Sister Johnson: 11/12/24

 

!!! Be a disciple of Christ !!!

Hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello everybody!!:) 

Wow! What a fun time it has been! I have to say, I am loving being a missionary! 

Honestly not too much difference here. I am still attending the temple nearly every day which is so cool. I worked my first temple shift on Thursday! I think I am going to love being a temple worker.  Simply being in the temple so much is so amazing. I am so incredibly blessed to be in the position I’m in.  I’ve learned so much there in the few short weeks I’ve been attending. Personal direction from the Lord for me, but also learning more about the covenants we make there.  I am so grateful for temples! And excited to spend even more time in the house of Lord:)<3 

Ok! Now on! To the good stuff!:) 

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

I just listened to an Elder Holland talk for my personal study and OOHHH BOY if Jealousy and Covetousness is a sin then I need Jesus.  How I wish I could be as powerful in my speaking as him.  Sometimes I feel similar to Nephi when he says "neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking." Except my version would be "neither am I mighty in speaking, like unto writing"  Often I feel mightier when I have about four hours to write a short email than when I must bear my testimony on the spot.😂😂 But even then I still come up shorter than my lofty desires. Especially on days like these when I attempt to write about something so important.  Something that the spirit has taught me that just fills me up with that huge feeling.  idk how to describe it.  Alma calls it the "swelling motions" 

How can you put that on paper?? 

I shall do my best:) 

A theme of my service these last few weeks has been that of "Devotion"  I have been blessed to learn in some ways how the Lord wants me to be his Disciple.  What a gift I have!!  To dedicate this period of my life only to him.  When else in my life will I have this ability to put everything else aside?  Not to worry about work, or school, or taxes, or whatever else.  Today and tomorrow and until I get released, I am not Josie.  I am Sister Johnson.  A disciple of Christ.  His servant.  His missionary.  I am His! 

But two thoughts are coming up:

1. What does that mean?? What does it mean to be a dedicated disciple of Christ? 

2. Does that mean you have to be a set apart missionary to dedicate your life to Christ?

I wanted to share just a few of my thoughts regarding each of these questions!

Being a disciple of Christ: 

In the bible, we know that the disciples of Jesus Christ were those who followed him. A disciple of Christ is someone who follows Christ, his teachings, his example, his path!  But I know it to be more than that.  Jesus doesn't just want us to follow him, He wants us to be HIS.  He wants us to take his name upon us! 

"I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you."  - Mosiah 5: 12

Jesus Christ wants us to engrave his name on our hearts!  After all, he has written us on the palms of his own hands.  He wants us to be able to recognize his voice.  And recognize the name that he will call us.  What will that name be?  I don't know.  But I have to believe that it will have something to do with our devotion to him.  How do we become his?  Well I won't pretend to have all of the answers, but I think that our covenants are an essential part of this process.  When we are baptized, we enter into our first covenant with God.  We are "reborn" into the Kingdom of heaven. (Moses 6:59, John 3:5-6)  We begin the process of turning our lives over to Him.  We are little Children!  Sometimes literally, but always figuratively.  We are not going to be perfect, or know everything.  But we are growing up in God!  I think it's so cool that our first covenant with him is compared to birth, because truly we are just being born into the kingdom.  And just like when our physical bodies are born, we are not left alone!  A mother (if she's a good one) does not just bring a little person into this world, with all of the hardships and responsibilities, and leave them alone.  She nurtures them, teaches them.  Our father in heaven (who is the greatest parent there is)  Doesn't leave us alone either.  He doesn't just give us all of the responsibilities and commandments that come with the covenant and leave us to fend for ourselves!  We receive the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and of the Atonement!  We progress further in this covenant relationship with God until we make more covenants in the temple!  All of which give us more opportunity to take Christ's name upon us. To give more to Him.  In a way, we are slowly, voluntarily, signing ownership of ourselves away to our Savior.  We are saying that our lives belong to him.  The outside world will say that this is a horrible thing to do.  They will tell you not to let anyone control you.  To do what you want, when you want to, how you want to.  Because you only belong to yourself.  

The hard truth is though, while we DO have agency to choose. There exist only two choices. 

"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. They are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."  - 2 Nephi 2:27

We can choose to be owned by the Lord, or else we are giving ourselves away to satan. 

To be a disciple of Christ is to choose to belong to our Savior Jesus Christ. 

Can YOU be a disciple of Christ?: 

The answer to this question is: Yes. Obviously. 

Our Prophet has advised each of us to do exactly that! He said in his latest talk: "It is neither too early, nor too late for you to become a devout disciple of Jesus Christ. ... Today I call upon you to rededicate your lives to Jesus Christ. ... Come unto Christ and offer your whole soul to Him. This is the secret to a life of Joy!" 

What Joy!

But some of us may wonder, how?  If you can't dedicate your life to him for a year and a half to two years as a full time missionary, what does discipleship look like for you? 

Again, I won't pretend to have all of the answers.  And I encourage you to seek out this answer for yourself in the scriptures and words of the latter day prophets. 

But here are a few things that have stood out to me recently:

In Matthew 10:32-33 Christ says this:  "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." 

In what ways are we confessing Christ before men? I highly suggest you go read the conference talk "Valiant Discipleship in the Latter Days" by Elder Jorg Klebingat. Its actually where I found this scripture.  He says this: "Let us be confident, not apologetic, valiant, not timid, faithful, not fearful as we hold up the Lord's light in these last days."

Here I think is a list of the two things Jesus was talking about. When we are confident, valiant, open, honest, loving, bold, and faithful, we are confessing Jesus Christ to all men.  We are unafraid to admit that we no longer belong to ourselves, but to our savior Jeses Christ.

However, when we are apologetic, fearful, embarrassed, or ashamed of our faith. What is that telling people? Do they know that we Love Christ? And them? Do they know that we believe that he saves us from sin and death? Do they know that we joyfully follow his commandments and latter day prophets?  Do they know that we are disciples of Jesus Christ?  

If not, are we inadvertantly denying Christ before men? 

I'll end where I began, quoting Elder Holland:

"I bear witness that when Christ comes, He needs to recognize us- not as nominal members listed on a faded baptismal record but as thoroughly committed, faithfully beleiving, covenant-keeping disciples. This is an urgent matter for all of us, lest we ever hear with devestating regret: "I never knew you," or, as Joseph Smith translated that phrase, "you never knew me."

( HOLY ACTUAL CANOLI!! I was not originally intending  for this email to be so long!! I think if you read the whole thing you get a fast pass to heaven because you have the patience of a saint:) thank you! )