The Blessings of Obedience - Feb 2

Hello Family,

It was another great week full of all sorts of fun stuff. We did many exchanges and had lots of great experiences. But I want to talk about what has been on my mind for months know as I have been studying the scriptures. 

In John 17:3 we read, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." The mortal Messiah teaches us exactly what exaltation is or eternal life is. Exaltation is knowing our Father in Heaven and Jesus the Christ. We learn more about this scripture in the Joseph's revelation concerning the sealing of a husband and wife. The Lord in this section (Section 132) states,

" 22 For strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me.

23 But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation; that where I am ye shall be also." 

We learn here that exaltation is to receive Christ. It is by receiving Christ that we meet the requirements for exaltation. But how do we receive the Savior of all mankind? The next verse tells in a wonderful way in which Christ tells us almost word for word what he told his apostles in Jerusalem. 

24 This is eternal lives—to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore,my law.

How beautiful those last 5 words are. "receive ye, therefore, my law." That is the key to receiving Christ and our Father. Not only is it the key but it is what is missing from the words found in John. We need to receive the law. Now the law can mean many different things throughout the scriptures. Here is can be specifically talking about the law of the sealing covenant. In other sections of scripture we can see it relating to the Law of Moses. But I feel that we can take this and make it broader. So what is the difference between just knowing or hearing the law and receiving the law? Receiving comes with application. It is only by applying the law can we come to receive the law. Or in other words we need to be obedient to receive Christ. When we Receive Christ we know him and God. And when we know them we have eternal life. Well here is where it gets fun. What are some of the blessings of receiving or obeying the law. We read in an early section of the Doctrine and Covenants regarding this principle,

 "34 And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same." 

We see that as we are obedient and loyal to the law we can and will receive the great blessings of preservation, sanctification, and perfection. What glorious blessings! And how wonderful are those blessings when we can receive them in this life. By being obedient we will always be preserved! Now when the preservation comes is up to the Lord, but it will come. When we obey were a sanctified or made holy. Part of receiving a remission of sins is being obedient. 

Found within that section is one of my favorite phrases found with in all scriptures, 

D&C 88: 21 "And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ"

Again we see this concept obedience brings forth the powers of sanctification (that power of sanctifying  comes form the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost can only abide in us when we are being obedient. Then He sanctifies us.) But the phrase I love is the law of Christ. 

We learn that one of the main reason Christ came to this earth was to fulfill the Law of Moses. The law that pointed to the great and last sacrifice. Christ himself says, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil."(Matt. 5:17). I believe in fulfilling that law Christ and His Atonement become the law. The law by which we must abide. In Section 130 of the Doctrine and Covenants we read, "20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." I find it interesting that it does not say there are laws but that there is a law. We know that before the foundations of this world the Grand Council was held and there we made our stand to have a Savior and Redeemer of our souls. At the Council the necessity of the Atonement was explained to us. We understood that our salvation and the success of the plan of our Father in Heaven hinged upon the completion of the Atonement. Everything we do in the church points the the Atonement of Christ. Every covenant and ordinance that we participate in points to that sacrifice. Is it not through the Atonement that we receive blessings? Is it not through the Atonement and the Lamb of God that we are sanctified, preserved, and perfected?  Is it not through daily receiving the Atonement in our lives that we receive Christ and God the Father? Is it not through His Atonement that makes our exaltation a reality? Christ not only fulfill a law but by his great and eternal sacrifice He became the Law. He said it himself to the Nephites, "Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life."

Love,

Elder Baird 

Hearing from an Apostle of the Lord - Jan 26

Hello my wonderful family! 

This week has been full of ups and downs. It has been a rather emotional week! 

First off, I got transferred. Did I know it was coming? Pretty much! But man it was hard. The emotions of being released as a branch president and being transferred from Coshocton I think was a small trial run for in 10 weeks when I am released from being a missionary and when I leave Ohio. In other words I will be pretty emotional. So make sure there is lots of food in the house so I can eat my sorrows away. But we are not going to talk about that anymore because that is a very long time away (at least I wish it was!)

I am still in leadership. I am a zone leader again. The better news on transfers is I am still in the same zone and stake as Coshocton. That means I get to go back "home" to Coshocton on exchanges and I still get to work with President Birch. I love President Birch! He is an incredible man! 

The highlight of the week was last night. Last night we had our Quad Stake Missionary Fireside. President Daines wants to make the firesides different then they have been! So we are doing Musical Missionary Firesides. Well Elder Pike and I with Sister Myers are basically the musical fireside council with President Meldrum (a counselor in the mission presidency). Well we had it all planned out. Then came the best call ever. We were told that Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles would be presiding and speaking. So that meant that we had to change it. up. It was amazing last night. We had two choir numbers and 2 special musical numbers. We heard from President Daines and a recent convert. 

