Hey!
So Tell Bishop thanks for the sweet email! I had to look up what it [the plans for the new Indianapolis Temple that was just announced in October's General Conference!!]
looked like and in case someone hasn't there it is sort of! Anyways,
this week is an odd one. Our strengths were our weaknesses and our
weaknesses were...well what we could call strengths. We had a good
week of finding and taught a whopping 12 lessons haha...ya and our
investigators who are becoming eternal investigators are still there
but our progressing one has dropped off the face of at least
Bolton...she has been in Manchester all week...
They have changed the format of the email service we have and it
freaked me out today...I thought something happened and I couldn't
read any emails this week. I think I would have smacked the screen
sooner or later if I didnt figure it out quick enough. We only have a
timed hour in this library and so things don't always get sent like I
thought they would...
So today I read from Mosiah 10-17 which is basically the whole story
of King Noah and Abinadi. Only exception is that King Noah isn't dead
yet. It was pretty interesting. I am about halfway done with 2
Chronicles also in my Old Testament reading and there are a couple
things I have read that I am thankful some passages of the Bible did
not get lost in the corruptness of the world. One of those is the
willingness of the people of Israel under King David and Solomon to
pay their "tithing" as we would call it today.
These passages in 1 Chronicles 29 sum up what I mean:
6 ¶ Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of
Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers
of the king’s work, offered willingly,
7 And gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand
talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents,
and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand
talents of iron.
8 And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the
treasure of the ahouse of the Lord, by the hand of Jehiel the
Gershonite.
9 Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered awillingly,
because with perfect heart they offered bwillingly to the Lord: and
David the king also rejoiced with great joy.
10 ¶ Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation:
and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our afather, for
ever and ever.
11 Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the aglory,
and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in
the earth is thine; thine is the bkingdom, O Lord, and thou art
exalted as head above all.
12 Both ariches and honour bcome of thee, and thou reignest over
all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to
make great, and to give strength unto all.
13 Now therefore, our God, we athank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
14 But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to
offer so willingly after this sort? for all things acome of thee, and
of thine own have we given thee.
I would organize that and bold the points I wanted to make but the key
word is that they offered willingly their tithing and fast offerings
to the Lord because they knew it all came from Him anyways. I just
want to remind all of you to do the same and keep on track with your
tithing. I promise you as you do, the money troubles will seem as the
people of Alma under Amulon when the Lord promises-
13 And it acame to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in
their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort,
for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will
covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.
14 And I will also ease the aburdens which are put upon your
shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while
you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as bwitnesses
for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord
God, do visit my people in their cafflictions.
15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon
Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did astrengthen
them that they could bear up their bburdens with ease, and they did
submit cheerfully and with cpatience to all the will of the Lord.
16 And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their
patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be
of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.
We can show our Faith in the Lord as did Alma's people by paying our
tithing and the burdens will be lightened to the point that we cannot
feel them upon our backs and with continued Faith and Prayer,
deliverance will come in one way or another.
I love you all,
Elder Blackburn
No comments:
Post a Comment