Semana 28

Dear Elder Lutze, 

We continue to pray for you and your area constantly! Expect miracles! 

Of course, another busy week! Dad left with Rachael Thursday night for SG. They took wood and the fireplace down in the van. We just had the wiring redone. Mice had eaten it! Yes you read the right! They accomplished a lot in two days. They met with Roberto about the yard and David about the block wall and the plumber about the rest of the rough plumb. The plumber starts Tuesday on that. Rachael and dad got the tub down the stairs to the basement, framed it all out including the shower and the wall and set the tub. Amazing! 

I’ve been keeping things going here…paying bills, running errands, etc. I spent time in the temple Friday with Anita. We are so blessed to have temples and the covenants we make there. Our Heavenly Father only asks that we endure to the end in faith! It’s amazing how the mission is a microcosm of life!

My thoughts this week are around faith. The three stories in Mark 5… Legion that was cast out, Jairus daughter raised from the dead, and the woman healed from her issue of blood. They all came to Him! They made the effort because of their faith. They were all humble-kneeling before Him. These three stories show that He heals us physically, emotionally, socially, and mentally. He has all power! He heals those of all social standing from Jairus a ruler to a man possessed living in a cemetery and a woman cast out of all social circles because she was unclean. 

Some thoughts from my scripture notes

Possessed man

Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles identified several truths that we learn from this miracle:

“This particular instance of ejecting spirit beings from a stolen tenement is set forth in detail by the gospel writers to show:

(1) That evil spirits, actual beings from Lucifer’s realm, gain literal entrance into mortal bodies;

(2) That they then have such power over those bodies as to control the physical acts performed

(3) That persons possessed by evil spirits are subjected to the severest mental and physical sufferings and to the basest sort of degradation—all symbolical of the eternal torment to be imposed upon those who fall under Satan’s control in the world to come;

(4) That devils remember Jesus from pre-existence … ;

(5) That the desire to gain bodies is so great among Lucifer’s minions as to cause them, not only to steal the mortal tabernacles of men, but to enter the bodies of animals;

(6) That the devils know their eventual destiny is to be cast out into an eternal hell from whence there is no return;

(7) That rebellious and worldly people are not converted to the truth by observing miracles; and

(8) That those cleansed from evil spirits can then be used on the Lord’s errand to testify of his grace and goodness so that receptive persons may be led to believe in him” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:311).

Woman with issue of blood

In Stake Conference today we were reminded that virtue = power. Sis Dalton talked about the value of virtue when we met and how she had to do all in her power to have the Spirit with her. I’ve thought a great deal about this scripture story today. The woman didn’t wait for the Savior to come to her. She knew her need and sought the Savior in faith to have that need met. It was then that she was healed. And this was after 12 years, bad physicians, she’d spent all her money, and she was getting worse not better. How did she have this kind of faith in the Savior after all of that?

In the original Greek text of the New Testament, the word corresponding to virtue is dunamis, which means “power” or “strength.”

The Prophet Joseph Smith (1805–44) recorded an experience that helps us understand the “virtue,” or spiritual strength, that is required of a priesthood holder when administering to others: “Elder Jedediah M. Grant enquired of me the cause of my turning pale and losing strength last night while blessing children. I told him that I saw that Lucifer would exert his influence to destroy the children that I was blessing, and I strove with all the faith and spirit that I had to seal upon them a blessing that would secure their lives upon the earth; and so much virtue went out of me into the children, that I became weak, from which I have not yet recovered; and I referred to the case of the woman touching the hem of the garment of Jesus. (Luke, 8th chapter). The virtue here referred to is the spirit of life; and a man who exercises great faith in administering to the sick, blessing little children, or confirming, is liable to become weakened” (in History of the Church, 5:303).

The Savior’s question, “Who touched me?” (Mark 5:31), created the opportunity for the woman to acknowledge her act of faith and the miracle of her healing. The Savior’s response helped the woman and others present avoid the misconception that the miracle had resulted from any miraculous power in His garment itself—“Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole” (Mark 5:34; italics added). It also declared to the woman’s neighbors and the townspeople that she was now healed and no longer subject to the social and religious exclusions that had been imposed upon her for so many years. God’s power can restore both purity and wholeness.

Jairus

 “The Lord has His own timetable. . . . The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith means trust—trust in God’s will, trust in His way of doing things, and trust in His timetable. We should not try to impose our timetable on His. Indeed, we cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing.”

—Dallin H. Oaks

I love you and I’m so grateful for your faithful service to the Lord!

 Mom