When my dad told me of my topic a couple weeks ago I
thought to myself wow, they must have been researching the Dominican Republic
because the topic they gave me is a part of the history o f the country. In the
middle of the flag there is a bible and it is open to a specific page. It is
opened to John 8:32 which
states,“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, and ye
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” This is probably one of the most quoted scriptures in
the world. I think it is because it teaches a basic principle of the gospel. It
is truth that sets us free. Understanding and practicing the gospel makes us
free.But
the question is why is it important that we learn? This life is a time to
learn, an opportunity to grow in knowledge and light. In Doctrine and Covenants
section 130 verses 18 and 19 read, “Whatever
principle of aintelligence we
attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the bresurrection
And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the cadvantage in the world to come.”
Therefore learning is essential for our eternal
progress. And in verse 31 of the 8th chapter of John it explains how
we can learn. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
And ye shall aknow the btruth, and the ctruth shall make you free.” First off let us recognize that Jesus was talking to
those that believed on him or in other words the people that had faith in Him.
He then explained to them what they needed to do. He said continue in my word.
In other words do as he had taught and shown by his example. Those that do what
he has taught and those that try to be like him will become his disciples and
they shall know the truth that will make them free. In my time in the Dominican
Republic I can think of many people that truly have become disciples of Christ.
In my last area I met the first counselor of the ward and I felt like the man
had 20 or more years in the church. Later on I found out that he has less than
3 years as a member of the church. What I learned from this man was incredible.
He has truly dedicated himself to the gospel. He has read books such as Jesus the
Christ and The Miracle of Forgiveness and not only has he read them he has put
them in practice. That man is a wonderful example for me. Another amazing man
that I taught while on the mission is a shining example of being a follower of
Christ. A few days before Christmas in 2011 my companion and I had just gotten
back to our area after the mission Christmas party and so we went to the
streets to look for someone to talk to. Nobody wanted to talk to us at all. We
wandered around until we got a little discouraged and went to a members house.
We hadn’t really become friends of this family or anything but we began to talk
with the husband and he told us he would like our help to visit a less active
member. Of course we said we’ll help and so he took us over to the man’s house.
We got there and he wasn’t home but his brother was home and let us in to share
something with him. We talked about his health, he had suffered some strokes
recently, and we talked about his belief in God. We set up a return date and
left. The next 3 times we passed by he wasn’t there so we decided to move onto
other people to teach. Two months later while on exchanges with a missionary
who was on his second day in the mission we ran out of things to do. All of our
plans failed us in the morning. We tried to visit members and nothing absolutely
nothing. It didn’t help because it was noon and at noon in the Dominican
Republic everyone is eating and I mean everyone. But the last person we tried
to visit wasn’t home and we ended up in front of the old referral’s house. We
went to go talk to him and we found him there and began to teach about the
restoration. He was thoroughly interested. He said he would go to church and
that Sunday he went. He was prepared to be baptized in less than six weeks and
has been a solid member ever since. A year after his baptism I asked the
missionaries about him to see how he was doing and they told me that he was
leaving to do visits with them and giving them referrals. It made me so happy
to be able to help Bienvenido find the truth that he so desperately needed in his
life.
I
feel like it is a pretty basic concept. People that have faith and practice
what the Savior said by continuing in His word will be able to find the truths
they need to help make them free. My mission president focused a lot on chapter
6 of preach my gospel because it focuses on the attributes of Christ and trying
to become more like him in every facet of our lives. The truths I have learned
from studying and putting these things in practice have made me a free person.
I can be free from the temptations of Satan through obedience to my Father in
Heaven and the atonement of our Savior. But how can these truths get to the
people of the world? Elder Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy stated, “Missionary
work is the lifeblood of the Church and the lifesaving blessing to all who
accept its message.” It is through the missionaries that over 250,000 people
get baptized every year. It is because they are called to serve and set apart
with the great calling to be a missionary.
In my time as a
missionary I had many great uplifting experiences and tons of difficult trials
but one thing that always helped me was to see the people change. But they only
changed when they had faith and did what the Lord asked them. One great example
from my mission was a 26 year old man that we found named Miguel Castillo.
Right off the bat we didn’t think he had much desire to learn. I mean he was
really quiet and that is quite unusual for a mid twenties Dominican male. So we
set an appointment to return and when we returned he had read everything and
basically had it memorized. He loved the story of the restoration and
understood it. He went to church, we taught him everything he needed to know to
get baptized but he just didn’t have the desire to get baptized. The really
good thing with him was he loved to read what we left him so we gave him Alma
32, a chapter that talks about how our faith is like a seed, and we hoped he
would really understand it. When went back he told us he wanted to get
baptized. He read to us from Alma but not the part we hoped he’d read us He
shared verses 16 through 18 which read, “Therefore, blessed are they who humble
themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words,
blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without stubbornness
of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to
know, before they will believe. Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt
show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall
believe. Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man
knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it.” He felt like
Alma was talking to him directly and that was because he put his faith in the
Lord and tried to be like Jesus. I left the area that following Tuesday but he
was able to be baptized a week after I left. It is amazing what the Lord can
do.
