Thursday, July 3, 2014

Elder Jonathan Engle 07/03/2014 Weight a Minute!



Weight a Minute!

Dear People of Earth,

Please forgive me for my lacking of emails lately. I don´t have any excuses, but sorry!

In other news, the US lost in the World Cup... That was really sad to see. It was actually pretty funny what happened that day. We recently met a family that lives on our street that´s really pretty cool. The other day they stopped us in the street and marked an appointment with us. Another important fact about them is that they´re extremely fanatic with soccer, coloring their house after their favorite brazil soccer club team.

When we arrived for the appointment, it turned out that he had marked for the exact hour that the US vs. Belgium game started. It was pretty sneaky, putting us in an awkward situation, wanting to teach with a big ol´ soccer game going down. I taught his mother instead, which turned out very well, but it was sneaky nevertheless.

I know this quote is much more profound than usual, but I´ve really enjoyed my occasional reading of Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage. He said the following about the need of a redeemer, Jesus Christ, "Such then is the need of a Redeemer, for without Him mankind would forever remain in a fallen state, and as to hope of eternal progression would be inevitably lost. The mortal probation is provided as an opportunity for advancement; but so great are the difficulties and the dangers, so strong is the influence of evil in the world, and so weak is man in resistance thereto, that without the aid of a power above that of humanity no soul would find its way back to God from whom it came." I really liked this quote, because it truly emphasizes our need of Jesus Christ. Without him, we would truly be lost. Without Jesus Christ, nothing we do is of true value, for it is only in and through Jesus Christ that we overcome the weight and destruction of sin and became saints, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Him who suffered all, an infinite suffering, must be he central point of our lives, the source of our strength and our true saving grace.

I´m so thankful to understand, a little better, the joy of living a Christ-centered life, and I invite each and every one of you to learn to do the same, regardless of where you´re at in life.

Love,
Elder Engle

Photo: A member family in Caxias from mid-June. It´s not the most recent possible, but my camera´s a little hungry for energy at the moment.