Found out Liam
8/3/08
We discovered who Liam (Alexandrov) is. You may remember a few articles ago we asked the question "Who's Liam?" Well, he is one of the elect that our missionaries have been searching out here in Russia. If you don't know about Liam, go to the blog for July 20th where I explain how we met him.
President Mickelsen read the instruction letter that came with the letter announcing the reassignment of American and European missionaries to countries other than Russia. In it our missionaries were specifically directed to find men 18 to 26 who would become the missionary force for Russia and it defined the "elect", sometimes known as the "believing blood".
Bruce R. McConkie in "A New Witness of the Articles of Faith" defines believing blood as: "What then is believing blood? It is the blood that flows in the veins of those who are the literal seed of Abraham-not that the blood itself believes, but that those born in that lineage have both the right and a special spiritual capacity to recognize, receive, and believe the truth. The term is simply a beautiful, a poetic, and a symbolic way of referring to the seed of Abraham to whom the promises were made. It identifies those who developed in preexistence the talent to recognize the truth and to desire righteousness."
The term has fallen into disuse today. Maybe it is just not PC. However, If we believe that who , what, and where we are in this world has some connection to who, what, and where we were i the pre-mortal world, then it is not so difficult to accept. For-ordination is a correct principal and I have no trouble with it extending to the ability, and even the willingness, to believe the true gospel when first heard.
The letter defined the elect as those who are searching, willing to read the Book of Mormon, willing to keep commitments, and who receive a testimony of the truth without a lot of resistance. The are the elect.
Anyway, We heard the rest of the story on Liam and it clearly identifies him as one of the elect. He went home to Barnaul, the city where he attends university, sought out the missionaries and asked to be baptized. His date is mid August, maybe the 16th. We don't know any of the details as yet, but we do know that he had a spiritual experience in our Sacrament meeting and during the conversation at our dinner table and he got his witness.
Missionary work is more exciting than I had anticipated. Even though we are not primarily seekers, we are involved through the missionaries that we serve and it is the best. I envy Cindy in her "role" because she can hug everybody. I am so filled with the spirit of love for these people that I just want to hug them all; but it's against the rules for me. I'll just be satisfied with a good, firm handshake I guess.
It is easy to love the elect. We are working on loving the others.
What a country
DS
8/3/08
We discovered who Liam (Alexandrov) is. You may remember a few articles ago we asked the question "Who's Liam?" Well, he is one of the elect that our missionaries have been searching out here in Russia. If you don't know about Liam, go to the blog for July 20th where I explain how we met him.
President Mickelsen read the instruction letter that came with the letter announcing the reassignment of American and European missionaries to countries other than Russia. In it our missionaries were specifically directed to find men 18 to 26 who would become the missionary force for Russia and it defined the "elect", sometimes known as the "believing blood".
Bruce R. McConkie in "A New Witness of the Articles of Faith" defines believing blood as: "What then is believing blood? It is the blood that flows in the veins of those who are the literal seed of Abraham-not that the blood itself believes, but that those born in that lineage have both the right and a special spiritual capacity to recognize, receive, and believe the truth. The term is simply a beautiful, a poetic, and a symbolic way of referring to the seed of Abraham to whom the promises were made. It identifies those who developed in preexistence the talent to recognize the truth and to desire righteousness."
The term has fallen into disuse today. Maybe it is just not PC. However, If we believe that who , what, and where we are in this world has some connection to who, what, and where we were i the pre-mortal world, then it is not so difficult to accept. For-ordination is a correct principal and I have no trouble with it extending to the ability, and even the willingness, to believe the true gospel when first heard.
The letter defined the elect as those who are searching, willing to read the Book of Mormon, willing to keep commitments, and who receive a testimony of the truth without a lot of resistance. The are the elect.
Anyway, We heard the rest of the story on Liam and it clearly identifies him as one of the elect. He went home to Barnaul, the city where he attends university, sought out the missionaries and asked to be baptized. His date is mid August, maybe the 16th. We don't know any of the details as yet, but we do know that he had a spiritual experience in our Sacrament meeting and during the conversation at our dinner table and he got his witness.
Missionary work is more exciting than I had anticipated. Even though we are not primarily seekers, we are involved through the missionaries that we serve and it is the best. I envy Cindy in her "role" because she can hug everybody. I am so filled with the spirit of love for these people that I just want to hug them all; but it's against the rules for me. I'll just be satisfied with a good, firm handshake I guess.
It is easy to love the elect. We are working on loving the others.
What a country
DS
2 comments:
1) Wonderful new about Liam! We know the Lord will bless all of you as you seek out the "elect".
2) Applause, Applause!! for the weight loss. You are inspiring us to be more active. Maybe we will see some of the same results.
We love you. Thanks again for the blog. We love sharing in your adventure.
Love ya,
Bob and Doretta
It is apparent from the looks of your great blog (with pictures, no less)that Siberia has plenty of electricity...at least enough to power your computer. I was turned onto your blog by Cindy's latest broadcast e-letter to friends. I'm glad she included the site.
I'm sure that if you ran up and down your 9 flights of stairs each day you would not only lose weight but you would be so fit that you could come to St. George and win the annual marathon!
We pray daily for your success and happiness in the Lord's work. You are doing a wonderful job in preaching the gospel of the kingdom to all the world for a witness. We know that the people love you for it. May the Lord bless you.
We love you both. Keep up the good work. The gospel is true.
Dick and Fran
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