Oct 30, 1990
Today’s Reading: 3 Nephi 26: 9, Helaman 14:7-
3 Nephi 26:9- This verse also helps us to realize that witnesses are fiven to us gradually. Line upon line, precept on precept. That is how Heavenly Father teaches us. He does not usually give us an overpowering witness at first. I believe that the reason for this is to make repentance easier if we fall. If we were to have a perfect knowledge at first, it would be very difficult to repent. Therefore, God feeds us and educates us a little bit at a time. When our faith increases so will out witness.
Helaman 14:7- This will also happen when all of us meet Christ at the last day. We will be so amazed at His goodness and infinite glory, that we will all fall down and praise Him. That is, if we have lived long enough to see Him. Even if we don’t see Him, we will fall down and praise Hime when we meet Him after our resurrection.
Verse 8_ Whoever believes in Christ, will repent, be baptized and receive the Holy ghost. They will also continue to progress and increase in both works and faith. For this reason we can say that everyone who truly believes in Christ shall have everlasting life. True faith leads to works and exaltations.
I don’t have much time to write but I feel it is important to record what happened to me today. I went to five a blessing to a little baby boy today named Jeffry Lor. He has been really sick with diarrhea and the flue. Elder Brown asked me to give the blessing. As I did, I had an experience unlike any I have ever had. I nearly forgot his illness. I blessed him that he would remember to do what the Lord wanted him to do. I was also impressed with the felling that he had a very important work to accomplish on this earth. I told him of the importance of being baptized, serving a mission and being married in the temple. After all of that, I remembered that the reason I was there was that he was sick. the Spirit impressed on my mind how insignificant his illness was when compared to the magnitude of his mission on this earth. As a result, I blessed him that he would be healed instantly and have no more problems. After the blessing that little toddler stared at me until I left. I know that he understood the words that I said I am so grateful for the priesthood which I hold. I want to strive always to be worthy to give my dear wife and children blessings in their times of need. I hope they will always understand the power of the priesthood when exercised properly.
Oct 31, 1990
Today’s Reading: Ether 3:19, Helaman 14:9-
Ether 3:19- The faith of the Brother of Jared had increased so greatly that Christ showed His spirit to him. At this point, the Brother of Jared no longer had faith. He had knowledge in place of his faith. Just imagine the great amount expected from this man because he know had knowledge instead of faith. We should all strive to develop our faith to the point that the Lord will grant knowledge unto us.
Helaman 14:9- Helaman had been commanded by an angel to cry repentance unto the world. This is the same commandment that we are given today. There are far too many scriptures to quote, but one good one is 3 Nephi 11:38-39. As missionaries our job is simply to cry repentance unto the people.
Verse 10: The wicked take the truth to be hard. How many times is this evidenced in the scriptures. We must strive always to simply be receptive to the Lord. Whenever we disagree with something on of our leaders tells us, we better take a real close look at what we are doing in our lives.
This was probably the weirdest Halloween of my life. If I didn’t know it, I would never have guessed it was Halloween. I suppose that if you live in the kind of neighborhood that we live in, you don’t really let your kids wander around at night. Besides that, who knows what some of the people around here would give the kids?
The hmong people wouldn’t let their kids go either. Word got around that some people might put drugs or something into the candy, so they just don’t let their kids go. i hope I can always live in a place where it is safe to let my kids go out and go trick-or -treating. It will be so fun to take them. I can’t wait!
Tonight, we went to see Keng at his house. He told us that he had been praying about which church was true, but that he hadn’t gotten an answer. I told him that he had to make the best decision he could and then pray to see if he is right (D&C 9:8) I think Keng has already found out the truth, it is just that he is not yet ready to accept it. I hope and pray that he will be able to have the strength and desire to ind the truth.
I didn’t get mail today either. I hate when that happens. I hope to get some tomorrow.
Nov 1, 1990
Today’s Reading: Either 4:7-, Helaman 14:11-
Either 4:7- When we exercise our faith unto repentance, we are forgiven of our sins and become sanctified in the blood of Jesus Christ. When we become sanctified, the Lord will unfold unto us all of the revelations contained in the Book of Mormon. Without the Spirit, we cannot understand the things written in the Book of Mormon. We will not understand the true meaning of the revelations contained there in without being granted insight from the Spirit. We must first repent, or the Spirit will not be with us as we read.
Helaman 14:11- This is exactly the reason that I am a missionary. I am to teach the Hmong people of the judgements that await them if they do not accept the gospel. I am also to teach them the way to repent and come back to Christ. The more I teach, the more I realize my daily need for Christ’s atonement.
