Ok I don't have time for much this week so sorry but we have sooooo much to do!! But I wanted to share one quick thing.
This week has been a blur, but one thing I learned was about the importance of covenants. In
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/heb/8.10?lang=eng#sepia Hebrews 8:10 it says, "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." As I studied this I thought about the difference in just having God's laws (think of the ancient Israelites and the Pharisees and Sadducees) and actually having them in our minds and in our hearts. That is what will make us God's people, that is how we will find Zion. When we go from written law to living law, living in us. When we not only keep the commandments, but allow them to become a part of us so that we have no desire to do evil! We are here to BECOME - to become like God! Not to just hesitantly conform to His laws. I was amazed by an example of a people who understood this: When the prophet Joseph was killed, the saints knew they would have to move on. They knew that as they had been run out of their homes time and time again from New York to Illinois, they would once again have to leave behind their homes and head West... this time, all the way to the Rocky Mountains. But before they left, even as mobs continued to harass them and persecution increased, they determined to finish the temple they were building. They knew they would neccessarily leave it behind, but they had such faith and hope in having the blessings of temple covenants that they worked nonstop until the temple was completed. Many saints were able to be sealed as families before crossing the great plains. This was a strength they would need as so many of them died and all of them suffered on the way to Salt Lake. The knowledge that the Lord was with them and that families could last far past this life kept them walking on and on as they set off to once more establish Zion. One of my favorite hymns is Israel, Israel, God is Calling, and the words are, "Israel, Israel, God is calling, calling thee from lands of woe. Babylon the great is falling, God shall all her towers o'erthrow. Come to Zion, come to Zion! Ere His floods of anger flow! Come to Zion, come to Zion! Ere His floods of anger flow!" I know that God is calling! "His hand is stretched out still." He is always reaching, inviting, encouraging us to come to Zion. As individuals, as a church, and as the House of Israel, we can find Zion. We can be God's people by making covenants with our Heavenly Father and continuing in this journey to become as He is - lifting, healing, loving, serving, giving, and blessing the children of God around us. As we lose ourselves in His glorious work, we will be unified as one - His people, and His Zion.
I love y'all so much! I'm sorry I didn't have time for much update this week, more later....
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Sister Heather Bambas
California Irvine Mission
heather.bambas@myldsmail.net