Charity and Virtue - July 10, 2016

My friends and family,

This week was a hot one. In Korea we are hitting the season where it is both hot and rainy and you can't decide which one you dislike more. That being said, we saw a ton of great things happen this past week so I don't have anything to complain about. 

I learned some cool culture this week. Don't ever, ever hand scissors the blade side forward, don't even think about eating food off the floor (no 5 second rule guys) and don't vacuum or clean when food is being cooked or being eaten. So there basically goes my entire American identity. ㅠㅠ

I will share a quick message today (I always say that and then when I type it turns out to be super long...) anyway when people think about the hard things that we are expected to live by they often thing of the word of wisdom (no drinking or smoking), paying tithing (10% of income), going to church every week or a bunch of the other rules that we have. But when I think about the most difficult thing that we are expected to do I think of charity and virtue. Paying tithing is easy, you just put money in an envelope and walk away. Of course it is a sacrifice and of course if you don't have much to give it is not so easy, but it is not complicated. You follow it or you do not. You can be perfect at paying tithing. Charity and virtue are much harder. You can't perfectly love people. You can't have perfectly clean thoughts. We all struggle with both of these things. But I echo the promise given to us in the scriptures of charity and virtue. 

 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

And in other scriptures…

 45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.

 46 The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.

 I know that as we seek to have pure thoughts and as we seek to love others the Lord will help us. He wants us to be good. He wants us to make right decisions. As we make the commitment to try, he will help us find renewed strength to overcome the things that we cannot control and give us the confidence to press forward in faith.

I love you all,

Elder Coleman