So, this was an interesting week.
I think you all probably know why. We did weekly planning on Thursday
morning, as usual, and everything was normal; and then we found out that
night that all Church meetings are suspended until further notice. All
of those carefully-made plans went straight out the window in an
instant. We really had not even heard anything about the viral plague
until that point. We had heard of its existence, as well as some
half-hearted alerts, but nothing more. Even now, we don't see much
panic, but that's even more confusing to me. Now we have heard much more
news, and we see that the entire globe is shutting everything down, but
Argentina is reacting very slowly - that is, it seems (from what I've
seen on the news) that the government is working on controlling the
situation, but the people barely care. People are worried, but they're
not doing anything about it: there's no panic here. Which is SO funny to
me. They're just sleeping the siesta, not caring. As usual. It's really
funny.
Regarding changes for the missionaries,
there is nearly nothing that has changed. We are meant to stop shaking
hands and to keep our distance from people who are coughing, wash hands,
etc. Other than that, we change nothing in our work until further
notice.
But Sunday was interesting, as it was
my first time having the Sacrament at home. Considering we were just two
people, and we would go through the bread and the water really fast, I
proposed that we use a bit more bread and a bit more water for each of
us, so that we could ponder on the ordinance more; then we had a small
moment of silence after each of the emblems. I think it may have been
the most spiritual moment I have ever had with the Sacrament. I remember
eating the bread and feeling the body of the Savior nailed to the cross
to pay for my sins; as I drank the water, I gazed at it, feeling His
love in every fiber of me. I know my Savior died and rose again for me.
"With His stripes, we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). I know the truth of
that scripture more profoundly with every passing day.
Upon
hearing of the gravity of this current pandemic, I reread a favorite
scripture of mine, Doctrine and Covenants 43:25: "How oft have I called
upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels,
and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice
of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of
earthquakes, and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and
pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a trump, and by the
voice of judgment, and by the voice of mercy all the day long, and by
the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life, and would
have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not!" This
experience we are living now is a call to repentance, and we must heed.
God told Joseph Smith TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO that His coming was at the
doors: welcome to the modern day, when His coming legitimately is just a
couple "signs of the times" away. I say again, welcome to the modern
day. I have seen so strongly the fulfilment of the last phrase of that
scripture, "but ye would not": we have been given so many blessings; He
has "[poured us] out a blessing, that there [is not] room enough to
receive it" (Malachi 3:10). And yet, we have been lazy. There is no more
time to be lazy; it's time to be perfected in Christ. But, above all, I
know that these signs are a blessing, because, as Jesus taught, the
faithful will see these signs and know that He is near. As says the
scripture, He cries with the voice of mercy and glory, and would save us
with an everlasting salvation. This is no castigation, it is a blessing
to the faithful. His coming is nigh, and I testify it boldly to the
world because I know it is true. This is the true Church of the true
God, and I will be forever grateful for the immense and immeasurable
blessing of having known the Truth Eternal, even in my youth. I await
with so much excitement the coming of my LORD.
With so much love,
Élder Hill
Fotos: me olvidé de llevar mi memoria conmigo, entonces ustedes tendrán que esperar hasta la semana que viene.
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