KIDS

Feb. 24, '14

Hello fine folks of both hemispheres, 'tis a pleasure to address you today! This week was pretty sweet. Not the busiest week we've ever had, but spiritually uplifting for sure. We committed a part member family to do family prayer and they did. And loved it. We taught a new member lesson. We taught Ella about the Book of Mormon. We had some AMAZING zone conference. We interviewed some auxiliaries. We had some members humorously harass us with J. Golden Kimball stories over dinner. we had a woman in a mental ward apologize for being rude to us and another woman tell us we were glowing-- we taught her about prayer from the Book of Mormon obvi. We FINALLY got in contact with Jerry again, and will get that ball rolling again. And I learned that children LOVE ME.

And I actually did a little bit of thinking about kids this week. It started at zone conference, when President Packard gave a mind-blowing visual talk about King Benjamin's speech. He illustrated how the ENTIRE THING is made up of chiastic structures, and the center of the center of the center chiasmus is Mosiah 3:19. 

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh like a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

We read this with Ella and asked her, why is it so important that we become like little children? A saint through the atonement is like a child. Not in ignorance, but in meekness. The blood of Christ atones for the sins of children. But the natural man cannot access that forgiveness. The child will believe, and submit to the commandments of the Lord; King Lamoni said "I will give away all my sins to know thee...", as an obedient child wants to do that which will make his father happy. Our desire to believe as children of God doesn't have to be grandiose, but it has to lead to us experimenting on His word every day. And that means giving away our sins. 

SO REPENT OR SUFFER ETERNAL FIRE!!!! hahaha its fun to go full sermon sometimes. But really. I spent a lot of time with kids this week, even sitting in Primary to help with reverence. For all their ridiculous shenanigans, children full of love and willing to submit to their Father in Heaven are the ultimate example for us. So be a little simpler, a little kinder, and a little more open with the people around you. God will bless you for it.

Oh and p.s. no way Joseph Smith knew even what chiasmus was when he was translating the Book of Mormon. #farmboy

I love you all!