You know, I feel like I've pretty much gotten used to the culture
and lifestyle here, but every once in a while I get hit by the
realization that I live in Europe. The feeling comes at pretty random
times and this week, it came hard while I was watching
the sunset from a soccer field on top of a hill.
Their "deacons quorum":
In other news:
-Had exchanges with the Elders from Békéscsaba and I got to spend
the day with Elder Montoya. We had a couple of lessons, some good
streeting sessions, and a lot of fun.
-Later, the Elders from Nyíregyháza came up and we had an exchange
with them as well. We had a good turn out at our YSA night and one of
the siblings of a kid we met while playing soccer came!
-The Ockeys (senior couple in Debrecen) had family in town and they
dropped their grandson, Cole, off to spend the day with us. It was
super fun to bring him with us and work in a trio! We got to take him to
several lessons and show him around Miskolc.
Cole just turned in his mission papers and is waiting for his call!
Maybe it'll be to Hungary? You never know! Everyone we met with loved
him and told him he should come back sometime soon and learn Hungarian
hahaha.
Things are going great! I'm grateful to be finishing my mission in
Miskolc. The work here is awesome and we really have a lot of awesome
people to meet with and teach. This is one of those rare opportunities
where we get to spend a transfer teaching more
often than finding! It's every missionary's dream!
One thing that we've been thinking about lately is the importance
of social conversion in the Church. Obviously, spiritual conversion is
essential, but the unity and community of the Church has such a huge
impact on that as well. Thomas S Monson shared;
“Long
years ago, Joseph Lyon of Salt Lake City shared with me the lesson of a lecture which a minister from another faith observed. … [He related] what I’ve called the ‘hot coals’ story. He described a warm fireplace where the pieces of wood had burned brightly,
with the embers still glowing and giving off heat. He then observed that by taking in hand brass tongs, he could remove one of the hot embers. That ember would then slowly pale in light and turn black. No longer would it glow. No longer would it warm. He then
pointed out that by returning the black, cold ember to the bed of living coals, the dark ember would begin to glow and brighten and warm. He concluded: ‘People are somewhat like the coals of a fire. Should they absent themselves from the warmth and spirit
of the active church membership, they will not contribute to the whole, but in their isolation will be changed. As with the embers removed from the heat of the fire, as they distance themselves from the intensity of the spirit generated by the active membership,
they will lose that warmth and spirit’”*
When we work together, we can survive in warmth and safety in a
world which spiritually, is growing increasingly cold. We have to both
look out for and rely on each other. Is it any wonder why the Prophets
and Apostles have been working to establish higher,
holier ministering efforts? I think it's so comforting to know that we
all have an essential role to play in the Church and in life. Let's find
those coals which are growing dim and share our warmth with them! Let
there be fire, where once there were ashes!**
Who needs your warmth this week?
Szeretettel,
Elder Burnett
Quick reference sources:
No comments:
Post a Comment