"God knows each of us!" & Alma 48:17

November 17, 2022

"God knows each of us!" & Alma 48:17

Hello hello! This week was a great week! I hope it was amazing for everyone as well! There were honestly lots of good things that happened but I'll mention just a couple:

We got a new companion! That's right, we're a trio! It was a last minute switch and it has been a blast! The new comps name is Elder Thorley or 卫长老.
We had a really fun lesson this week with this family's kids who are 10 and 7, it was supposed to be them and the mom, but the mom left and the grandpa stayed haha! But it was so cool to see their understanding of the Atonement start to grow!
We met a cool guy this week and shared a scripture in Chinese!!! This is huge haha... It was the first time that's happened in my whole mission. So hopefully we can keep talking with him!
I went on an awesome exchange this week with Elder Thorley and Elder Jensen and it was a blast! We had such a good time.
We had an amazing member dinner this week and it was so nice of their family! I have the coolest branch in the entire world, hands down! We're small, but there's so much love, it's amazing!
The gift of tongues was the most evident to me it has ever been this week. It was seriously so awesome! I still have SOOO much room to learn and grow. But new words are at least starting to make sense to me haha!

Alright, this week I was reading some of the war chapters in Alma. Which, if you were to make Alma into a movie, I think it would actually be pretty crazy! There is just so much action that is going on here! I'm right at the end of the book and there is just this huge war going on between the Nephites and the Lamanites. We have one of our favorite scripture hero's here, Captain Moroni! The man, the myth, the legend! And he's a little stressed because there are just lots of wars going on.

Now, Captain Moroni has his good friend, Helaman, who's leading the army of the 2000 strippling warriors! But Helaman also is trying to take over more land that belongs to the Nephites. He's trying to protect what he has achieved, he's low on men because they're spread so thin, and on top of it all, they are getting pretty hungry. So, it's not looking too good! Helaman is asking for some supplies, but he's getting nothing! So when Moroni hears about this, he writes the Chief Judge over the land named Pahoran. In Alma 60, it's pretty much Moroni just letting Pahoran know that he's the worst for not helping! Moroni is so mad and he is fighting all of these battles and he's getting no aid! And even when he asks, nothing is happening! So he goes as far as to basicallynsay, "Ya know, Pahoran, if you don't help, I'm going to come and fight against you!

Now, before we talk about Pahoran's response, let's quick think if we have ever been like Moroni in this situation? Have there even been times where you (or someone you love) is really really struggling and even when you ask for help, nothing happens? We see this even in small things. I went to a doctor's appointment this week and the front desk lady was just so rude, and I'm fighting my own stuff. I was already nervous to be there. When I turned to her for help, she just shoved me away! We also see this when we're talking to bosses, when we have so many things on our plate and we reach out to our supervisor, or the person who's in charge, and they don't help at all. Maybe they don't even try to see your side of the story! Lastly, sometimes I think we can feel this way about God. Where we are in need of some help and we keep praying but we still feel this struggle... we still have these battles and the outcome doesn't look like it's going to be great. And so maybe you don't necessarily feel like you're going to war against God, but you start to be a little bugged and wonder what's going on! Maybe you even say a prayer that's not the nicest where you're asking what in the world is going on up there, can't you see that I'm struggling?! Now, we all have these situations!

Okay so we're going to now look at Pahoran's response. In Alma 61, it's Pahoran writing a letter back to Moroni. Now what do we get here? We get Pahoran's side of the story! He's had this crazy army of people come and try to kill him, so he and the people who believe in him had to leave! Come to find out, he also is facing a big battle! He's not able to help because he no longer has power! In the end, to keep things short, Pahoran sends back a nice response and says he's not mad at Moroni at all and he'd appreciate some help himself. And it all works out fine enough and then there's more wars to follow haha!

So, my point in all of this is, you don't know the battles other people are fighting. There have been lots of times in my life where I have been super bugged and have even been a bit of a stinker just to later find out that the person I'm bugged with has a lot going on! Now, I think lots of times this is the case, but there's also a second principle here. Sometimes we just don't see the big picture. I think this really relates to those times where we're maybe a little bugged with God, or maybe with a boss/supervisor. Where we are really looking for help, and maybe that other person isn't particularly fighting their own battle, but they can't give you exactly what you want. Over the past little bit my mission has been TOUGH! There have been so many prayers I have sent up and I felt like there was a window that my prayers were bouncing off of. None of my prayers seemed to be making it up. I wasn't getting that help that I wanted. But I can't see the big picture! Sure, there are lots of things I WANT, but there are lots of things He knows I NEED.

If you're like me and you have maybe taken your frustration out on somebody, or you've been mad at someone in the church for being an imperfect human, or yes, even if you've been bugged with God... that's okay. In Alma 48:17 it says, "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." So if you have ever had these struggles, then no worries! Captain Moroni did too and he's like the coolest ever! He's so spiritually sound that Hell had nothing on him! So don't feel bad, just try and seek for forgiveness. Which isn't always easy, and it may take time, but that's okay:)

In the end, I saw God's hand in my life so much this week! I still am not able to see the full picture of why things have worked out how they have. That's an answer I probably won't have for a long time, but I'm okay with that. I know that God knows each of us! He tells that in Alma 18:32. Of course he knows all of us because he created all of us. He loves us so much!

I'm so grateful for the scriptures and the stories and principles we can find inside of them! I hope you all have an amazing week! Remember that God loves you! And he knows that whatever battle you're facing, you're strong enough to face! You are a child of Godly parents! You were born for greatness!

再见我的朋友们，

司长老