October 2, 1990
Today’s reading: 1 Peter 1:7, Mormon 7:1
1 peter:6&7: The reason that we are often tried heavily, even unto sadness, is because we are earning rewards far more precious than gold.
Mormon 7:1: This verse shows a couple of very important things. First of all Mormon is specifically addressing the Lamanites of this age, and more generally the house of Israel, which would include all church members. Perhaps more importantly, this verse shows (again) that it is only through the power of God that these things are brought to us. There is a reason that we are given these things- for our learning and spiritual growth. However, if we do not use them, we will most certainly come under condemnation (D& C 84: 54-58)
Verse 2: This verse, at first glance, doesn’t appear to say much. But, if we look a little deeper- oh what wonderful words! We are to know that we are of the house of Israel. We are a part of God’s chosen people. We have made the necessary decisions to be numbered among god’s people! We will be saved through Christ’s atonement if we will only strive to continue to do what is right, if we will always strive to progress in righteousness. We have been promised that we can become princes and princesses in our dear Father’s kingdom. What a beautiful verse this is!
Boy, what do you write after a day like today? This morning, President Bott came to our zone meeting to talk to us about the problems we are having with our branches. Apparently, we are going to schedule a meeting with our mission president, missionaries, the stake president, and Branch presidents. That way maybe we can iron out some of our problems.
The rest of the day was kind of a waste. We had two dinner appointments for Elder Jasperson to say good-bye to people. Tou Lou took us to a Thai restaurant. thai food is really good. I like it a lot. Anyway, during dinner, ton Lee told me that his brother Paul, wanted to come to church sunday. he is the boy that I helped with his ’67 mustang. I would really like to start to teach his whole family.
After our D.A.’s, we went and said good-bye to some more people. After all of those good-bye to some more people. After all of those good-byes, he better get transferred, or it will take another wasted week to go tell everyone he’s staying. Well, that was the sum of the day. We have taught 0 discussions for the last two days now. transfer calls are tomorrow and I’m really hoping one of us goes.
I didn’t get any mail from anyone today. That makes five days since Kristin has written to me. I don’t know, maybe it is easier for her if she doesn’t write to me, but I sure feel far away when I don’t hear from her. I hope she is doing okay. I missed her especially bad today.
———-Cooper 8/31 Oct 3, 1990
Today’s Reading: 2 Peter 1:5, Mormon 7:3-
2 Peter 1:5: Faith is a good virtue to start with but we must add good things to our character after we acquire faith. We must continue to progress and become more like God.
Mormon 7:3: We must all repent in order to be saved. This means both the members and nonmembers. No matter how well I do today at keeping the commandments, I will still have need to repent. If I ever feel I have no need of repentance, I had better repent of my pride. there is always a need for repentance- always. If we stop repenting, we can not be saved.
Verse 4: This is a commandment that the Lamanites should stop their former ways and stop living the ways of their fathers. It is also a commandment to the rest of the world to do the same.
Verse 5: We must come to a knowledge of the testimonies our ancestors of long ago had. We must also come to a knowledge of our sins and iniquities. We must repent of our sins and believe in Christ. We must know that Christ died fro us, tat He made and atonement for us, tat he was resurrected by the power of the Father.
Verse 6: Since Christ brought to pass both the atonement and the resurrection, we will be brought to stand before His judgement seat. Christ has paid the price for us. If we will but do His will, we will be saved through Him. It will be up to Him to decide who get to the Celestial Kingdom because without Him, no on will get to the Celestial Kingdom.
Transfer calls came- the church must be true. Elder Jasperson got transferred to Porterville. He will be leaving tomorrow morning. Elder Le is going going home tomorrow. It seems really weird to have someone going home already. I am so far from being ready to go home that I can’t believe it. I really have a long way to go. When it is time for me to go home, I want to be ready to start a family, so I had better do a lot of growing up.
This morning we went over to Yia Vaj’s house. She and Kia dressed us all up in Hmong clothing and jewlry and took our pictures. then we spent all day visiting people that Elder Jasperson wanted to say good-bye to.
Tonight at mutual, we watched “what is real.” It is really a good show. It showed a man and wife with a brand new little girl and the questions they wanted to be able to answer for her. It made me excited for the time that I can start a family. I have a long ways to go, but I can’t wait fro the day that I am ready to be a husband.
------ Oct 4, 1990
Today’s Reading: June 1:3, Mormon 7:7-
Jude 1:3- We must always “contend’ and struggle for our faith so that it is constantly getting stronger. the Lord wants us to put forth that effort or struggle in order to “earn” our faith. I use the word earn lightly because no matter what we do, we still have an infinite debt to our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Verse 7: Because Christ redeemed the world, we will all be judged by Him and under His direction. If we have done the required things, we will be able to live with God again. When this happens, we will be able to progress forever, we will be able to live in God’s presence. We will praise God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost in complete unity. The Godhead also had complete unity in purpose and desires. All who dwell in the Celestial Kingdom will have that same unity and that same happiness.