The truth makes us
free because it keeps us safe from sin. Lehi talks to Jacob in 2nd
Nefi chapter 2 and gives him some insights, “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are
free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose
captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he
seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.” We have been given the
wonderful gift of agency that allows us to be free. We are free to choose
between life and death and if we want to be truly free we must put our faith in
Christ and continue in his word.
Everyone is free to
choose. I have a few days in the mission that I can remember like they happened
yesterday. On August 1st 2012, I was on an exchange and it was
raining like crazy all day. But we were used to it so we continued on. We
talked to a few people and then got to one house and called in. A woman that
looked a little frazzled came out with her 10 year old and 2 year old kids. She
didn’t look very happy. We tried to brighten her day and got her to smile so
she let us in. We talked for a little while and there is a quote in preach my
gospel that I really like, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught: “More
important than speaking is listening. These people are not lifeless objects
disguised as a baptismal statistic. They are children of God, our brothers and
sisters, and they need what we have. Be genuine. Reach out sincerely. Ask these
friends what matters most to them. What do they cherish,
and what do they hold dear? And then listen. If the setting is
right, you might ask what their fears are, what they yearn for, or what they
feel is missing in their lives. I promise you that something in
what they say will always highlight a truth of the gospel
about which you can bear testimony and about which you can then offer more. …
If we listen with love, we won’t need to wonder what to say. It will be given
to us—by the Spirit and by our friends”. When we listened to her she opened up.
We learned that she was a little depressed because she was having family
problems but the real reason she opened the door was because her sister was a
member of the church but had passed away. We talked to this woman on a
Wednesday and put our return appointment for Monday but we left her with an
invitation to church on that Sunday. She went with her three kids. It was
totally unexpected but awesome. She became super active and went to all the
weekly activities. A truly amazing woman. But everyone has their limit and
weakness. For 3 months Mirian was super strong and it was exciting to see her
and her family progress and then the trial came. There is a reason that Christ
commands the people to continue in his word. It is so we can keep exercising
our agency correctly and stay free. The hardest part of the process is enduring
to the end and for that reason we have been promised eternal life. If we stray
from the truth then we lose sensibility to the spirit and desire to do what is
right. One great blessing that we have as members of the church is the gift of
the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is there to teach us truth. He is a guide that
helps us make correct choices and warns us of potential problems. In my mission
we worked a lot with people that were less active in the gospel. In my last
area we had helped two families get back to church and both seemed quite
impossible because of their histories. One was an exbishop. He had fallen away
because of a few bad feelings he had towards a few members. He had about 5
years inactive. This man is amazing. He told us he wasn’t willing to go back
until there were changes in the church and so we followed the spirit and it
helped him understand that the baptismal covenant he made was with God and
nobody else. Since the spirit reminded him of the truths that he already knew
he has been able to get back on track. His goal is to be able to go to the
temple again. Another family that we were working with has 20 plus years
without attending and after teaching them 3 times the parents decided to visit
the church again. The truth is the only thing that can really change people.
That is why Alma explains the importance and power of missionary work. In the
31st chapter of Alma verse 5 it states, “And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had
had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or
anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was
expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.” It is the
preaching of the word of God that can help the people more than anything else.
It is shown by another example but first I want to give a little background. As
a missionary you are always looking for people to teach. Any way you can find
someone to teach you do it. The most effective way to find someone is through
the members. They really are the key to missionary work but many of us are
afraid to share the gospel or we say that they already have their beliefs and
cannot change but let us take the example of the Gadianton robbers. For those
of you that don’t know, the gadianton robbers were a group of thugs that
assassinated, robbed and did all kinds of terrible things in the Book of
Mormon. But there is something that changed them. In the 6th chapter
of Helaman verses 36 and 37, “And thus we see that the Lord began to pour out
his Spirit upon the Lamanites, because of their easiness and willingness to believe in his words. And it came to pass that
the Lamanites did hunt the band of robbers of Gadianton; and they did preach
the word of God among the more wicked part of them, insomuch that this band of
robbers was utterly destroyed from among the Lamanites.” It was a group of
willing lamanites that taught the gospel to the wicked gadianton robbers and
helped them receive the light and truth that they needed.
The following is a quote from Emeritus Seventy J William
Clarke, he said “Truth … defies full definition. Like electricity it can only
be explained by noting its manifestation. It is the compass of the soul, the
guardian of conscience, the final touchstone of right. Truth is the revelation
of the ideal; but it is also an inspiration to realize that ideal, a constant
impulse to live it. As Latter-day Saints, we are committed to the principles of
truth. We seek the truth; we believe the truth; and we know the “truth will
make us free.” To be genuine disciples, we must have harmony between the
principles that we profess and the truths we practice.”
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