September 21st - Teaching of Eld. Bednar

Ah man WX went down against them and BYU lost? What a terrible week. On the bright side I'm gonna be training full-time now! Definitely inadequate but I wouldn't want it any other way. That's cool that I Alton is staying busy. I can't wait to meet my future sister-in-law.

Today I'm not very sure that I have much to say. There are some funny experiences I wish to share but it is about the difficulty of teaching one of our investigators and this one lady that is not very happy when it comes to seeing missionaries. Kinda negative. On a positive side they add to my testimony that the church is true. We also had a lot of our less-actives attend church on sunday. Maybe when I get home I'll share with you all those crack up times.

On a spiritual note I would like to share something from our district meeting this past week. The topic was about teaching pure doctrine. I remember David A. Bednar gave a great talk a long time ago in the MTC about Doctrines, Principles, and Applications. 

He taught the following:

Doctrines: Always the answer, and answer the why questions. Simple and restored truths revealed to man for their salvation. Eternal and unchanging. 

Principles: Almost always answer the what questions. A guideline to doctrines. Like the articles of faith. Eternal and unchanging.

Applications: Answer the how questions. This is where we act.

 He quoted Elder Packer when he shared that "True doctrine, understood, will change attitude and behavior. A study a doctrine will improve behavior faster than a study of behavior will improve behavior." Now why is that? The doctrine behind that is of course the Atonement of Jesus Christ. What can the Atonement do for us? We know that men can be saved because of it (AOF #3). David A. Bednar also taught about the powers of the Atonement. The Atonement provides two classes of powers:

1) Redeeming and Cleansing

2) Strengthening and Enabling

Through the Savior's atonement and the power of the Holy Ghost men can be empowered to "do and be good and to serve beyond our individual desire and natural capacity. How can we apply this? It probably depends on you. Maybe we really need to repent. Maybe we need to study our scriptures more or pray more. The answers can be very simple.

All in all, we can receive the blessings in Mosiah 3:19. We can put off the natural man and we can become saints through his atonement. It is not just for sinners but for saints who are "good men and women who are obedient, worthy, and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully." 

This was not all shared at our meeting due to this new connection I have made and drawing upon my memory of other Bednar talks. The atonement is very real and it will strengthen us. It will cleanse us. But as always, our effort and our asking for them is required. 

I'm loving it here in the best mission and there's no place I'd rather be.

Love,

Elder Brown

District meeting