One of the great personal benefits of being a Pathway missionary is that I get to teach the Institute class. The students, Jenny, Elton, Melvin and Daniela, are wonderful; and the course, a new Religion course recently published, "Jesus Christ and the Everlasting Gospel", is beyond marvelous.
Yesterday we talked about how important it is - and how much an example of the condescension of God - that Jesus be born of a mortal mother and of an immortal Father. An utter marvel.
We talked about how our trust is confirmed and our faith grows as we realize that Jesus was mortal as we are -- and, on the other hand, how our trust and faith are strengthened by the fact that Jesus inherited the traits of his immortal, celestial Father as well. Writing about it in my journal this morning, I kept setting my pen down to think about it, to ponder the significance of his suffering in the garden.
The garden... "For as in Adam [the Garden of Eden] all die, even so in Christ [the Garden of Gethsemane] shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22).
How perfectly He did and does His part: "For this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39).
It has all helped me to be more committed to do my little planting, hoeing, dunging, nourishing and harvesting. He "marked the path and led the way" (Hymns, 195, "How Great the Wisdom and the Love").
Fun thing:
In fact, we were just given a taste of the fruit yesterday: the oldest daughter of one of our neighbors, who knew us in our most excruciatingly dysfunctional times as a family, sent an email yesterday: she is a member of the Church now!
She commented, "Bet you didn't know I was watching..."
The fact that she saw something, was testimony to the power of the Holy Ghost working in the lives of people desperately but prayerfully trying to weed their garden.
Hallelujah!
(our garden after 30 years of effort)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please pass on your thoughts or questions about missionary work, Italy, or anything else!