Well... Short week (because of his transfer to a new area). And there's so much to write about. I think Mesa is the most fascinating place I've ever been. As in it is so different from anywhere else I've been. Especially Phoenix.
I love being back on a bike, you get to talk to a lot more people. Though there's a strange phenomenon here of asking people on the street what they know about the church and them informing you that they are active members. Seriously happens about 3-5 times a day. And then there was the time this lady pulled up in a van and gave us a loaf of bread because we are missionaries. And, and, and. Well, it's basically just a whole new animal. But I'm loving the animal.
The ankle is basically back to normal which means it healed miraculously fast. Thank you so much for your prayers!
So Mesa is just different. It's fantastic and I love my ward. The members and families are fantastic and I can't say enough about how willing they are to do missionary work. There is a ton of potential rolled into a little package that we call the Riverview Ward. Tons of work to do here. And do it we shall.
Let me preach to you for a moment on doing right things IN THE RIGHT WAY. It is not just enough to do the right things. You have to do it in the appointed way or it doesn't count for righteousness. You have to be not only baptized, but baptized by His authority. The end is justified by righteous means always. So do things the right way.
A word on boldness as well. A wise man once told me that God has no use for a timid servant. That's roughly the truest thing ever. And it doesn't just apply to missionaries. It applies to everything and everyone. The work is hastening and we all need to be a part of it. We are called to labor in the Lord's vineyard, and we are called to do it IN HIS WAY and according to the Spirit that is given us.
Sigh. It's all Matthew 26 and we are Peter. How often does that happen? How often do we pledge to change, to grow, to be His in word and deed, and then fall short? And how willing are we to stand with Him and die with Him if it was required of us? I have no doubt that Peter was truly willing to die for the Savior, right there and right then. And that's where the majority of us, as zealous disciples of Christ, are. Ready to do great tasks and accomplish great things, ready to work miracles or sacrifice in big ways. But Christ has had enough people die for Him. He didn't need Peter to do it right then and He isn't asking any of us to die for Him right now either. Instead, He asks us to live for Him. And that is so, so much harder.
There's something poetic in the simplicity of attempted discipleship. Attempted discipleship. I like that. It sounds like some crime for which people would be punished in some Orwellian novel. I hope I'd be convicted. I hope you would, too. Anyway. Simplicity. We are asked to simply be disciples, to do the little things every day that allow Him into our lives. And isn't it funny that when we stop those things, everything we've built goes up in flames? Alma 31 (Book of Mormon) gives the account of the apostate Zoramites (ancient less-actives) who fell away in part because they would not pray daily to be kept from temptation. How silly is that? Why would you possibly gamble your soul instead of praying daily or reading the scriptures daily? It's beyond me.
I still wear my broken watch every day. It seems somehow symbolic to me. Still trying to understand where everything is and who it is that we are teaching, but things roll along. Faster and faster each day. Not that my clock tells me how fast, exactly. Maybe it means I'm still right twice a day no matter what. That's comforting, I suppose.
I love hearing of all your adventures, your lives and your trials, your thoughts and your testimonies. The heart changes before the behavior does. Never forget that.
Well, I love you all. So does He.
Try, at the end of next week, to be guilty of attempted discipleship. And live after the manner of happiness. 1 Nephi 5:27 (Book of Mormon). I'll do the same.
Love,
Elder Molinaro
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