This week we moved houses! For the past 5 months I have been
living in the smallest house in the mission. IT consisting of a room and a
bathroom, but now Elder Judkins and I are living with the other 2 elders (Morel
and Watson) in a much bigger nicer and cheaper house. I’d say that’s a win win
all around.
Cleaning and organizing the old houses and the new ones was
such a pain though. We spent long mornings deep cleaning and scrubbing and
sweeping and mopping… good thing mom worked us like slaves when I was a kid or
else I wouldn’t be ready for this haha.
Today we went on an adventure to a waterfall called Salto
Churaguan. It was absolutely beautiful. To get there, you need to go with
someone who has been there before because it is tucked up into the forest
between 2 different towns, Yungay and Huepil., and it is very easy to get lost.
We went with a member who drove us to the starting point and
was there to guide us to the water fall. We were all pretty antsy to get to the
water fall so the minute we saw the river we bolted off the path to see what
there was to see.
Now let me explain a little. This river was very very long
and divided into many little streams and creeks leaving in-between patches of
forest. We were on one side of the river. And the water fall was on the
other. We thought we knew what we needed
to do. We needed to cross the river and make our own path to the water fall. We
spent hours lost in this maze of islands and rivers…crawling under and over
trees, hopping rocks and making bridges, stumbling and slipping as we went. At
one point, to get to the other side of a section of the river I had to sloth
climb upside-down on the back side of a fallen tree to cross.
Once we finally got to what we though was our destination…
we were happy. Right in front of our eyes was a beautiful water fall that was
about 5 feet tall. We took some pictures, we threw some sticks into the water, and
I found a lizard and named him Felipe. We were content missionaries. On our way
back we recognized that we left our guide back on the other side of the river.
What happen was when we started jumping through the forest like wild monkeys he
said to us, ¨ I’ll be over here on the path waiting¨
We finally decided to go see what he was doing so we could
take him to the 5 foot waterfall that we found.
Retracing our way through the islands and rivers we saw him
walking along a small dirt path. We asked him where he went. He said that the
water fall that was about 100 feet tall was only about a 5 minute walk down the
marked path.
That is when we realized our mistake. Instead of following
our guide and the paved way we wasted a lot of time lost and struggling.
Eventually we made it to the waterfall with the help of our
faithful and patient friend and guide and it was spectacular, even
breathe-taking. A lot bigger and better than the water fall that we had found.
I just began to think about how we as humans have the
tendency to do this very same thing in our lives. We are so eager to jump off
the path, make our own way and find our own joys without help. Sometimes we may
think that we are happy, that we have found and seen all that there is to see,
when in reality we are very lost and far from our original goal. That is when
we need to back track and use the tools that have been given to us.
For example, to get to the water fall, which was our
original goal, we had a guide with knowledge and experience and a path that
marked the way. But we chose to follow
our limited knowledge and spontaneous desires. In our lives we have all of the
tools necessary to find a fullness of joy together with our families, only on
the conditions that we follow the guides indicated and the path that is marked.
God has revealed his gospel in our times through prophets and apostles that are
there to help us get to where we want to go. Our loving heavenly father has
also given us scriptures, the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon so we can
learn and grow. We have the Holy Ghost, the third member of the Godhead, who
can dwell with us always if we remain worthy of his presence. And we have the
perfect example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we not only walk the path
but paved the way and is always waiting for us to come back so he can take us
by the hand and walk us through the path to a place more beautiful then we
could ever imagine.
I love the talk that our prophet Thomas S. Monson gave this
October called ¨Ponder the path of thy feet¨
He said…
¨As we strive to place Christ at the center of our lives by
learning His words, by following His teachings, and by walking in His path, He
has promised to share with us the eternal life that He died to gain. There is
no higher end than this that we should choose to accept His discipline and
become His disciples and do His work throughout our lives. Nothing else, no
other choice we make, can make of us what He can.¨---Thomas S. Monson
The path that Christ walked is the path I want to be on.
And we will not be alone on this path... In the scriptures
there is a great promise waiting for us if we strive to stay obedient.
Moses 6: 32-34
32 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have
commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be
filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I
will do as seemeth me good.
33 …Choose ye this
day, to serve the Lord God who made you.
34 Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words
will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall
turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore
walk with me.
Christ has invited all to walk with him. Now who wouldn’t
want to do that?
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