"Waiting on the Road to Damascus"

     The next talk I want to share with you is titled, "Waiting on the Road to Damascus."Dieter F. Uchtdorf begins by talking about Saul and the road to Damascus. His experience is rather spectacular and changed his life forever. Christ appeared to him and asked him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" (Acts 9:3-6.) He also briefly describes the experience Joseph Smith has in seeing God, The Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. He says, "Nevertheless, there are some who feel that unless they have an experience similar to Saul’s or Joseph Smith’s, they cannot believe...They spend their days waiting on the road to Damascus." The truth is, that it is those who diligently seek to learn of Christ that will eventually come to know Him. That means we need to do our part to gain that witness, we can't just sit and wait.
     He gives us three simple principles; Hearken and Heed, Serve, and Share. Hearken means to listen with the intent to obey. We need to live to be among those whom the Lord can rely on to hear His whispering and respond, as Saul did on his road to Damascus, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” We need to serve those around us. President Spencer W. Kimball taught this concept when he said: “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other.” We need to share the gospel to all those around us. He goes on to say, "[The Lord] entrusts a testimony of the truth to those who will share it with others."
     We need to not wait on the road to Damascus, but rather move forward in Faith, Hope, Charity, and Love and be blessed in being able to see the light of Christ in our lives.

     What can you do to get off the Road to Damascus and become a disciple of Christ?

The Carmichaels

     On my mission I have come to be very close to many of the members of the church that I have served around. There was one family in particular that I grew very close to. At the meeting where I found out I would start my mission off in Hopkinsville, KY, Sister Carmichael gave me and 3 other missionaries a ride all the way to our new home in Hop-Town. Not only did she drive us that 2 hours, but she also took us out to lunch on the way home. That same day, after we had gotten all settled in our apartment and went out to see a few people, they had us over for dinner. These are definitely not the only reasons I love them so much, but these first few experiences on my mission truly made a huge impact. Brother Carmichael was assigned to be in charge of us missionaries in Hop-Town so that meant we spent a lot of time with him. Whenever we needed anything they were always ready and willing to help. Lets just say we never went without anything we needed. Because of this awesome family, I have truly learned what charity means. They made me want to be a more selfless person, just by being around them. Whenever we tried to return the favor to this family they would turn right back around and do for us double of what we had just done for them. I will forever be indebted to this family.

Charity and Love

     The next Attribute is Charity and Love. With the passing of Valentines day I only see it fitting. Charity is the pure love of Christ. I look at that two different ways. First, that we should love Christ as much as ourselves. Second, that we should love others as much as Christ loves them. It is the love that Christ has for the children of men and that the children of men should have for one another. It is the highest, noblest, and strongest kind of love and the most joyous to the soul. We are to seek to develop that kind of love. When you are filled with charity, you obey God’s commandments and do all you can to serve others and help them receive the restored gospel. As it says in the scriptures, "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." (Mosiah 2:17.) If we could just lose ourselves in the service of others we would find it a lot easier to show love towards one another.
     A man once asked Jesus, “Which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus replied: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Matthew 22:36–39.) I find it interesting that the second greatest commandment is to love others when you see very little of that in the world today. It seems as though with all these "Christians" in the world there should be very little hate towards one another and a lot more peace and kindness. However, that is not the case so something must be askew.
     In the Book of Mormon it tells us that Charity is a gift from God and that we must ask for it. If we will just humble ourselves to come to God and have him help us we will all be able to feel a special love for each individual on the earth. You will come to feel a sincere concern for the eternal welfare and happiness of other people. You will see them as children of God with the potential of becoming like our Heavenly Father. I challenge all to seek the help from God in having charity in our hearts and loving all of those around us.