Mission Accomplished!

The Final Weekly

Well I guess this is it. 

What a ride it has been, high highs, and the lowest of the lows, and just about everywhere in between. My mission has had it all, and how grateful I am for it. 

In thinking about what I wanted to say for this final email, I had a whole lot of good ideas run through my head this week, but now that I'm here, it seems I've forgotten them all. That's more of a bummer for you than it is for me. It's hard to sum up what seems to be 10 years of life experience crammed into 2, but I'll do my best haha. 

First and foremost I know that God is real. It's hard to know if there's a God without having experiences with God. Over the course of these 2 years I've tried to consistently put myself in a place to have experiences with God. I know that he is there, that he loves us, and that any percieved lack of communication between Him and us, us not because He isn't there, or doesn't care........... It always takes initiative on our end, and when we act and ask, he will answer.

Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. What an incredible concept, the God of the universe cares about us so much, that he wants us to return to him! Bound as he is by laws of justice, he initiated a plan on our behalf, to be able to extend mercy. That plan involved an individual perfect and guiltless, a lamb without spot. How grateful I am, that not only was God willing to sacrifice his Son, but the Son was willing to be that infinite and eternal sacrifice. 

The Gospel, and Church of Jesus Christ have been restored in these latter days. Joseph Smith did what he said he did and saw what he said he saw. He truly was a prophet of God and the instrument by which God has initiated this last, and final dispensation. The Book of Mormon is true, not a fantastic work of fiction, but scripture, given by God to his prophets, kept and preserved for us in these latter days.

These are 3 of the most basic principles of the Gospel, but over the course of my mission, and thanks to it, they have become the foundation of my testimony, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Before my mission my testimony was there, but barely alive if anything. Reading the scriptures was a chore, and praying (when I remembered) was a halfhearted "help me sleep well tonight". And while I'm not perfect, and still (sometimes) fall asleep while reading the scriptures, the Gospel has come alive to me, it's taken on a whole new meaning, and I love it. 

Overall I've loved my mission, it's been tough, but anything that's worth doing usually is. I'm thankfull to all the people who I met that have changed my life, and I hope I was in some way, able to help change others lives for the good. 

Thanks for all the love and support these last 2 years. Love you all!

Elder McArthur

After All We Can Do

This week was good, long, hot,  sweaty, the usual. Not a lot happened noteworthy or mentionable so I'm just going to tell Y'all something I learned in my studies this week. 

2 Nephi 25:23 "....for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

A scripture that is often misinterpreted by those not of our faith, particularly those who are antagonistic to the church. But it can even be misunderstood by members of the church. 

If you'll recall in Alma 21-26ish Aaron preaches to King Lamoni's father and converts a ton of Lamanites and they become the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. The rest of the Lamanites are pretty chapped at their brethren and get the idea to come down and just kill them all. 

The Anti-Nephi-Lehies were about to take up arms in defence, when the king said these words. 

Alma 24: 11,15

Note the bold letters....

"11 And now behold, my brethren, since it has been ALL THAT WE COULD DO (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts, FOR IT WAS ALL WE COULD DO TO REPENT sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain,

15 Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as AS MUCH AS MUCH AS WE COULD DO TO GET OUR STAINS TAKEN AWAY FROM US and our swords are made bright, let us hide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day.........."

So now the question becomes? What is all we can do? What do we HAVE to do?

I think the point I'm trying to make, and the example used, speaks for itself.

Brothers and Sisters, ALL we CAN do is turn to Christ, all we HAVE to do is turn towards Christ, to repent and let Him make us whole again. 

Also on a side note, we went to a Non-denominational church on Sunday and it was wild hahah. Rock concert for the first 30 minutes, it was lit.

Love you all! Thank you all for the support and love given to me these last 2 years, it's been an incredible journey. 

Elder McArthur