Peace, Be Still

This week started with an amazing council about having the faith to baptize. I know that I have already made the decision to be a great missionary but I wasn't sure if I actually had the faith to baptize people. I can now confidently say that have the faith to baptize. And I will baptize. The mission leadership council was on Tuesday and president started a group discussion by asking me a question. The fact is that it isn't legal to contact people on buses and trams in Geneva. We had one of our companionships ask president about it and he turned the question to us. So, I told them that it may be illegal to walk up to people and talk about the church, but it's not illegal to answer questions. So, I counseled them to just talk to them and be nice and answer any questions that they had. When I explained this to president, he said that that was great and he asked if I had ever considered a career in law. I told him no, because I have frankly never given it a second thought. He quickly told me that I should consider it. So, who knows.

On Wednesday, we were planning on asking 3 people to be baptized. For various reasons, we weren't able to ask anyone, but we saw an awesome miracle. We prayed on Tuesday night and asked where we needed to be. God revealed to us a time and a place. So, we went. We saw a woman and started walking to her. Only woman in the park really. It was a little bit of an awkward walk but we stood up straight and strode swiftly. Once we started talking to her, we quickly realized that we were there at the right place at the right time. Her name is isis and she is so smart and observant and learned. We taught her a lesson and she told us she would read the Book of Mormon, and actually planned to read it all in a couple weeks. We will have to see what comes of her because we will see her again this Wednesday. I also had the chance to give a baptismal interview to a man named mark. It was an amazing experience that I don't think that I will forget. The humility I that man taught me many things about myself.

We had a zone training on Thursday and tried to get everyone pumped. It worked pretty well and it is at times like those that I am very grateful for my experience in high school.

We met a lady that told us we were a cult because we think we have the truth. By her standards, she was also technically part of a cult. Oh well. We just dodged that blow and invited her to learn more about the message. After denying many loving attempts to share with her the message of the restored gospel, she had to leave. I can't really explain the sadness I have to see those that wander in darkness because they refuse to learn of the truth.

At marks baptism, elder Kelsey, elder Ramsey, and I sang nearer my god to thee. It's went pretty badly but I don't get embarrassed very easily so it's okay. The spirit was there anyway.

On Sunday, Geneva didn't allow cars to go through the center of the city. It was pretty awful.

John 8:2-11
early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people
came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

I thoroughly love these verses because of the understanding that I have of them. To understand more fully the lesson that Jesus was teaching, we must understand the context. By bringing him this woman taken in adultery, the scribes and the Pharisees were trying to catch Christ in his words. It is true that, in the law of Moses (the law followed by the Jews, given in the Old Testament) those who were adulterers were to be stoned. However, the city at this time was under Roman rule, and the Roman Empire prohibited this punishment. So, if Jesus agreed that she should be stoned, he would advocate a practice that wasn't popular and actually illegal. On the other hand, if he said she shouldn't be stoned, he would advocate the belittlement of the law given to Moses. Through his response, Jesus was able to teach us something much more than what the scribes and Pharisees were seeking. In inviting he without sin among them to cast the first stone, he taught us that we shan't judge, for we are no better than her. It goes even further, though. Jesus was the one without sin. By his invitation, he could have cast a stone. However, he lovingly invited this woman to 'go, and sin no more.' I think all of us at one point will find ourselves in the place of this woman: lost, rejected, unloved, confused. Thanks to this example, though, I am sure that anyone, no matter how far gone, can come back to who they truly are and claim their potential of who they truly can be as a son or a daughter of God.

That's all,
Love,
Elder Marshall Underwood

 Mark

 Giant fork in Lausanne