Verse 8: We are commanded again to be converted. Then Mormon gives us a special commandment. We are to lay hold upon the gospel that is contained in the Book of Mormon, but we are also to lay hold upon the words contained in the Bible. He tells the Lamanites that the Bible will come from the Jews to the Gentiles, and then to the Lamanites and Israelites from the Gentiles. This is exactly how the Bible was brought to us. The Bible was brought to the church through the Gentiles. We must use both the Bible and the Book of Mormon in order to gain a firm understanding of Christ’s life and His gospel.
Elder Jasperson left at 10:45 this morning. I would be somewhat less than honest if I said I didn’t feel some relief when he left. Elder Brown got here about 12:30. This is going to be great! We have worked our a schedule for tomorrow, and we are really going to get things going in Fresno. He is really shy, so I will have to make sure I let him plan things and speak a lot. He had been out for 2 months longer than me, but he doesn’t speak much Hmong. We are really going to work hard to have the spirit, so things are going to be great!
We spent most of the day getting Elder Brown settled in and unpacked. We also went with Yia to go get him some groceries and she fed us dinner. It is going to be great to have companion study and companion planning. We will really be able to work together to get stuff done. Elder Watson’s new companion just got here from the MTC. This apartment is really going to get things going now.
Oct 5, 1990
Today’s Reading: Mormon 7:9-
Verse 9: The Book of Mormon is written for the purpose of helping us, as well as the Lamanites and all people on the earth, to believe the Bible. If a person truly believes the Bible, he will believe the Book of Mormon also because he will understand the prophecies in the Bible that refer to the Book of Mormon (is. other sheep, stick of Joseph, mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses) If a person believes the Book of Mormon they will gain a greater understanding of God and Jesus Christ. Also, the Lamanites who believe will gain a true knowledge of their forefathers and all of the things that God did for them. What a wonderful opportunity.
Verse 10: The Lamanites can also gain an understanding of their lineage from Jacob through Manasseh. This enables them to gain a far greater understanding of the blessings and promises God had given them dependent upon the choices they make. If they will follow the conversion process, faith, repentance, baptism by water, receive the Holy Ghost, keep the commandments and continue to progress in acquiring God-like qualities, they will be numbered among the people of Christ and be saved at the last day. This is a process that is possible for each and every person on the earth to follow. It is simply a matter of deciding to do it, setting the goal to attain the Celestial Kingdom, and working toward it. This is something we all need to do. Something we need to remember every second of our lives.
Today really went well. We had a meeting with Elder and Sister Watters this morning. It actually went fairly well. I think we got them excited about the work, I just hope they will be able to get after it now.
We taught 1 new member discussion, 1 discussion, and gave about 6 gospel presentation. We wanted to teach a lot more discussions, but we had a hard time getting with any of our investigators. We learned a lot of Hmong and got quite a few referrals from members. Elder Brown is really a good guy. We well really be able to get a lot done if we can get organized.
My ability to speak Hmong has really improved over the last few days. Do to the fact that I do most of the speaking, I have been able to practice a lot. I really hope that I can really improve over the next few months.
Tonight we went to see Sheng, the 9 year old that we baptized last week. It was neat because her mom said she was just going to call us to have us come give Sheng a blessing. The spirit really will lead us if we just keep ourselves in time. It was fun to be able to explain to her about blessings and to give her a blessing in Hmong. I know enough words now that I really feel comfortable speaking Hmong. I love this work!
Oct 6, 1990
600 days left. I have a lot of work to do.
Today’s Reading: Revelation 13:10, 3 Nephi 17:1-
Revelations 13:10- During the last days, one of the nations of the earth will have power over the saints (vs 7) This is the time that will be the trial of the faith of the saints. Those that remain faithful will be saved in Christ. We must strengthen our faith in preparation for that day.
Verse 1: Christ was telling these people that the time was nearing when he would have to do.
Verse 2: This is precisely the reason that we all need to study the scriptures. We are all weak because of the flesh. The more we read and truly ponder the words, the better our understanding will become. It is also the reason that it is so essential for each of us to have the Holy Ghost to guide us when we study. Christ was commanded by the Father to tell us these things.
Verse 3: This is exactly what we must do in order to gain the most from the scriptures. We must ponder them. We must pray to the Father that our eyes might be opened, that we many understand the things which we have read. How do we prepare our minds for further study? Following the word of wisdom, keeping the commandments, keeping our minds clear and our spirits in time, and by praying to the Father for help at all times.
Verse 4: Christ appeared to the lost tribes of Israel. At some point in time, we will receive scriptures from those lost tribes. We must increase our testimonies of living prophets so that when the prophet brings forth that scripture we prepared to accept it wholeheartedly.
