Learning the Laws

April 18, 2016

  

Going back on your life and before you go into the mission, you literally had not even a clue in what you would be getting into or what you would be doing as a missionary.  But when you know that it’s not ever going to be about you, you just prepare according to the Lord’s standard and then you go. 

As it says in 3 Nephi 13:

"25...For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.  Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

 26 Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them.  Are ye not much better than they?

 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin;

 29 And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.

 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith.

 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

 32 For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

So as I have now understood first hand, the Lord will protect his missionaries who dedicate their lives to serve Him and do his work.  So the work that I am found in is being somewhat of a lawyer. 

To explain, we are with Espifanio who is progressing, he did a prayer finally on his own!  And we are getting him ready to get married, but there are a lot of rules and laws to doing that.  So I am talking to some lawyers and then going to the Civil registry and then trying to get all the paper works, so it’s been something that I have never even done in my life and now step by step I am trusting in the Lord to guide me and help me do everything perfect.  We even got to a part of his progression were he said that it is very possible that we may have to postpone his wedding for a certain legal problem, and honestly I felt like asking God for help on that one, so we did a prayer and after that I felt the impression to go to the scriptures in 1 Nephi 3:7- "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."  And that really helped me to focus that if I just do my part, the Lord will prepare the way. So if we are faced with problems that overwhelm us, we must trust that the Lord will get us out of it, to accomplish it, or even get it.  Don’t ever doubt the ways of the Lord.  Be ready to work and accept the delays, there are many, but they will always come- 

I gave a talk in church about the need to be a true friend.  It was a great talk and it really touched about the need to be such.  Give your life to others in service because "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John15:13. To lay down your life is not to lose it in death as Christ did, but to give your time and efforts to help others.  We can be the bestest of friends to strangers and we can help all of those, like the Savior did, if we just give our time.  So send that message to your friend telling them that you love them.  Have lunch with that person who is having a hard time at work and needs help.  Give your sincere time in listening to what the other person has to say.  Being a true friend is what the Savior did.  He may not have tried to fit in with all of the other guys with their norms and habits by copying what they were saying, but He stood for what is right and was alone at times defending the truth.  Don’t be afraid to stand alone in your beliefs, even if your friends may seem to change their outlook on you for the worse. 

I love all of you and hope that you will all be uplifted by my stories, and I hope you can send me yours so that I too may be uplifted. 

Elder Burke