Hey everyone! hope everyone is doing excellent! I am doing well here in Kingston. This past week has been another busy week, but it has been a good week. On Tuesday, we picked up some new missionaries, and on Wednesday we had a little orientation meeting for them. Picking up the new missionareis caused me to take a trip down memory lane. I began to remember when I was a new missionary and when I was picked up from the airport by the aps and everything was just crazy. It was kind of funny to hear the new missionaries ask my companion and I the same kinds of questions that I asked the missionaries who picked me up from the airport about a year and a half ago. It seems like yesterday I was a new missionary. Time certainly is moving very fast. Currently we are teaching a pretty cool investigator who is a cousin and a grand daughter to some members in the branch. She is very teachable and we are excited to be teaching her. This past week, I have been pondering a lot about scripture study. On Thursday, we had a mlc (formerly known as zlc), and President Hendricks said something that stood out to me. He told us that scriputre study wont do us any good if we dont get the word of God off of the paper, and into our heart. What a true statement! since then, I have read in 1 Ne 8, the vision of the tree of life. In the vision, there are several examples of how we as members of the church treat the word of God. In the vision there are some who cling to the word of God, and after they partake of the fruit, they are ashamed because of the scorn and mocking of the world. Elder Bednar in one of his talks says, "It is significant that the second group pressed forward with faith and commitment. They also had the added blessing of the rod of iron, and they were clinging to it! However, as they were confronted with persecution and adversity, they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost. Even with faith, commitment, and the word of God, this group eventually was lost—perhaps because they onlyperiodically read or studied or searched the scriptures. Clinging to the rod of iron suggests to me only occasional “bursts” of study or irregular dipping rather than consistent, ongoing immersion in the word of God." (Lehis dream: Holding Fast to the Rod). In order to have the word of God enter our hearts we must hold fast to the iron rod. We must allow the word of God enter into our hearts and become a part of us. We do this by applying what is taught in Alma 32. We must experiment upon the word. We must try it out. we must study consistently and prayerfully. we must read and study and ponder and search the scriputres. we must hold fast to them. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I have felt the Holy Ghost testify to me that it is the word of God. It has helped me to draw closer to Christ than any other book. May we all strive to allow the scriptures to enter our hearts so we can press forward and partake of the fruit of the atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ more fully. love you all

 

Elder Nugent