To my family and friends,
Today I want to talk about a question that I got from one of
our investigators. The culture will be implied in the conversation and
everything is going great (we have two investigators that will be baptized
soon) so I will not dwell on that.
So this past week we had a lesson with an older man. We
thought he had some serious interest, so we invited one of the members to teach
with us. Anyway we taught about why prophets are so important and why the
restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon are
important to him individually. We taught the principle (if any of you have
interest in why these ideas are important, let me know and I will explain them
in my next email, but for time's sake I will not do it here) and then we shared
some scriptures and testified. Right after we finished, I saw the member was very
touched as were my companion and I by the teaching we shared. Then the
investigator turned to the member and, translated, said something along the
lines of "Why do they send these kids to preach this thing?"
In my opinion, it should be obvious why God calls young men
to preach his gospel. In Samuel 16:7, The Lord told the prophet to “look not on
the height of his stature" when Samuel was choosing the next king. That
boy, David, would eventually slay the greatest warrior of the Philistines,
Goliath, and eventually go on to become a mighty king. Christ on Earth called
fisherman to be his apostles. Moses was a man of slow speech. And in these
days, God called a young boy named Joseph Smith to restore his gospel.
Now I suppose the question really is this: Why does God call
imperfect men or young men (or young women) to do his work? I will preface this with saying that
I am one of the most imperfect people that I know. I could be more diligent,
more consecrated, have more faith, and obviously be far more kind. But God
doesn't call people who are perfect because there was only ever one (Christ).
We are called to go to places where we can't speak the language or where we
don't understand the culture because God wants to prove to his people that he
is God and he has all power. When Gideon was fighting the Midianites, the Lord
commanded him to reduce his army to a fraction of the men that he had. He said
that he did this to prove that he was God and that he would fight Israel’s
battles. (Judges 7:2-7)
God calls imperfect people to prove that by small and simple
means he can bring great things to pass. He doesn't need a fluent Korean
speaker to testify and say the simple words "I know God Lives." He
doesn't need someone who is eloquent or powerful of speech to say "I know
Christ is the Savior." I know that God calls imperfect people to do his
work so that the people who will humbly listen to God’s message will know it is
from God, not from man.
So with that said, why am I in Korea and why are thousands
of missionaries around the world in their respective missions? Because God
Lives. Because we know that Christ is the Savior and that he loves all of his
children. We sacrifice and try to improve as people and as teachers everyday so
that we can share this simple message about Christ.
In the words of Joseph Smith and Sydney Rigdon, “And now,
after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony,
last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the
right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only
Begotten of the Father— That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds
are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and
daughters unto God.” (D&C 76:22-24)
I believe this testimony and promise to all of the sincere
searchers of truth that if you pray and ask God simply and from your heart, he
will give you an answer to your prayers. The heavens are not silent. God lives
and loves his children. And I know this.
I love you all,
Elder Coleman
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