Elder Christofferson was amazing! He taught plain and simple doctrines. I was hoping for a discourse on how we can be translated or where really Kolob. Well once he started to speak the Lord rebuked me. He let me know very clearly that the Apostle was not hear for me or us as missionaries. He was here for those that were new members and most importantly for those that are not members yet. Well with that back drop can you guess what he spoke on? Baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and repenting. The highlight thing that I learned was this. That the ordinance of baptism covers all sins past and future. That it covers prospectively and retrospectively. The way that is possible is if we repent and partaking of the sacrament. I just love that concept that proper baptism with the right authority has a cleansing effect and take effects on all sins if we but access the Atonement through repentance and the sacrament. The other awesome highlight of yesterday was the way how the choral songs worked out. At the end of December Elder Pike and I had not heard back from Pres. Meldrum. So we decide to plan it out and see what Pres. Meldrum thought. Well the two that both Elder Pike and I felt strongly about was the songs, "Come Follow Me" and "Come Thou Fount". When we called Presidnet Meldrum about our idea for choral songs he said, "You would not believe it but those were the two I was looking at doing. I found music for them today." Now if you know anything about those two songs you will see that they were perfect for the topic Elder Chirstofferson spoke on. Coincidence? I think not! The last highlight of last night was that I got to shake hands with every key holder on the stand. I actually got to shake Elder Christofferson's hand twice. It was a wonderful night! 

Hope you all have a great week! My new address is 1570 Crystal Court Apt A Newark Ohio 43055. 

Love,

Elder Baird  

Blessings of the Temple - Jan 19

Hello family!

It has been another wonderful week! The has been mainly wonderful because of the temple. 

I think I have told many of you, possibly even in a group email, that we are allowed to do 3 hours of family history a week! Oh how I have loved doing it. Mainly what I have been working on is the unknown parts of the family. I decide and felt impressed to work on one name, a man named William Moore. He is on the Roberts side of the family. Well for the first 3 weeks I was looking census after census. I could not find anymore info on him. It was pretty discouraging but I was determined to find him. I think the Lord was testing me, seeing if I was really dedicated to the work of family history. Since then I have found 2 more sons, 2 more daughters, 2 of the son's wives, and one of the daughters husbands. It has been incredible to see how after the trial came the miracle! It has not only blessed my life but we have been able to get our investigators and members addicted as well! 

The great blessing came on Saturday. Saturday was a glorious day! Darin and Shirley went and received their endowments. Then they were sealed. Here are some highlights from that experience. 

1. In connection with Williams family I was able to do the work for his son John L Moore. There is an incredible feeling when you do the work for YOUR ancestors. We have been taught by many prophets and apostles that going to the temple is half the blessings and doing your family history is the other half. To receive all the blessings of temple in family history work we need to take our ancestors to the temple.

2. I was the witness at their sealing! That was probably one of the coolest things I have done. 

3. I gained new insights on the ordinances and covenants of the temple. A lot of that came as the sealer was talking before their sealing. He was one of the past temple presidents. So he had incredible insights. Also some of the questions of my soul were answered! 

4. Like I have said in past emails. Coshocton is family away from family! The Pierces (friends of Grandma and Grandpa Roberts) came back out for it. Also many of the branch members were there. It was a wonderful experience to all be together in the temple as a branch family. 

The temple is incredible! The blessings received there are beyond this world, literally. We need to make sure that we are worthy of recommend. Not only should we have the recommend we should use it often!! 

Love,

Elder Baird 

Sisters and Brothers in the Service of God - Jan 12

Hello family! 

It has been an eventful week! Full of many tears and laughs! 

It was a much better week concerning the work!

There is a family I have been working on for quite some time. They are a family that is always busy! We stop in like once or twice a month to see how they are doing. Well we stopped in and the mother of the family said, I want to know all I can about your church. Well I told her we teach 5 lessons and she was all on board for hearing them. So we are super excited about. Another family is on date to be baptized on February 14th! 

The big news of the week is yesterday I was released from being branch president. I am still in Coshocton though. I am not quite sure yet what the Lord has in store for transfers for me on the 22nd. Most people in the mission do not know yet and I am trying to keep it that way. When I got called 6 months ago it spread like wild fire. The funniest part was when I was emergency transferred from being an assistant to Coshocton. You would not believe the rumors that flew. Some had no clue where I was sent. The funniest one I heard was I almost died and was medically sent home to survive. Another favorite one was I made President Nilsen really mad and he banished me to Coshcoton. So I have told only President Daines, Elder Pike, Elder Campbell and Elder Monahan about it. The rest can find out at transfers! 

