Know that our Father in Heaven is very aware of our lives, and knows the desires of our heart. Well, on Friday I had to plan a district meeting that the Zone Leaders were going to be at. I didn't have time to really sit down and plan it until that early morning but had been pondering the topic which was the Doctrine of Christ and our Purpose. At the very last moment my mind was opened to new revelation. That was LIGHT. Now I wrote down definitions of light and there are two meanings. One is to 'Illuminate' and the other is to 'Not be Heavy'. In the meeting, I turned all the lights off and had a Sister follow the light; me and my companion both had flashlights and guided her to the 5 points which were pictures of Christ representing the 5 points of the doctrine of Christ being: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End. I put a chair in between repentance and baptism because this is always an obstacle for those we teach. Now I explained the two definitions of light, its double meaning. I used the scipture in Luke 1: 79 that says "To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." It shows that the Lord uses people and Himself to help guide our feelings in darkness just as the sister had me and my companion guiding her feet on the path with our flash lights; there may always be light if we choose.
The next one was Matt. 11: 30 "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
This shows that Christ can always lighten our load and He uses it in the other context to help teach us of the two different lights that He has. Well, it came to me while I was teaching it that the 2 points of the atonement cover this subject. Light is so very key. If we follow Christ and His gospel then His atonement will take effect. Our Savior is the " Light" that shows us the way, the path , the truth and helps us as we follow the 5 steps to get out of that darkness. He also will make our souls and loads " Light" again. If we ourselves are to press forward in this life and return to our Father, we need Christ, we NEED our Savior's Light. I drew a picture of the yoke and basically I wrote on one end "you" and said you can try to pull the load yourself, I have and it doesn't work. On the other side, I wrote "Him". If we teach and understand and help others understand this concept that the Savior will help pull with us then we will come to see the true joys in this life and the purpose of the Atonement. Christ LIGHTENS our LOADS and gives LIGHT to our LIVES.
If we show people these two concepts of Christ and His gospel; and help them feel the Savior shedding light into their life and that he will lighten the tough times then ALL will be converted to the Savior and His true Church. This is true. I received this revelation directly and am so grateful for it. This is His doctrine. A doctrine means a teaching or a tenet. A tenet is a religious principle or a dogma. And a dogma is a strict belief concerning faith and morals. I found all of that out that morning as I read from the dictionary about it. So a doctrine expands to so many things, so Christ's "doctrine" is a strict moral and belief. There is no other way to salvation. That is why he stresses it so much and that is why we MUST give light and be the Light to those who are in darkness searching for a Savior. I hope this makes sense, it's hard trying to type it out!
So, the next day after exchanges with the zone leaders we met back up in Socorro, as we were switching back, an elder pointed out a flat tire on our truck. There was a screw in it. We hurried and drove to 4 tire shops and ALL were closed on the weekend! So we had to find the tools in the truck and lower the spare down and change the tire haha everyone was looking at these 4 guys dressed up changing this tire. After, I suggested we go to this China Buffet. While there, I was talking to a lady as we were grabbing food and she asked where the church was. I mentioned that I have sister missionaries that can go over to her house and tell her where the church is and the times and stuff and she accepted. Then she mentioned that her father is a member in Albuquerque and has been telling her to go! I looked and told her two daughters who were smiling with so much joy that they would love church and everyone would be friends with them. The spirit overcame me that this was important and special. I gave them the sister's phone number and they left. Afterward, we went to Walmart and SHE happend to be there. She instantly told me that she had already called them, and that they were coming to her house after she ran her errands!! WOW, I was shocked. The sisters called with so much joy and gratitude for giving them this referral. I told them that in my fast I was fasting that they would find a solid person to teach and baptize because that ward has had only one baptism for over a year now and that she was an answer to my fast and they agreed. It was a complete answer and miracle to find that woman and her family. Currently the sisters have seen her twice already!
After, we drove home with our spare tire, I could see that Satan was trying to stop me that day, and putting obstacles in our way. Well, that night we gave out 17 flyers for church the next day and ran all over the reservation. That night I couldn't sleep, I had been practicing just that day "How Great Thou Art" because I was going to have to play it for a special musical number and also practicing 3 other hymns I'd have to play for church and worrying about if we will get 85 to a 100 people to church so we can possibly get an expansion. On top of that, our mission president texts and says they are coming down for church!
Sunday morning I prayed so hard. I prayed that ministering angels would be sent to their posterity on the reservation and that these Navajo ancestors would help in getting people to church. For me, I kept saying it's game time , it's game time. Our mission president and wife and another senior couple came first and then many others filtered in. Vans full of people were unloading. Tons of Navajos from Magdalena drove up for church. My heart began to fill as I witnessed the hand of the Lord. Then our speaker wasn't there and I had to play piano and my companion had to bless the sacrament with someone else and all these other things but it ALL worked out perfectly. The speaker came at the end and spoke in Navajo and the spirit was so strong.... at the very end I could see Brother Nelson looking around and counting all the people here, my heart began to swell. That room was SO packed that people were in the hallway but I still didn't know how many truly were there. I had to play the closing Hymn but almost couldn't because of my emotions. After the song and end of the meeting, our mission president comes up and says "Do you know how many people are here? I said "No, I wanna find out." He said, "Elder there are 132 people here at Sacrament meeting, Great Job elders!" .... Words cannot express the joy that came over me. We had over the amount, we doubled our average!!
The prayers and fasting and hard work and diligence and stress then all payed off, we received so much more! Our ward mission leader came to us after church was over and sat us and the Crofts (the senior couple) down and said that he will eternally have us in his heart. He said, "You'll go on with your lives after you leave here but when I look at a bigger building someday in the future, I will picture you 4 and the work you did to bless this reservation!"
That's when it really hit me how much our Father answers prayers and makes miracles happen. I Love Him, I Know Him, and I Glory in Him.
Thanks for all the support everyone, hope this blog helps your friends and family as I know some of you are sharing it!
Also, on Thursday this week I got to meet up with the Butterfield family from El Paso and it was so awesome! We ate a lot and I showed them ZW's blacksmith shop and it was great. Such an awesome week I've had!
Love and Gratitude,
Elder Taylor
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