Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked, and Walked, and Walked... -January 22, 2017

Hello everyone!

This week was alright. The work was good this week even though we had to go to the hospital in a different zone to get a check up for my companion. Don't worry, he's doing ok.

This week was kind of a normal week, nothing too exciting to report. However, we worked super hard this week and tried to change up our route by going to different barangays in our area that we haven't really been to so far because our current areas aren't really progressing. The problem is, we ended up having to go pretty far, around 5 miles, from our house in order to get to this new area. We took a jeep-ney out there and got to work. However, when we were going home after our work, we waited for a ride back, pero walang sakyan doon pagkatapos 6 o'clock, so we had to walk the whole way back to the apartment. It took us over an hour and a half but we made it home safely.

Sorry for the pretty boring email about the work, there really wasn't anything too exciting to share, so I'll just go on to my spiritual thought.

I was reading Christ and the New Covenant this week by Jeffrey R. Holland, which is about The Book of Mormon and its mission to testify of Christ. In his work, Elder Holland emphasizes how all of the prophets in The Book of Mormon testify of Christ, but also refer to the testimonies of their fathers, which came from the brass plates (Their Old Testament). Elder Holland then goes on to discuss how the prophets referenced in The Book of Mormon are nowhere to be found in our modern day Bibles, showing that many plain and precious things were lost from our Bible today, especially the many, many testimonies of the coming of Christ, the Messiah. This made me realize how lucky we are to have The Book of Mormon today, to help us better understand the mission of Christ and the way to eternal life. Without The Book of Mormon, we would not fully understand the gospel, especially the important and critical role of Jesus Christ. Without The Book of Mormon, we would be left in the same confused state as other religions, left to our own devices to interpret the Bible. Thankfully, back in 1820, Joseph Smith had a question. He prayed, and received the answer that changed the course of modern history.

I'm so very grateful for the scriptures, especially The Book of Mormon. I know with my whole heart that they are true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and was prepared to help restore Christ's church on the earth today. I know that the greatest joy comes through the gospel, and through the gospel all of our questions can be answered, our weaknesses turned to strengths, and our burdens can become light.

Mahal ko kayo,

-Elder Anderson