So this past week how was your homework of the study of desire in the scriptures? Its part of a 3 part question that I have been asking myself to see if I really have what it takes to be converted. So I hope you all studied.
The second part of this question is the title of this email, the courage to change. I have been studying this and looking for what is courage really. I thought the easiest thing to do would be to go to the dictionary in the bible again but unfortunately in this case it wasn't of any help. So I thought and thought and came to the conclusion the courage is the exercise of our faith. I thought of an example we are in a spot and we cant seen anywhere around us not a peep. 2 Corinthians 5:7 We have faith in the direccion that we have to go but nothing else, our faith begins to move our foot and we have it in the air but that's when Satan starts attacking, and we begin to doubt. This is where we find this courage when our faith and hope combine to give us the courage to keep moving forward. (2 Corinthians 10:15) (Ether 12:4) (James 2:22) I invite you all to study courage in your own way, find out what it means to you and share it with me.
This unique relationship with faith and hope is what really is courage for me. It isn't something really crazy its having faith, hope, and acting on those two things not knowing the outcome. I am reminded of a move with will smith I think its called fearless. He says the fear isn't real, don't mistake his words, danger is real but choosing to have fear is in our power. Something like that but this is courage, having doubts, fearing change, or being stubborn in our ways and still choosing to change.
In our lives we are going to meet people that absolutely hate what we stand for even if they don't know or understand us but in these moments and every moment it is our job to defend the truth. When we do that we will grow in many ways in one of them is our faith ( Jude 1:3) I'm not saying the we should contend with anyone solely defend ourselves with a strong, maybe simple, testimony of what we know in our hearts to be true. ( Helaman 5:12)
I love you all and I bear you my humble witness that I know that these things are true. I know that they can and will change your life if you have the faith and courage to put them in practice.
Con todo mi corazon,
Elder Packham
One of the things I really love about Elder Packham's emails is that he invites us to do something. I did a study of courage and want to share something that I got from President Thomas S Monson:
Life’s journey is not traveled on a freeway devoid of obstacles, pitfalls, and snares. Rather, it is a pathway marked by forks and turnings. Decisions are constantly before us. To make them wisely, courage is needed: the courage to say, “No,” the courage to say, “Yes.” Decisions do determine destiny.
The call for courage comes constantly to each of us. It has ever been so, and so shall it ever be.
I think that we have to exercise courage in one form or another each day. In another talk by President Monson he admonished us to have the courage to not judge others. I think that for most people that is a tough one. Often in life we are comparing ourselves to others and most likely when we judge - we judge ourselves the hardest. It took a lot of courage for me to keep pressing forward when Mic died. It took a lot of courage to be a single mom, and even more courage to get married again. I know for a fact that our decisions do determine our destiny and I constantly pray for courage to make the right decisions. When Jacob was serving his mission, not one email went without the phrase, "Be of good courage." And so it is with my emails to Elder Packham and Elder Harris. This means to be bold and confident. That is my hope for all of us! Below is an excerpt from an email I sent to my two missionaries:
Courage is not the absence of fear but the conquest of fear. Jean Paul Richter, a German philosopher, said about courage, “Courage consists not in blindly overlooking danger but in seeing it and conquering it.”
Many people have written of courage. Confucius said, “To see what is right and not do it, is want of courage” (“Chinese Classics,” Contributor [June 1887] 8:304). David Lloyd George said, “Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You cannot cross a chasm in two small jumps.” Sidney Smith said, “A great deal of talent is lost in the world for want of a little courage.” Samuel Johnson said, “Courage is the greatest of all virtues, because if you haven’t courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others.” An unknown author said, “Without fear there are no heroes, only fools. Never stop being afraid.” Paul Whitehead put it another way: “True courage is not the brutal force of vulgar heroes but the firm resolve of virtue and reason” (in Victor L. Brown, Conference Report, October 1962, 27), and Alfieri said, “Often the test of courage is not to die but to live.”
These last two quotes remind me of a talk by Mickey Mantle, the great baseball star of the New York Yankees. In part, he said, “Being brave doesn’t mean being noisy. It doesn’t mean acting big and brassy and knocking people down and saying ‘look how tough I am.’ It means doing what you have to do even when you don’t want to do it; or doing what you have to do when it’s hard to do it; or when you could let it slide and let somebody else do it; or when it hurts to do it.
“Suppose you and that kid you don’t like on the next block have agreed to settle things with a fight after school. Maybe you know in your heart that the trouble is all your fault and the only reason you’re fighting is because you happen to be big and you know you can win. You know you ought to do the right thing and apologize to the other kid, but you’re afraid to, because you don’t want to appear yellow. You’re wondering which takes more courage, fighting or not fighting.”
It takes a lot of courage to be a missionary—to not fight (debate) when you want to fight; to live rules; to stand up sometimes to a companion who wants to do wrong; to knock on doors; to speak in Church; to bear your testimony; to find a way to keep busy; to continue with members who don’t seem interested in sharing the gospel; to say no to temptation; to eat your companion’s cooking; to make one or two more calls after a frustrating day that should have ended an hour ago; to continue working with a bishop or ward mission leader who is so busy that you feel like you’re intruding on his time; to be persistent and consistent in the face of challenges that seem almost too heavy to bear; to keep going, after being turned down time after time.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, if they reject my words, and this part of my gospel and ministry, blessed are ye, for they can do no more unto you than unto me. . . . Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward” (D&C 6:29–33).
Your calling is to teach, to testify, and to warn. It is easy to do it among friends. Courage requires that you do it in the face of adversity, discouragement, and rejection.
Be strong and of a good courage! There are many examples in the scriptures of courage! Daniel - standing for what was right even when threatened with death. Abinadi - willingness to offer his life rather than deny the truth. the 2000 stripling warriors….Joseph Smith.
Joshua 1:9
Have not I commanded thee? be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the lord they god Is with thee withrsoever thou goest.
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