To my family and friends,
Another wonderful week in the most interesting country in
the world. We saw several people this week dressed up in fascinating costumes.
I am now at 3 hugs by drunk old men, which is a pretty good number according to
the Elders in my home. Anyway, the work is going great and I am totally happy
here in Korea.
Today will be a short email, but it will contain one of the
most important principles of the gospel. Many people wonder why religion is
important, why God is important, and why Christ should matter to them at all.
To explain, I will use a scripture.
“And we desire that every one of you do shew the same
diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful,
but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews
6:11-12)
According to Paul in Hebrews 6, all of us need to have
diligence and patience and faith in order to fulfill the promises of God. This
diligence, faith, and patience is more commonly referred to as hope. But hope
in the religious sense is not the same as a hope that it could rain today. Hope
is an unfailing, unwavering assurance that God will fulfill his promises to
you. We can have hope in God because he is all powerful, all knowing, and all
loving. As we turn to him, follow his commandments, and do our best to live
good lives, God WILL keep his promises to us. Whether you are serving a mission
right now, working, going through college, or whatever situation you might be
in, God understands you perfectly. He knows how to help you and he wants to
make you happy. In order to receive his guidance and his peace, we must pray and
try our best to understand His will for us. A Book of Mormon prophet named Moroni
explains what we should hope for:
40 And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you
concerning hope. How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have
hope?
41 And what is it
that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through
the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto
life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.
(Moroni 7:40-41)
I add my testimony to the prophets that this life is not the
end. I know that through Christ and his death and resurrection, we will one day
live again. Death will have no sting. The grave will have no victory. I know
that through Christ all of us will live again and by following his words, we
can have hope in this life that one day we will rest from all of our pains.
I love you all,
Elder Coleman
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