Today was by far the most spiritual day of my entire mission. I had the opportunity to go to three sessions of General Conference today. It is so wonderful to sit at the feet of Jesus Christ’s apostles and be instructed. I took a lot of notes on the impressions I received as well as the instruction that was given. I will be certain to include them in my journal so I will be able to refer to them in the future.
I will be the first to admit that I was a little bit tired of sitting by the end of the priesthood session, but it was really a great experience.
I burned the biscuits I was cooking for breakfast this morning, I forgot they were in the oven and cooked them 40 minutes instead of 10. That’s the breaks I guess.
Oct 7, 1990
Today’s Reading: Patriarchal Blessing D&C 19, mission call, 1 Nephi 7:12
1 Nephi 7:12- If we will but exercise faith in the Lord, He can give us everything that He wants to. The reason Nephi uses the word “exercise’ is that we must not only have faith, we must act on our faith, we must show forth our faith through our works. (James 2) If we have and show forth faith, we can do all things expedient in Christ. (Moroni 7:33)
3 Nephi 17:5- The people wept because they loved Christ, they could feel His love for them, and they did not want Him to leave them. I am sure that many people have this same longing to be with Christ. We have been given the direction necessary to enable us to return to live with Him again. All we have to do is to follow the conversion process and endure to the end in faith and repentance.
Verse 6: Christ wanted the people to know that He loved them too. His love is ultimate love. (John 15:13) We should all try to develop our love to this degree. We should pray always to be found full of charity at the last day.
Verse 7: Christ healed all of the people that were afflicted with any manner of disease. He did this through the power of the priesthood. I have been blessed with this same power. I pray that I can have the faith and inspiration necessary to be able to relieve the physical and mental suffering of those whom I come into contact with. I have so much to learn about the priesthood and the Kingdom of God. Christ is filled with mercy towards all those who will repent and come unto Him.
Today went really well. Conference was translated into Hmong by people in Salt Lake for the morning session. Elder Bohn, Elder Erikson, and Yaj Yig Vaj each translated a talk. I hadn’t realized how much I missed Yaj Yig. When I heard her voice, tears filled my eyes and just ran down my cheeks. She was the first Hmong person I ever met. She always showed so much love and caring for Elder Davis and I.
The afternoon session was not translated in Salt Lake, but about 30 Hmong people showed up. Guess who got to translate? I found myself in a little tiny room with a pair of headphones and a microphone. The hardest part about it was that when I spoke Hmong, the speakers just kept talking. by the time I would get done with a sentence, the speaker would have said another sentence that I didn’t hear. It was really hard. The Hmong people understand most of what I said. Yia made fun of me for saying some stupid things. I said mouth instead of clothes and I said hair instead of clothes. Oh well, such is life. I really feel like I did pretty well, but it was really hard.
Oct 8, 1990
Today’s Reading: 3 Nephi 17:8-
Verse 8: Christ could see that the people desired to know what he had done to their relatives in Jerusalem. He knew that these people had sufficient faith to be healed. If our faith is sufficient, we too can be healed if it is in accordance with Christ’s will. The priesthood on the earth today allows me to act in Christ’s name, but those actions will only be genuinely done in Christ’s name if it is in accordance with Christ’s will. As priesthood holders, we must have an understanding of this. Our words and blessings must be in accordance with the will of God. Here, Christ wanted to heal them, and they had enough faith. There are times when God gives us illnesses and afflictions for reasons. We must be willing to accept God’s will in all things and truly try to learn from the tests we are given in this life.
Verse 9: The people did things “with one accord.” All people of Christ will be of one heart and one mind. Christ healed all of the people. His power was not limited in any way whatsoever. He had and had today the power to heal all manner of afflictions.
Version 10: All of the people worshipped Christ, whether they had had previous illnesses or not. Christ’s greatest gift was atoning for our spiritual shortcomings and illnesses. In this way, He healed everyone’s spiritual illnesses. We all need to worship Christ completely and totally in order to be able to receive the rewards of that gift. We must devote our lives to Christ through the “conversion” process in order to be truly “healed’ spiritually.
Today was really a good day. I spent some time this morning talking with the Lundahl’s found that by answering their questions, I was able to solve many problems of my own.
This afternoon, we got to watch the Cincinnati Red’s play the Pittsburg Pirates in the baseball playoffs. It was really fun. It seems like forever since I got to watch a baseball game. We watched it up at the mission president’s office.
Tonight, we went and had family home evening with Bee Vang and his family. It was so neat to be able to teach that man how to teach his family and how to work with his family in the manner that the Lord had outlined for him. It was so fun. We taught a short lesson on Christ, and then we taught them how to play button, button. I am going to have family home evening with my family every single Monday starting with the first Monday after we are married. It is such an important thing to do.
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