats, the left and right side, which seems completely foreign to an American theater. This means the screen was a bit smaller and the walls a bit narrower. There were only about 15 people in the theater altogether and it only contained about 1/5th of the amount of people they could fit in there. Three quarters of the way through the movie, just before the climax, a man stood-up out of his chair, he sat back down, and then right back up again. He was jittery and uncomfortable. It didn’t seem like he knew what exactly was going on, but he was in good company, because neither did we. He eventually got out of his chair, turned up the isle, took a few steps and plummeted to the floor, while hitting his head on an arm rest on the way down. The sound was very loud and not pretty. Everyone in the theater immediately jumped out of their seats to see what the matter was. The man lay unconscious on the floor until the medics came. Long story short, this man had drunk so much vodka that he had passed out completely. Tomorrow, this man will wake up wondering why he has a splitting headache and a massive gouge in his face. What he thought was giving him relief and joy, ended up sending him to the emergency room with a pretty bill placed on his bedside. By the clothes he had on, I imagine it will take him a while to pay off this adventurous weekend.
I hope we can all learn from these two examples. I hope that we can avoid misfortune in our lives by choosing first to obey the commandments. It is obedience that brings true joy. I know we can all do better in our personal lives to shut off the computer, turn off the television and pick up our scriptures. I know that if we can do this simple task, we will notice a gigantic change in our lives. I challenge you to identify areas in your life where you can improve. I know that as we remove the sin in our lives, we will feel a much lighter load on our backs. We will begin to feel the love of the Savior. He is there. He loves you and I. This is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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