Week 85...Laoag Philippines

The Nothingness of Men Compared to the Glory of God   After Moses' vision on Mount Sinai where God showed him all the inhabitants of the earth, he said of this experience, "Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never supposed." (Moses 1:10) Could it be that after Moses saw all the inhabitants that have, are, and will live on this earth, he realized that man, in his natural, fallen, carnal state, is nothing compared to the Glory of God? Mormon says, "O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth." (Helaman 12:7)  I chose this as the topic of my email this week because this week I was guided in my studies and I came to realize how man truly is nothing compared to God. One day this week I read in Mosiah chapter 4 verse 11, and there is a part in that verse that says, "Remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfast in the faith."  When I read this verse, I right away thought of service, charity, and selflessness. I thought about man, or in other words I thought about me, in my carnal and fallen state, and all my cares and my wants and my wishes, and even my natural weaknesses and tendencies of the flesh that sometimes keep my from having an eye single to the glory of God all the time. I realized how little and how pointless alot of our little struggles and problems are. Man, naturally, is vain and selfish, and always turns inward. Man is always just laboring to build up and support himself, rather than laboring for the good of others. I realized that man and his little selfish world really is nothing in God's eyes.  There a billions of people on this earth, and billions more that have come and gone, and billions more that will yet come to dwell here on earth. Every single one of them are children of God, and God and His servants are laboring with all their might mind and strength, 24|7 and there is no time for them to think of themselves. That is all that matters to God, the salvation of ALL His children. I realized that as long as we think about ourselves and put our own personal interests before those of our Father in Heaven's, we really are nothing. Our circle of influence only expands as big as our tiny little selves, and we have no worth. But if we will just give God the only thing that He would never take, our agency, and turn outward when the natural man would turn inward, our circle of influence get's bigger and expands beyond  our little selves, and suddenly our lives gain substance and worth.  When we follow Jesus Christ's example and apply His Atonement, and deny ourselves and take up our crosses, we begin to increase in glory, in knowledge, in power, and in influence, and in worth. God can take us in our fallen state of nothingness and make us into glorified godlike beings just like Himself, if we would just let Him. And like Elder Bednar told us last week, the trick is to get yourself out of the way. Don't get in the way while God is trying to work on you! It's that simple! "Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works." (Jacob 4:10) "He doth counsel in wisdom over all his works, and his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round." (Alma 37:12) God knows what He is doing! We don't know what we are doing! We of ourselves will only make a smudge; yet God can make us (if we let Him) a god! We just need to get out of the way! We just need to get over ourselves and trust that God is the Author of our salvation and He will not guide us amiss! The trick is not to fight Him. "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!...Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou?" (Isaiah 45:9) If you guys want to learn more about the nothingness of men in comparison to the greatness of God, read about it in Mosiah chapter 2. My motto for this week has been to turn outward when the natural man would turn in. And another one is to be not weary in well doing, for every day is a chance to seek learning by faith and to wax stronger and stronger and firmer and firmer in the faith, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. I have been really trying to focus on these people that I talk to and love them and find ways to serve them, and lift them from where they are at. I have found that God has poured upon me a portion of His love for them, and that the more and more I lose myself, the more and more I don't wan't to go home in 4 and a half months.  I wish I could be a missionary for ever. And to be honest, when I go home, I don't plan on stopping being a missionary. I pray the Lord will continue to pour upon me His love and that I will never forget these feelings and these lessons I have been learning. I pray that I will hit the ground running when I go home and that I will never slow down. I know that it is up to me to keep it going and to keep choosing to serve the Savior everyday.  But for now I gotta be done with this rant. haha. Because this week was wonderful! We had 4 baptisms!  John Henrick Lagazo, and Jessa, Michael, and Sheila Tungpalan! There are so happy and so clean and I can see the light of the gospel in their eyes!  I have had alot of awesome experiences this week and I don't have time to share them all with you because of my rant earlier haha. My challenge for all of you is to find ways to serve others. I promise you will feel better and happier than you ever could in the pursuit of serving yourselves.  Retain a remembrance of your own nothingness and also the greatness of God and His great mercy towards you unworthy creatures. Remember that God is the Giver of all good gifts, and nothing we have isn't something that God hasn't given us, so what have we to boast? It only makes sense to serve Him who has given us all. I love you all and I hope these emails help! -Elder Andersen