We Are Children of God

You know what the kids say these days! When you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God! You can't help but feel like a million bucks - even on a missionary budget!

In all seriousness, this week has been great. Our hearts continue to expand with love as we see people make eternal decisions to follow Jesus Christ. Their joy is apparent, not only by the smiles on their faces, but by their actions as well.

Even though the Lord has prepared many of his children, we often come across people who are just not prepared to come and partake of the goodness and fullness of the Gospel. (I’m sure this does not come as a shock to many!) Before my mission I knew, as a missionary, I should feel love for all people, even if they didn't accept or commit to the Gospel, but I was always concerned if I would feel that love. We need to show the same amount of love to those who do accept the laws and ordinances of the Gospel, as well as to those who don't. 

The question is, are we truly able to do this? As I’ve seen the Lord's merciful hand in this work I know the answer is yes, we can! I don't personally have a "one size fits all" answer as to the method, and I’m definitely not qualified to council on this topic, but I want to bear my testimony that we can feel love for everyone. If anything, we can feel the charity of Christ for everyone, including those we teach who do not accept the Gospel, even when we see that they need it. We were recently teaching someone who decided not to accept the Gospel, but we need to remember that this isn’t necessarily the end. There is often more than a "one time" opportunity for people to come in contact with the church. I questioned why our investigator wasn’t ready, and if he hadn’t felt our love for him. Then the thought came to me, as if God was speaking to us about this person - "Don't worry, he is my child."  God is in charge.

I know we are children of God. I know as we are obedient to God's commandments we can find love for all of God’s children deep within us.

Have a great week and stay classy!

Elder Tait.

"Do You Guys Get Paid For This?"

When we meet random people who are not familiar with us we get asked an endless list of questions from the sincere to the ignorant or just out of curiosity. For example, here are some questions we were asked this week: 

“Do you guys get paid for doing this?”
“How much does the Church pay you to do this?”
We often respond with something along the line of, “We actually save money and pay our way to come out here.” This answer can often lead to uplifting conversations. This week we had an open 20 minutes to do contacts, so we set off on the snowy sidewalks of Foxboro. As we approached the first door, we were greeted with a friendly smile, but an odd look. After introducing ourselves and talking for a few minutes, she asked the question: “Do you guys get paid for doing this?” Instead of responding with the typical answer, out of nowhere came to me a new way to respond to this question. It was without a doubt inspired of the Lord. I answered back, “You see ma'am we are out here serving for a prophet, but we don't get a profit!”  She looked and nodded her head in complete confusion, then asked for us to explain that again. It's remarkable how the Holy Ghost will give you the exact words to say in the exact moment you need them. At that moment I knew that Heavenly Father was aware of us and will grant us the words to say to His children who need to hear them. We fulfill our purpose when we speak as representatives of Jesus Christ. The philosophies and doctrines of men will always be confounded as we speak the words prompted by the Holy Ghost. 

All is great in Foxboro! Just found out the Lord has granted me another 6 weeks here! I’m extremely excited to be here to see some of Heavenly Father's children progress and come closer to Him. Elder Boren is trying to teach us how to rope things. I still haven't figured it out, or caught a squirrel, but I’ll get it. Our teaching pool increases remarkably when Elder Boren brings his lasso for street contacting. They never get away from us!

Truthfully yours,
Elder J.L. Tait

    With fellow missionary and high school friend, Elder Laurent

The Foxboro Zone   

With first companion, Elder Campbell

 

With companions Elder Roberts & Boren, & Elder Laurent in background.

Spanish and Haitian Creole and Greek

Elder Boren, Elder Roberts and I have not been able to rope a squirrel yet, but we are working on it. I can't describe to you how much cultural diversity there is in the Foxboro area!  For some reason, the Lord has blessed us with people who are ready to hear the gospel, BUT who don't speak English! Whatever culture you want--we have it! You want to teach people in Spanish? Foxboro has them. You want to teach people in Haitian Creole? We have them. You want to teach people in Greek? We. Have. Them. I mean, the missionaries in this area don't speak any of these languages - but why should we care? We just go in there smiling, nodding our heads and hoping for the best. I’ll tell you, though - we have seen a handful of miracles come from this. The language of the gospel is universal. The Holy Ghost will penetrate any open heart, no matter what tongue it is shared in. 

I am still stunned at the fact of the truthfulness of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. How can you tell me the message of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints is not one that is worth hearing, praying about and pondering on? Look at it. In 1820, a 14-year old boy, who was seeking the truth, got an answer I’m sure he himself didn’t expect. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, as separate, distinct bodies, appeared to and informed this boy that the true Church of Jesus Christ was not on the earth.  Through the Lord’s guidance Joseph Smith went on to restore to the world the true church and true Priesthood authority of Jesus Christ. This vision happened in upstate New York in 1820 to a 14 year old boy. Now in 2014 we have 15 million members, in over 100+ countries and The Book of Mormon is published in 175+ languages. Hmmmm......interesting. What is it that has caused millions of people to actually believe that a 14 year old boy saw God, the Father and his son Jesus Christ? If you don't know, ask some missionaries - they can help. I can promise you will find something you have been looking for – maybe without even knowing it.

2 Years. Make it Count.

Elder Tait.