"According to their faith"

Well... as far as missionary work goes, this week was not terribly productive. Summer started here like 2 weeks ago and this week was Holy Week. So, like everyone from Baguio went on vacation to the lowlands. And then most people that were here had lots of family and were pretty busy. But it was still a good week. We found a handful of new people that we can teach. It is a super good time of year to very easily get to a discussion about Christ. Almost everyone here in the Philippines has some kind of belief in Christ.

One thing that I kind of focused on this week in my personal study was looking for the phrase "according to their faith." It says it repeatedly as it talks about how people received different blessings at different times. Of course, we all need faith in a lot of things. If we don't have faith in Christ, in the Plan of Salvation etc. then the gospel will be able to do almost nothing in our lives. 

The scripture that I chose to be my mission scripture was Moroni 7:41. It says "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold, I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise." 

This is one of my favorite times of year to really focus on where I find hope in life. There is no way for us to return to our Father in Heaven if we don't access the saving power of the Atonement. One of my favorite quotes from the last conference was "the Atonement is a never ending PRIVILEGE." I think that too often, we thing of the Atonement as almost a punishment because we have done wrong. We can have hope because we we are allowed to access the saving power of the Atonement to change and become better.  We can have hope for the next life because our loving Heavenly Father wants nothing more than for all of us to return to him. But, of course, we need faith in this plan. 

I especially think about you all during holiday seasons. I wish you all the best and send lots of prayers your way. 

Merry Easter!!!

Love Elder Thomas