Obedience - I'm All In

Me, ward missionary superstar Cristian, and Elder Fuentealba

A good week, friends. Let me first run you through the highlights.

Hilights of the Week:
-  While on FamilySearch, finding 45 people for temple ordinances in less than 1/2 an hour!  There's a Google Chrome extension called Hope Chest which is super fast at finding peeps.

-  Helping the Lopez family move a big metal machine thing.

-  Teaching Yesenia's entire family together.

-  Contacting a less-active family and then seeing them in church for the first time in 2 years.

-  Having a man go from "not interested" to wanting to learn more when we taught the Restoration.

My decorated Day Planner

-  Finding a golden referral for the elders in the neighboring ward.

-  Yesenia's family attending church on Sunday.

-  Inastroza family at church and hearing their kids' excitement for having come.

-  Yesenia's family committing to be baptized.

-  Elder Cedeño decorating my dayplanner with quotes that embody some things that I ponder most about.

-  Ward missionary, Cristian's, help in connecting with less-actives.

-  Mustering courage to go the house at the top of the hill with 4 XL scary dogs. The woman was interested! Whew!

Lighting Up the BBQ
Today the guys in our apartment had a barbecue: burgers and choripanes. Yum!

photo by Hilah Cooking

What are choripanes?  Good question.
Choripanes were invented in Argentina, but similar sandwiches are eaten here in Chile. Choripán is a compound word of chorizo and pan — sausage (Argentinian sausage or Italian sausage, not Mexican chorizo - it's very different) and bread — oh, but that's not all. Chimichurri is what makes the sandwich extra delicious.

Chimichurri is a fresh salsa made of vinegar & oil, parsley, oregano, onion, and garlic.

Next best thing to seeing lives change from the gospel?  Eating good food.  

Mmmm.

And, the final highlight of the week:  Mega Conference.

Which Category of Obedience are You In?
That's right, we all got together for 12 hours of inspirational talks and classes. I always enjoy thoughts from our mission president. His remarks focused on Obedience and Faith as he categorized levels of obedience using examples from the Bible:

     Adam = Complete obedience
     Peter = Obedience once you gain understanding
     Cain = Disobedience

He said that in order to completely follow Christ, it's pretty crucial to understand which of these states we fall into. "Do not look for exceptions to rules," he said, "because more often than not the exceptions do not come from God."

He followed this up with 5 Steps of Faith, beginning with simple Belief on up to receiving Power from on High.

We reach the most empowering level of Faith when we are completely willing to lay everything down for God. This was the experience for Nephi, son of Helaman, when the Lord said to him:

Blessed art thou...for those things which thou hast done;

for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word,

which I have given unto thee, unto this people.

And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life,

but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.

And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness,

behold I will bless thee forever;

and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works;

yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word,

for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.

Helaman 10:4-5

It was good. Pres also suggested we mark our scriptures more. I think I have that one down. Any more marking and I may not be able to read them. Maybe I'll give his tab-idea a go.

Looking at the pres' list, I'd like to think that I am in the Adam category (though I still consider Peter one of the biggest studs in the Bible).  Obedience has been my mantra. The commitment to totally obey the rules was made from the moment I decided to serve.  If I was going to give God two years, I was giving Him my all.  How else could I expect His complete help in return?

And how I need His help!

So, the question to obey or not to obey - or how much do I obey?  Pfff.  No question. If obedience is the first Law of Heaven, and obedience connects me to the greatest Power in the Universe....

I'm all in.

Have a great week, Friends, and look up a recipe for the Choripanes. You'll thank me.
Elder Connor Nef