Contrary to the subject of this email, I have not had any Greek food. I have finally managed to acquire good Mexican cuisine by my own hand, but after all of the delicious burritos and fajitas, I really want a gyro sammich with Taziki sauce. Oh well I'll find that later. For now though, behold the Parthenon!
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| The Parthenon in Nashville's Centennial Park |
So yea that's all the Greek stuff I have managed to find. Unfortunately the pagan temple is also closed on Mondays so we cannot go inside. No 30 foot statue of Athena :(
On another note, we had zone conference this week. Elder Zwick of the seventy came and it was pretty much the most amazing thing ever! He kinda completely changed our entire approach to missionary work. But it's totally okay because this new method is so much better. On top of that I learned so many things that will completely change my life. I would love to share them all with you but I'd be typing all month.
So instead I'll talk about something completely different: taking your faith to the next level.
So once upon a time there was a man named Adam. He offered sacrifices to the Lord as he was commanded after being cast out of Eden. Then one day an angel came and asked him, "why are you offering a sacrifice to the Lord?" To which Adam replied. "I really have no idea whatsoever. I'm only doing it because God told me to. And that's pretty much good enough for me." (Paraphrased by Liam)
So yea that is next level faith in its finest form.
There are many commandments and responsibilities we are given in this world. Often times, each is given a specific reason and/or blessing associated with the it. These kinds of commandments are really easy for us to follow. We can logically see why God would ask it of us and are quite happy to obey. However, there are also many commandments that we don't understand, don't see the reason for, don't immediately feel the blessings of, or don't really want to follow at all. These are much harder to keep than the ones we like. It takes far more faith.
Remember the faith of Abraham. When God asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac, he got up the next morning and started doing it. Even though it did not make any sense both in the laws of this world and in the laws of heaven. However, Abraham knew the lord had commanded him to do it, so he did.
Fortunately, the Lord will never ask us to lay our children on the altar. However, sometimes He asks us to sacrifice things we would really rather not. They can be things that we really love, things that may even seem good from our frame of mind. But the Lord asks us to take our faith to the next level and to give up some of our pleasures for Him. At these times we must look within ourselves and choose to exercise our faith. We must choose to believe in His plan and promises. We must choose within ourselves that we do love Him first and greatest.
As incredibly hard as this is to do, remember the blessings Abraham received for his obedience. The Lord never ever forgets any act of obedience. Neither does he ever forget an act of disobedience. All acts will be rewarded justly in the end.
So yea those are my thoughts over the last few days. I hope they help you as they have me.
I think that is all for this week. I love you all! Have a fantastic week!
- Elder Basham
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