Verse 12: Unlike Samuel, I am teaching about the Second coming of Christ. However, I too want the people to know that He will come again. i want them to know that it is possible to prepare for that great day of judgement.
Verse 13: If we truly believe in Christ, we will exercise that faith through repentance and obedience. It is only through the merits of Christ that we are able to be forgiven. None of us merit that forgiveness on our own works. No matter what we do, we are unprofitable servants.
Nov 1, 1990
I want to record a story that a man told me today. I went to see him off of a referral from one of our members. He had just arrived here from Thailand. He told me that while he was in Laos, he had a dream. In that dream, a man came and talked to him. The man taught him how to pray to God, in the name of Jesus Christ. The man told him that he was to leave Laos, go to Thailand, and as soon as possible he and his family of seven children and his wife were to go to America. This man was also told him to pray always while on his journey.
Well, he did as he was told. He took his family to Thailand and then immigrated to the United States. I asked him if he felt that God had guided him to come here. He said that he had experienced no problems on his way. Then I read him 2 Nephi 1:6. I told him that I knew God had brought him here. I taught him a first discussion. The spirit was so strong. I gave him a Book of Mormon. He said, “Thank God for sending you to teach me.”
Talk about a golden contact. We made an appointment for my companion and I to come back. I went on splits tonight, so I was with the Spences (the new couple working as missionaries in our Branch)
I got a package of letters from home. My family even sent a tape!
Nov 2, 1990
Today’s Reading: Ether 12:4, Helaman 14:14-
Ether 12:4- Because of one’t faith in Christ, he has the hope of a better world after death. It is important to note that Ether said that he could with surety hope. The reason for this surety is the witness that one receives after showing forth him faith in works.
Helaman 14:14- The Lord not only wanted the people in America to know of Christ’s birth, but also of His death. I don’t really know why the Lord chooses to give signs to some, but not to others. It doesn’t really matter either. The Lord does what he deems expedient. He is far more wise than any mortal will ever be on this earth.
Verse 15: Christ was the only person ever to be able to control the time at which His spirit and body separated. t was also important that He could control His spirit’s reentry into Hid body. When Christ did this, the gates of death were open, and all people were able to be resurrected. We cam to this earth to receive a body. It is for this reason that it is necessary for us to be resurrected before we are judged. We must have a body to be judged.
Verse 16: Spiritual death is the separation of one’s spirit from the spirit of the Lord. because the resurrection enables us to return to the Lord, it helps to bring an end to our spiritual death. I always thought that the atonement was all that was necessary fro ending our spiritual death, but the resurrection was also necessary.
Today was a pretty good day. We baptized Mai Yia Vang and Xai Her, TOn MAo Xiong, May Kew Ciong, May Xoo XIong, Miguel Xiong, and Elsa Xiong. IT was neat to see a family get baptized like that. I had the opportunity to baptize all of them. It was really fun. I even got all of them under all the way or the very first try.
I learned something today. Baptisms are not the fun part of missionary work. The fun part is actually seeing someone coverted and make the decision to be baptized. The fun part is to see their eyes opened to the gospel. The fun part is having them tell you about the way they felt when they prayed. The fun part is seeing them change their life. Of course, baptism is an important part of the work. I really don’t think I would mind if I never really got to be present at the ceremony again. All I really want to do is to be the one who gets to speak the Lord’s words to the people, be able to see them change, and then know that they had been able to be baptized.
I love to be a missionary. I love to share the gospel. I love the Lord. This is the greatest work on the earth.
Nov 3, 1990
Today’s Reading: Helaman 14:17-, Ether 12:6
Ether 12:6- I think that the key phrase in this verse is ‘ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.” Each of us will have different trials of our faith, but before a true witness can be received, the Lord wants us to show that we truly have faith. The Lord tries us, when we pass, we receive a witness.
Helaman 14:17- This verse shows the universality of Christ’s resurrection. Because Christ was resurrected. We will all be resurrected and brought to stand before christ to be judged of our works. Every single person will be resurrected.
Verse 18: Because of the atonement of Christ, we all have the ability to repent of our sins. Those who repent will be forgiven of their sins and allowed to remain in the presence of God and Jesus Christ. Those who do not repent will be cast out of their presence again. They will suffer a second spiritual death, from which there is no return. They will never again feel the joy of dwelling in the presence of their God.
Verse 19: Repentance is so much easier than eternal damnation. If we know the truth, but repent not, we will not be forgiven of our sins. This is why it hurts so bad to see someone receive the truth and then deny it.
