Chapter 48: Submit
- Elder Jonas Childers
- Aug 16, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 5, 2024
"And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him."
Luke 5:12-13
A truly incredible week! We had exchanges, zone conference, and I was able to celebrate my birthday! 20 years old—kind of hard to believe but time continues to steadily press onward. I will hit a year on my mission this week which is pretty hard to imagine. All in all, I learned some good lessons this week!
In terms of exciting news, at zone conference, President McCrudden announced to us that, effective immediately, we were allowed to go GQing (street contacting) and chapping (knocking doors) as a new means of finding people to teach. Apparently the restrictions for COCID have placated to allow us to do more in person activities, including those methods of finding.
When he first told us, my immediate reaction was very much doubtful and a little bit annoyed. I've been doing online missionary work for almost a year, and I've come to enjoy it and find myself pretty skilled at the ins and outs of it all. Initially, I wasn't very keen on trying out something different or new, especially something that seemed so out there and extroverted.
But as the meeting continued, I felt the Spirit bear witness to me that this was the way forward and that it would lead us to people we wouldn't be able to find otherwise. President McCrudden additionally testified that there were people in all of our areas who were desperately praying for guidance and help from someone, from anything, and that as we followed the guidance of the Spirit, we would be led to them.
So we traveled home, and I thought about it a lot. Also, as what happens frequently, I began to have a pretty bad headache which developed into a migraine as the day went on and we made our way home. It got bad enough to the point where we got home and I almost threw up I was so nauseous. It was 7:00, and so we ate some dinner and, still not feeling well at all, I decided that we weren't going to be able to work much that evening, never mind go out GQing.
Then, something pretty powerful happened. To try and help my migraine I decided to just shut out some light and take a shower as well to see if it would help. I thought quite a bit, especially about how I felt earlier in the day. I prayed to God about it all, about my mission, about how I was doing, asking and searching for some impression about how he felt regarding my progress. I told God about my desires to be better, to do the things he wanted me to do to become the man he needed me to become.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, this scripture from Luke came into my mind about the leper. Lord, if thou art willing, thou canst make me clean. Only if you are willing, I submit to you. The leper recognizes the Savior for who he is and understands that it is only through his power that we will be made whole. And then, of course, the Savior is willing and says, "I will, be thou clean" and the leper is cleansed.
It's a powerful account and as I pondered it, I learned that I am the leper.
And so I opened up to God, and told him, just as the leper did, that I knew He could make me into so much more if he was willing.
Then I felt this question enter my heart:
Christ is always willing to heal, but are you willing to submit?
Submit.
We must choose to submit. And so I did, I chose right then that I was going to submit to God whatever his will was. That if he wanted me to go out and GQ, I would that night. So we did. My migraine went away, and we found three new people in 45 minutes.
All we have to do is choose to submit, everyday, and The Father and Son will lead us along.
Life is good.
God is wise.
Don't give up.
Elder Childers
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