Monday, July 8, 2019

The long and dreary night (Ben letter 7/8/2019)

Its also a long and winding road. 

Hello yall, this is Ben here in Moldova. My mom says my weeklys are not good enough recently, so I will try harder. The main problem is that I can't remember what I wrote last week, if I have told a story or not. Also, I cant remember if the story happened a month ago or in the past week because time is starting to blend together. It is actually odd. Time is going by so fast that I cant keep track.
So my typical day goes somewhat like this:
Actually I don't have typical days so scratch that. But I usually have some interesting convos with people on the street about God and about other random things. Also I have lessons, which most are really good, and others not so well. I see about 10 J dubs per day, and sometimes they wanna bash, but most of the time just say hi. Also, I talk with at least one drunk guy per day, which is actually good language study. Fun fact, when Moldovans are drunk they only speak Russian. Also I might possibly get crossed once a day. This means when I try to speak to someone, they ignore me and proceed to make the orthodox cross with their hand to get rid of our evil spirits. I'm not sure why they do that actually but I do like it, and I think we should adopt it into our religion. But the people here are different, but so awesome and I love them. It is great to speak with people and get to know their concerns and life better. Moldovans are just pretty awesome all around.
Bur yeah it is not super hot here, but quite humid, and so contacting is always very sweaty which is ok with me. They sell a lot of fruit on the streets, and its fun to talk with the street vendors. Also Elder Smith, who is about 40 mins away from Chisinau in Orhei, found me a "dope gold rope and any variety of cross to go with it". So on my next trip to Orhei I'm fitting to get a dope gold chain and the best Orthodox cruce I can find.
As for a spiritual thought, life is crazy. Lots of people doing bad things, and good people doing good things. The thing that will help people in general and personally is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. People make the government their God, and they think its so important, and it can solve all our problems. But I have been thinking, and you can disagree, but the government is not what makes a nation great or bad, its the people. Kenny and I were talking about this and he proceeded to talk about how lucky we are in America with all the things we have. Seeing another country not as well off, definitely makes you thankful for what you have at home. 

But anyway he went on to say, "But remember, that the gospel is how you fix countries, not bloody revolutions and a powerful military/police force. Police throw people in jail punishing dishonesty and theft, but the missionaries attempt to teach them honesty before the crime is committed. Government has to deal with foster kids, domestic violence, and crime after it happens, while the missionaries attempt to make the home a happy and sacred place before all that happens, really getting at the root of the problem. Can’t blame government though, they can’t endorse a religion or tell you how to think, and can’t blame the people because for all they know the missionaries just want their money. Many types of government have been tried but at the root you need honest and upstanding citizens for any system to work and I think that missionary work is really the most helpful and holy thing you can do in an area." 

I truly know that when Jesus Christ established His church and came to earth, He gave us the path to happiness. He showed us the path that we must live to gain this happiness. Missionaries and our church have this message, and we know the path. And essentially its this, that Christ died for our sins, and for our bodies, and through Him we can become better. If we rely on His Atonement, that is how we will be the happiest. Nothing else can fix the worlds problems better then the King and Savior of this world, Jesus Christ. Follow Him!

va iubim
Varstnicul Stanfield

No comments:

Post a Comment