One thing that I have loved the most about serving as a Branch President and a missionary is the love and friendships that are kindled in the service of our God. I am amazed at the friends and family I have gained since being out here. We are all part of one being happy family, the family of God. Paul teaches this principle directly. To the Romans he says,"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16) Then to the people of Galatia he teaches, "For ye are all the children of God" (Galatians 3:26). Now this latter verse could be meaning children of Christ or Jehovah rather then children of Heavenly Father or Elohim. I find this based off the later verses and words in Galatians talking about being baptized. We become Children of Christ through internalizing the doctrine of Christ and being baptized. But we all, no matter the person, are children of a Father in Heaven. I believe a gift of the Spirit that is not directly mentioned in the list of gifts but is definitely told of through the scriptures is the gift of loving others. If we allow this gift to truly penetrate our hearts we can have a sincere love for all the children of Adam. That is gift I have treasured most recently and is a gift I desire to continue to have.  

Love,

Elder Baird 

His Hand

Hello Family,

This week was another wonderful week in the mission field. It was slow in concept of the progression of the work. A missionary's least favorite phrase right now is to hear, lets wait after the holidays. Well guess what? The holidays are over! 

The cool spiritual experience for the week was the faith of one of our investigators. Her and her family have been taking the lessons for quite sometime. She asked us on Saturday if we could give her a blessing to stop smoking. We have not even retaught her the Word of Wisdom but she understood that the vice of smoking was stopping her spiritual progression.

It is amazing to me how the Lord inspires, chastises, edifies, and uplifts us.  I have loved the hand of the Lord in my life. No matter the sin, not matter the pride, and no matter the weakness the words of Isiah continue to ring in my ears, "but his hand is stretched out still." "is" to me is the most comforting word within that short little phrase. It does not say his hand will be, or his had could be, or his hand was. The Lord makes it very clearly in many verses of Isiah that, "his hand is stretchered out still" and always will be. We just need to be agents unto ourselves, and act, not be acted upon. We need to have faith and grasp the hand that is ever waiting to pull us up out of our pit of despair. The power of the Lord's hand is incredible. We see by His hand healing can take place. As the man without sight approaches Christ in Bethsaida pleading with the Lord to heal him of his infirmity by touching him. Then Christ "took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him...and he (the blind man) was restored"(Mark 8:22-26). We see the hand of the Lord saves us when we fall. As Peter is sinking into the sea as he has tried his faith at walking on water we see the reaction of the Lord. "And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him" Even when Peter was doubting and having little faith the Lord assisted him. He did not wait for the water to get to his neck or waited to see him suffer. But the moment that Peter had the faith to call for help from the Lord, immediately "his hand was stretched out". Was it not His hands that bore the weight of all our sorrows and troubles? It is by his hands that he understands. By His hand being nailed to the cross for each of us, we can receive forgiveness. It is by His hands we can be believing. And apostle of the Lord, Thomas, in the New Testament had is belief renewed by the hand of the Lord. "Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side:and be not faithless, but believing."(John 20:27) The Nephites as well came to know the Lord by His hands. "Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world." (3 Ne. 11:14)  We may never have the opportunity to physically touch the hands of Christ till the next life. But I know that we can spiritually feel and know of the hands of the Messiah through His Atonement. By humility we may know like the blind man that the hands of the God of Israel can heal us. Just like Peter if we have the faith to ask, we can know the hands of Shepherd can and will lift us out of despair. Just like Thomas and the Nephites we may know by applying the Atonement of Christ into our lives the reality and divinity of the hands of the Messiah in our salvation. 

Love,

Elder Baird   

#ShareTheGift

Hello Family,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I had a great one! We went the Welker's for Thanksgiving lunner. It was wonderful! Sister Welker deep fried 4 turkeys. We also had loads of homemade bread, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie. Lots of pie! 

This week has been pretty good! Not much exciting news though except for I had lots of pie this week! I had the opportunity to do some exchanges with some elders in the district. I went over to Cambridge Ohio. It is a fun small place like Coshocton. 

The most exciting news of the week is the new video the church put out. If you have not seen it you should go watch it. It is called He is the Gift. It is absolutely incredible. So on Wednesday we made a wonderful trek down to Columbus for a special meeting. The meeting was all about the new movie. We have been asked to help all the members discover, embrace, and share the Gift of Christ. I am so excited for it. We have been using it everywhere we can. And you should too! I was able to even teach a 5th Sunday lesson about it yesterday. The Lord is truly hastening His work in all fashion. So write now the moment you are reading this, go to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and any other new fan-dangled social media sites that might have been created in the past 20 months, and post it on there! We need to flood the world with this! Every companionship gets 10 cards to pass out a day. We did the math. If every companionship in the world gets to pass out 10 cards that means roughly 400,000 cards will be passed out in one day! So we need to let everyone now about this! At the end of the video we are invited to do 3 things: Discover the Gift, Embrace the Gift, and Share the Gift. But I can tell you one thing you can not nor will you fully discover and embrace the Gift of Christ without sharing the gospel. The only way to fulfill the first two invitations is to complete the third. So go out there and share the Gift! Alright I am off my soap box but seriously just do it! 

Well I hope you are all doing well! Just so you know I won't be on next Monday cause of transfers! I will be on next Wednesday! Also we had a fun zone activity today so there is Mr. and Mrs. Clause and I together. By the way he is my first counselor!