Today was kind of a different day. We did not get a chance to do a whole lot of teaching. We went back over to Sue Vue’s house. (He’s the one that had the dream about coming to America). I asked him if there was anything I could help him with. He said not. We talked with his family some more, and I asked again. He said no. Then I felt prompted to ask if he was receiving welfare. He said not! I asked him why. He answered by saying that he didn’t know how to apply for it! I was so amazed! He has 8 children, but he won’t tell anyone that he had a problem. Monday, I will make one phone calls & get his welfare started.
Tonight we went to see Keng. It was a really hard thing to do. He told us he still hadn’t gotten an answer about which church was true. We talked for a while and he kept asking questions about our church and if we did this or whether we did that. The whole time he would say how that was right and how his church was wrong. After a while, I said that I thought he really had received an answer. He said that he had, but he was scared. He is living with three other ministers, and his family goes to the same church. If he was to join our church, he would have to find a new place to live. We gave him a blessing, talked for a while, and asked him to pray. That was one of the neatest prayers I’ve ever heard. He thanked God for the true church, the priesthood, and for us as missionaries. I just hope he will hand in there long enough for the Lord to open the way for him.
Nov 4, 1990
Today’s Reading: D&C 19, Ether 12:12, Helaman 14:20-
Ether 12:12- care must be taken when reading this scripture to prevent one from assuming that God had not the power to do miracles among the faithless, for God certainly does have the power to do all things. It is not expedient in God’s sight to perform miracles among the faithless, but God does possess the ability to do this if he saw fit. We must have the faith before the miracle. Miracles do not promote faith; rather, faith promotes the miracle.
Helaman 14:20- This sign from God has caused many to say that the Book of Mormon is incorrect. Jerusalem was in darkness for only 3 hours (Luke 23:44) They say this as if the Lord does not have power to cause darkness in one land, but not in another. Those who feel that there is an error should read Exodus 10:22-23. The Lord had all power. It is not for us to judge His power, ability, or goodness. It is for Him to judge ours.
Verse 21: This sign, unlike the darkness mentioned in verse 20, appears to have been universal. The earthquakes and storms were experienced both in the American’s and in Jerusalem. I would assume that they were experienced throughout the entire world.
Verse 22: The land masses were broken up and the contour of the land was changed. Note- Helaman was telling of this long before it happened.
Nov 4, 1990
Well, since today was fast Sunday, we did not have an opportunity to teach at all. On fast Sunday we don’t make any appointments. We spend the whole day studying and really striving to become closer to God.
We had dinner over at out Branch President’s home tonight. It was really nice to be able to relax like that. We talked a lot about some really neat things about the Hmong people. Our branch president had spent a lot of time researching the Hmong sow, or breastplate. He has spent a great deal of time looking into it. He has sent some things to Salt Lake City and some of the General Authorities are looking into it. He basically has a theory the the Hmong people are literal descendants of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. I don’t know for sure if he’s right or not, but I surely think he had some very substantial evidence. All 12 tribes of Israel will be brought to this continent in the last days. If the Hmong people truly are descendants of Israel, then the literal gathering of the 12 tribes of Israel has begun. This means that we are in the evening of the last days.
I was also impressed today with the necessity of scaling up the missionary effort in Fresno. I‘m not sure yet home to do it, but I’ll figure it out eventually. There just had to be a way to reach more people than we are reaching.
Nov 5, 1990
Today’s reading: Moroni 7:33, Helaman 14:23
(Dad’s Favorite Scripture- write this next to it )Moroni 7:33- I know this to be true. When we have faith in Christ, and exercise it through our works, we have power, the kind of power that men and their wisdom can in no way explain.
Helaman 14:23: What happened to the land masses is very parallel to what happens to men. He who exalteth himself shall be laid low and he who humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Verse 24: Highway in the time of the coming of Christ were the source of communication between cities. When Christ died, this source of communication failed. Without communication, civilization fails completely. Before Christ comes to earth again, civilization will again fail completely. Christ will then come in His glory and build His kingdom on the earth in the way that he sees fit. He will organize a perfect civilization on the face of this earth.
Verse 25: Samuel was prophesying of the resurrection. When Christ was resurrected, so began the first resurrection. All of the righteous people who had been on the earth and died before Christ were resurrected at the time of Christ’s resurrection. At that time, resurrected beings appeared to many in both Jerusalem and in America.
Well, today was definitely not on e of the best ? days’ I have ever experienced. I spent all morning over at the Lundahl’s writing letters and stuff like that.: This after noon, I got a tape from Kristin. I was really excited, except when I listened to it, She spent most of the time telling me about the guy she went on a date with. I was crushed. I guess today was the first time that the thought crossed my mind that she might not wait for me. That scared me to death. It made me realize I might be alone when I go home. It also made me remember the answers I had received to my prayers and not to worry. I think this had been on e of the most difficult days of my entire mission.
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