1. When a goat breaks into someone's farm and needs to be chased out - if missionaries need to do it, they need to make sure they do it without misplacing their name tag. Yes, this happened to my companion this week. Took us awhile to find it.
2. The second scorpion climbed into our shower.... It is not fun trying to prepare for the morning and having to kill something all while trying to avoid begin bitten and dying.
There is something I want to focus on today: the line "close your eyes but keep your mind wide open". This line is from the movie, "Bridge to Taribithia". It is a great movie but this line came to my head recently. It has so much meaning: when it comes to life we often use our eyes and our own judgement and opinions to try and determine what is going on. In the movie, the line I quoted is teaching someone to use their imagination to improve their world and their place in it. We can easily apply it to ourselves in everyday matters, as well. We do not always get to see the whole plan of our lives, the part we play or how we fit into it entirely. Just as a puzzle piece doesn't always show the full significance of the puzzle, we too cannot determine our own relevance in the plan of God. If a puzzle piece could talk it may talk about its vibrant colors while another may talk about its dark tones; but if either are missing we would have an incomplete picture.
We need to make sure that when it comes to us trying to believe in God, we cannot always point out His constant actions in our lives, but we have to make sure we close our eyes and keep our mind wide open. That's how the Spirit can come into our eyes and into our heart. On mission I have met a lot of people who are expecting to have great visions and dreams when it comes to receiving personal revelation. Often they forget that God want us to walk by faith and not by sight. But often I feel that many of us who still believe that faith is foremost, unwittingly fall into the same pit of error. Though we may not expect a dream or a vision, we may expect more then we need. Be ready for God to remind you that your eyes must be closed and your mind must be open.
Many miracles still go unnoticed today, many are overlooked. Too often we see simple things and believe them to be a natural consequence or a happenstance, however the people of Ghana have indirectly taught me a great principle: often when asking someone if they are alright, they will reply Nameadom (Na-Meh-a-dom) meaning by God's grace. There is a lot that God does on a daily basis that we forget is his handy work. We forget what really went into the creating and formation of this world and its laws. I would invite all of us to go back and try and see what miracles we may be missing in our day. But when you search your memories, make sure you close your eyes and keep your mind wide open.
Love, Elder Edison
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