Some Spirichalness

So the other night I went to the MTC to help the Hungarian speaking missionaries practice and they gave us a nice lesson about what happened to the brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon (in Ether chapter 2 toward the end of the Book of Mormon). This is a very common story to those who read the Book of Mormon so me and the other person I was with were familiar with it but while it wasn't new, I did find a very interesting application for what the elders said.

In this part of the Book of Mormon a group of people were told by God that they need to build some barges and sail to a new area of land. The elders focused on the end of the chapter where the brother of Jared asks a few questions such as:

1) We've made these barges just like You said... but they are completely closed off, how are we going to be able to breathe?

And the Lord answers with "Put a hole in the top and bottom that can be closed off when you go under the water."

2) How are we going to steer the things?

Answer "I'll provide wind to give you a little push"

3) How will we see when it's all closed off?

Answer "What do you think we should do?"

This chapter is a really good depiction of different ways that God answers our prayers. Sometimes He just gives us the answer, sometimes He gives us a little push and sometimes He asks us to suggest some ideas. In all three cases He's always watching out for us but is still creative in how He helps us.

So the experience I related this to was when I was deciding to go on a mission. I knew from a pretty young age that I wanted to go but when the time came I realized that I hadn't really consulted God on it. I had the prospects of education, marriage and a mission in front of me and when I took these options to God I felt... nothing. I got no answer! I was SO frustrated! So I went ahead and put my papers in since it was what I wanted but still didn't know if it was what God wanted for me.

So a month or two after I get my call I'm still worried about my decision and am feeling no sort of peace about anything! Then one day a few friends and I were going to go to the Salt Lake City temple but it was closed for cleaning. So instead we went to the Joseph Smith Movie, a movie about the first prophet of God since the days of Jesus himself. Jesus Christ established His church and gave His power and authority to His apostles so the church could continue after His death. Unfortunately people that didn't accept Christ killed His apostles so that power and right to perform acts such as baptism was gone. Then when the world was ready, that power came back! It was restored by God and Jesus Christ through a man named Joseph Smith and this awesome movie is about Joseph's life. It's a really great movie and if you'd like to see it here it is!

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/film-about-joseph-smith-now-available-online

Anyway, so we go to see this and to be honest we had all seen it like 4 times but there's no harm in watching again! During part of the movie Joseph Smith is imprisoned falsely and is really poorly treated. The guards over him start to describe really horrendous things they have done to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith stands up and basically tells them that either they will stop talking or someone (whether it be Joseph or the guards) will "die this instant". It's a really awesome part of the movie, really powerful. And then in the next breath he says "The worth of every soul is great in the sight of God".

I just remember feeling this very powerful love and picturing the faces of the Hungarian people in my head. I could tell that this was not a command to go but instead a reason to. In essence, God gave me the wind. He gave me a little push but expected me to get out of the barge at the end of the trip and plant my feet firmly on the ground of my decision. I'm so grateful that He gave me that moment because it inspired me to go and have the incredible experience of serving people. It makes me think that maybe I need to look for times more often that are examples of when God has given me wind and let me take it from there.