This past week felt very slow, until I realized today that it was P-day again. That's just how it works.
We
had the awesome chance to do some service with the Sisters who serve in
our same ward, doing garden work and also removing an entire retention
wall in a member's backyard - obviously, we did the heavy wall
destruction and moving and the Sisters did the garden work (but they
were carrying around bags of compost and such, which I know are heavy,
so I won't complain). It was really fun, actually! It was wonderful to
get out of the apartment, and it was also fun doing the service. And the
woman who lives there served her mission in Salta, Argentina, so we
chatted in Spanish! That was fun. We also killed an adorable little
snake we found, which was really angry and hissing but was also very
small, which is why it was adorable. But they told us to kill it, so we
did. It was quite bloody beheading it with a shovel, but it was a novel
experience. That was a good day.
Well,
it was a good day until Elder Carter did a baptismal interview for
someone that afternoon. It went perfectly well until they got to
tithing, then the man exploded at Elder Carter, yelling that he can't
afford tithing and that he just wanted to worship Jesus but the Church
just wanted to take his money. He even hung up at one point, in his
rage. Obviously, he didn't pass the interview, and the other
missionaries called him afterwards to see how it went and he screamed at
them, too, when he had only ever been civil with everyone before. It's
weird when someone goes from a baptismal interview to a "do not contact"
in less than a day. That was one of the most exciting things that
happened to us this week.
The
MOST exciting thing to happen to us, as you might suppose, was the
rioting. Yes, there was also rioting in Omaha, and even here in Lincoln.
Both cities have curfew from 20:00 to 06:00, enforced by the National
Guard. I don't know yet what happened last night, but we did see
hundreds upon hundreds of protestors in front of the Capitol in the
afternoon when we went to pick up our dinner.
We
still can't figure what is the purpose for these riots - do they expect
every police officer to go to jail? Or that they all to be perfect
people? (That would be optimal, but is impossible.) Or that the entire
police force be dissolved across the nation? The latter is the gist I
get from all the anarchy, and if that's the case that would be what
they'd get: anarchy. Then everyone would see their error, when all
government execution of the law is removed. That is the kind of chaos
that exists in Hell itself. I've read some commentary regarding
Perdition and the state there, and why it would be so terrible: it would
be so terrible because there go the people who saw the Light and
rejected its law and order, opting for chaos and furthering destruction
in their society. All people there are engines of chaos. There is no
deeper darkness that I can imagine. That is why God has instituted
governments among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed, to lead them to emulate a bit closer the government of God
as King of kings and Lord of lords. He is a God of order.
In
short, though I see great evil in what was done by one officer, he was
dealt with justly, charged with murder according to the law, and that
should have been the end. I know that as a missionary I'm not supposed
to have a political stance, but I'm not taking a political side in this
but a moral side; and this is my opinion: "Behold, this is not my
doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another;
but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away" (3 Nephi
11:30). I have recently begun to see the vision of this doctrine, and it
would be so beautiful and glorious if the people would simply adopt it.
But the devil is raging in the hearts of men, exactly as prophesied in
the scriptures, and peace has been taken from the earth.
I
found it appropriate that as we passed the protesters the song playing
in the car had a chorus that said, "Oh, God, forgive us."
I
wish I could flood the world with the love of God that I feel, because I
know that only His grace or eternal justice can quell the violence of
this world; sadly, I already know that it must be eternal justice, and
it will be executed when Christ comes again. But that will not keep me
in any way from preaching His love to all I can reach - it brings too
much joy for me not to do so.
I
know that Christ will come soon. I know that we must prepare for His
coming so that we may "[go] forth, and thrust [our] hands into his side,
and... feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet...
and... know of a surety and... bear record, that it [is] he, of whom it
was written by the prophets, that should come" (3 Nephi 11:15). I
testify that the Messiah already paid for all these trials that have
been amassing bit by bit this year; I know that His yoke is easy and His
burden is light, and that "whoso believeth in [Him], and is baptized,
the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom
of God."
I'll be praying for you all and for the protesters and for the police. May God be with us all.
Love,
Elder Hill
Fotos:
- Julie Lucas (para vos, Katie; pero mi cámara es tonta y no saca fotos rápidamente - por eso mi cara está rara),
- Un gyro que compramos ayer;
- Hay un video que hicieron los Asistentes con mi piedrita blanca cuando estuvieron acá y nosotros estuvimos en una reunión de estaca - es un video inolvidable, les aseguro.
- y algo muy chistoso que encontré en los ajustes en Facebook para los anuncios - dice que es uno de mis "intereses".
No comments:
Post a Comment