One of the 7

You know, sometimes people just don't take a hint.  They do the same thing over and over again and never learn.  Albert Einstein defines stupidity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  (A little forewarning, the next statement I am about to make may sound a bit strange and insane coming from a missionary, but it will make sense by the end.)  As I have been reading the Book of Mormon again, it has been made blatantly clear that the Nephites just didn't get it.

The Nephites fall into the same cycle over and over again.  Pride.

"1Behold, the pride of this nation, or the people of the Nephites, hath proven their destruction..."  By the end of the Book of Mormon, we see the complete destruction of the Nephite people, save it be the lone Prophet Moroni.  Their destruction was because of their pride.  All through the Bible and the Book of Mormon we can see a standard cycle: the people are obedient to the Lord; the Lord blesses them; the people begin to be prideful; they start to forget the Lord; wickedness sinks into their hearts; and then, it's time for a little humbling.

"2And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

We all need a little humbling from time to time.  Humility is a Christlike attribute.  Something each of us need to strive to attain.  Sadly the Nephites, and each of us, kinda forgot this.  We do this little dance/circle over and over and over again.  Obedience, blessings, pride, smack-down time by the Lord.  Ideally, all of us would just be humble all the time.  But, none of us are perfect (yet). 

Recently, I too was like the Nephites.  I needed some humbling.  As you may have noticed, my blog seems somewhat bare and picture free.  Well, in an effort to be more obedient to the Lord and all His commandments, I have gone through and deleted any and all pictures that were not taken by myself or someone I have permission to have them from.  At first, I was heartbroken that I had to get rid of all these pictures.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how prideful I was being.  So what if my blog would look a little plainer.  It's not the pictures that make or break the message I am here to deliver.  I was called to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  That is my purpose.  It's not to have the "prettiest" blog.

So here I stand (or sit I suppose), having been sufficiently humbled by the Lord.  Will it stop here?  Goodness no!  But I look forward to the humbling and the chance to draw ever nearer to my Savior and our loving Father in Heaven.

Double take

The last few weeks there have been 2 verses in the Book of Mormon that keep running through my head.  They are in 3 Nephi 11, which is an amazing chapter!  It is when Christ first comes to the Americas and begins to teach them about His doctrine.  Verses 37 and 38 are the ones that I keep coming back to.

 37 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.

 38 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

Notice anything?  They are almost identical.  Very few differences.  But, the differences are what have been calling to me.  Let's focus on verse 37 for a minute.  We are to "become as a little child" before we are baptized.  We need to be humble and submit ourselves to the Lord.  Then, in verse 38, we are told to "become as a little child" after baptism.  Be humble and continue to do what the Lord asks of us.  Humble before and after.  Interesting....

Humility is being grateful to the Lord and knowing that we always need Him.  It is an knowing and accepting that our talents and abilities are gifts from God.  Really, what isn't a gift or blessing from Him.  Look around.  Everything on this earth was given to us by our loving Father in Heaven.  It is our responsibility to recognize this and give a little credit where it belongs (or a lot).  I love how Ammon puts it in Alma 26:

Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever....  Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel

I am nothing, but in the Lord can be made great.  By putting the Lord and His will first I allow Him to step in and make me into something better.  Humility is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign that we know where true power comes from.

To close, I'd like to share some of the lyrics from a hymn.  "Be thou humble in thy weakness, and the Lord thy God shall lead thee, Shall lead thee by the hand and give thee answer to thy prayers.  Be thou humble in thy pleading, and the Lord thy God shall bless thee, shall bless thee with a sweet and calm assurance that he cares."

Down by 1



Elder Trevor Nestman, Elder Christopher Nestman, Sister Nestman



For those faithful followers of my blog, you are aware that I have 2 brothers out serving missions as well.  Major blessing for my family!  But, that can only last so long.  My brother, Elder Christopher Nestman, sent his last email as a missionary today.  He will be headed home in less than 2 weeks.  He shared some words of wisdom with the rest of us in his email that I would like to share.

"So as my last e-mail to my sister and brother while I'm a missionary I just want to say that being a missionary is the most amazing experience you can ever have.  It really is a chance for you to let the Lord work on you and improve you more than any other time in your life.  While we're teaching our investigators we really are the Lords investigators.  Be humble and let Him change you.  When the two of you really let that happen, that's when you're mission becomes a life changing experience and you become a better you." 

I love when he says "we are the Lord's investigators."  We are always learning from Him.  He is the ultimate teacher and one that can guide us to where we need to be.  Too often we lose sight of that.  Forget who really is the teacher in this life.  We are all investigators.  Each of us is learning daily how to become better then we are today.  Each day we have a higher 100% we can reach.  Become a better you.  Be humble and let Him change you.

Life of a Sister Missionary part 7: Learning with the Companion

Hour 2 is companion study.  Companion study begins with a song (you thought I was going to say prayer, that's coming).  Music is a wonderful way to invite the Spirit.  I will confess, my voice is not the greatest, but that doesn't stop me from singing praises to the Lord.  The next step is the opening prayer.  Have I stressed prayer enough?  We pray for guidance and to know what insights to share with one another, what to talk about, and how we can work together best.  After the prayer, we read from our missionary handbook, the rulebook for missionaries.  As representatives of Christ, we need to know how to act appropriately.  How we can be better representatives of Him.  Then, we share what we learned during personal study.  I can't count the number of things that I have learned from my companions.  Not only do I get the chance to study for myself in personal study, but I get to hear what my companion learned.  It is a humbling experience.  There is so much you can learn from someone else.  There are things I never dreamed that my companions would teach me.  Once we have discussed what each of us has learned, we plan what to teach during the day and what we can do to better help the people in the area.  We end with a prayer, of course.  Companion study has helped me so much!  My family better be ready because when I get home, I intend on having companion study.  Someone will have to be recruited to join me.