Guatamela Gutemala City South Mission
July 2015-2017
Scholar
Good afternoon brothers and sisters. My name is Grant
Baldwin and I have been called to serve as a missionary in the Guatemala,
Guatemala City South mission. When I first received my call and read that I was
going to Guatemala I didn’t know much about It which I’m sure is common thing
for missionaries when they first receive there call, but I knew that it is in
Central America and that they speak Spanish there. Since then I have had some
time to talk with others who have been there and find out some things about
where I will be living for the next two years.
So
few things that I have found about my mission:
The
official language is Spanish as I said, but there are still many Mayan dialects
that are still spoken especially in the more rural areas. The climate is pretty
mild for the most part but I have heard that it rains there a lot. It is very
green there it is known as the land of the eternal spring. I have heard that many of the people
there are amazing and that they are very humble and giving. A lot of the people
live in some pretty extreme poverty. Seeing how little they have really makes
me realize how much we have and how much we are blessed. I report to the Guatemala training
center on July 8. So I still have about a week and a half until I leave but I
am very excited for the opportunity to be able to serve the lord and to share
the Gospel with the people of Guatemala.
Today
I was asked to speak on the restoration and receiving a testimony of the restored
gospel of Jesus Christ. So why is it important for us to have a testimony of
the restoration? In answer to this I have a quote by Elder Charles Didier. He
said “the message of the restoration is an invitation to know why the gospel of
Jesus Christ and his true church have been restored by a prophet in modern
times”. The reason is to realize that through this true church we can come unto
Christ and receive the saving ordinances that allow us to return to the
presence of our heavenly father and to work towards obtaining eternal life.
Once
we understand why we should gain a testimony of the restoration we must
understand how we can obtain that testimony. Elder Robert D Hales once said,”
Gaining a testimony and becoming converted begins with study and prayer, then
living the gospel with patience and persistence and inviting and waiting upon
the spirit…steps that lead to testimony are desiring to know truth, pondering
in our hearts, then feeling and obediently following the promptings of the Holy
Ghost”. From
this we learn that not only must we have a desire gain light and knowledge, but
we must also act in faith and prayerfully study the scriptures. The scripture
that we should be studying is the Book of Mormon because that is the book
through which the fullness of the gospel was restored to the earth. As we do
this we can then follow the advice and instruction given in Moroni’s promise in
Moroni 10:3-5.
3 Behold, I would
exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye
should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto
the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye
shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things,
I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of
Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart,
with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto
you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye
may know the truth of all things.
Brothers and sisters this is such a powerful promise and I testify
to each of you that it is true.
An excellent example that illustrates the pattern of this
teaching, which is to study and ponder with a sincere heart and then to pray to
our Heavenly Father to know that the doctrine is true is the life of Joseph
Smith and the story of the restoration. It is a story that many of us are
familiar with.
Joseph Smith grew up in the eastern United States during the
early 1800’s. He was born into a family that prayed and studied the bible. In
his youth Joseph became interested in religion. It was a time of great
religious excitement. There were many churches that claimed to be true.
Although Joseph attended many different congregations in search for truth he
remained confused about which church he should join, if any at all.
With
this question weighing heavily on his mind Joseph read James 1:5 in the bible.
It says “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to
all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
Joseph followed this direction and acted in faith. He
went to a grove of trees to inquire of the lord what he should do. This is his
account of what happened as he called upon God.” I saw a pillar of light
exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended
gradually until it fell upon me…When the
light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all
description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling
me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
God the Father and his son Jesus Christ
appeared unto Joseph. They conversed with him and answered his prayer. He was
instructed to join none of the churches.
At
the age of 17, Joseph knelt again in prayer with a desire to know what his
standing was before God. As he prayed a heavenly messenger appeared unto him
and identified himself as Moroni. He said that God had a work for Joseph to do
and told him of a record written on plates of gold that contained an account of
the ancient inhabitants of this continent. Also inscribed on the plates was the
fullness of the gospel as taught by Jesus Christ to Moroni’s ancestors. He was
directed to obtain these. The next day the Joseph found the plates buried in a
nearby hill where Moroni had described they would be. When Joseph found the
plates he was instructed by Moroni that the time had not yet arrived for him to
bring them forth. He was told to return on that same day every year to meet
with Moroni. Joseph obeyed this direction and each year he met with Moroni and
was instructed on the restoration of Christ’s Church.
Joseph received the plates and an
ancient translating instrument that was buried with them called the Urim and
Thummin On September 22, 1827. He started to translate the plates later that
year. In time he was joined by a man named Oliver Cowdery, Who acted as his
scribe.
When
Joseph was 23 he and Oliver came upon a passage that was about baptism. The men
wanted to know more about baptism so they went into the solitude of the woods
to inquire of the lord. As they prayed John the Baptist appeared unto them in a
“cloud of light”. John conferred the Aaronic Priesthood upon them. After
receiving it Joseph and Oliver were baptized. They then possessed the authority
to baptize and confer that priesthood on others.
Shortly
after that the melchezidek priesthood was conferred on Joseph by the apostles
Peter, James, and John and the translation of the plates was completed. It was
published less that a year later as the book of Mormon.
On April 6, 1830 the Church was formally
established.
In
General a Conference talk Elder Hales once said” like Joseph many of us find
ourselves seeking the light of truth. Just as the world was prepared for the
restoration, each of us is prepared to receive the light of the gospel in our
own lives.” In order to receive Light and confirmation of truth we must act. We
cannot do nothing and show no interest toward gaining truth and then expect it
to be given to us. Ed J Pinegar once said, “We need to study and qualify
ourselves to know that church is true and then the lord will tell us its true.”
By doing this we enable ourselves to feel the spirit. For many, this means
overcoming feelings of doubt and worthiness, being humble and learning to
exercise faith.
Brothers
and sisters every major event in the restoration was preceded by a desire to
know truth and a sincere prayer. I testify that even though we may not get the
opportunity to see Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ while we are on this earth
if we pray and study with a desire to know that the restored gospel is true the
holy ghost will testify unto us of its truthfulness.
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Grant and Dad St. George TempleGrant's 1st Email: Wed. July 8th, 8:15am
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Jul 8 (4 days ago)
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hey family this is just a quick message to let you know that i am alive and well at the CCM. Its Awesome here! the people ive met are amazing. Im supposed to tell you to write letters to me on sundays. my p day changes often in the ccm but i will have the opportunity to write you for an hour each week. Love you guys!
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11:44 PM (19 hours ago)
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Awesome !! This is good. He sounds happy. Busy.. And happy.
Love u
Angie
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I am so RELEIEVD you are alive! and the people are amazing---you have almost been out a wee
Today in Sacrament meeting I became teary eyed---you were not in your usual spot at the sacarament table, but time marches on, now a potential Elder , Elder Mason blessed the sacrament for the first time; which was a monumental day for his family.
I made it through camp! It was fun and the girls had no drama.The stake did a great job at keeping all of the activities centered on Christ.
This week I have repair surgery on my nose, which will be minor on Wednesday at 10:00, should only be 30 min.---it is follow up surgery, but pray for me still, your prayers are powerful!
I have attached a picture of your plaque and a video
Love and I do pray for you every day throughout the day, it is so great that we have the same time zone, often I look at the time and think "I wonder what Grant is doing......"
XOXOXXOX
Mom
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From: <BaldwinSD@ldschurch.org> Grant,--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
From: eberinyellow@gmail.com
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Mom, Dad, Erin, Emily, Cole and Grant----Snow Canyon June 28th, 2015
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