Chapter 88: What is Truth

"Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all."

John 18:37-38

Another week full of the fulness of missionary work. As always for the first week of the transfers we had all the new missionaries come in which is always so fun. Elder Kulmayer went off right on Monday to start his exchanges, he is doing 22 this transfer, and myself and my other companions dealt with all of the trainings and meetings for this first week. The new missionaries are really sharp and we are so excited to see all they will bring to this mission.

As well this week we had our Mission Leadership Council, which is always just a real highlight each transfer where all the Zone Leadership comes together into Edinburgh to have a council about the needs of the mission. It was powerful and lovely to see great friends come together, look around, and realize that everyone there was someone who I've assigned under President McCrudden to their respective assignments. It's incredible the way the Lord conducts his work.

The great topic and theme of this week has been very much about the worldwide devotional put on by President Russell M. Nelson for the young adults of the world. I absolutely love hearing him speak and teach truths about God and our life here on Earth. He taught about identity and the power of understanding who we really are and what our glorious potential really is. As I listened and took notes, I felt the Spirit teach me that there was much more in store for me than I had thought, and that if I took time to ponder and pray, I would begin to be able to access the power of my identity.

Well, the week went on: at MLC we gave a training to the leaders about the power of truth using President Nelson's address, and well, as it got to the weekend my spirits began to dip a little bit. I have weakness as we all do and I tend to get down on myself quite a bit. For some reason, Satan is quite able most of the time to get me to think negatively about myself, especially after moments of weakness in my strivings to live better, treat others better, and further consecrate myself to the Lord.

On Saturday morning I woke up and just didn't feel good at all. As I should do much more often, I went into the spare room, all alone, and knelt down to pray to my Father in Heaven. I spoke to him about the thoughts I was having, and immediately I felt the Spirit tell me to consider the truths President Nelson had taught about my identity. So I went through each of them with God, one by one, and asked Him to teach me what each of them meant. Well, he did, and I learned for myself an initial understanding of the truths of my identity as taught by the Prophet. I'm excited to further my understanding.

In all things, there is truth, but all truth comes from God and witnesses that he is there, that he is our father, and that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to take upon him our experiences so as to provide relief and mercy for us. In terms of our identity as members of the Church, some may ask, even earnestly, as Pilate did, "what is truth?" The answer is this:

You are a child of God.

You are a child of the covenant.

You are a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I invite you to discover what that means to you and discover the power of pure truth.

Life is good.

God is wise.

Don't give up.

Elder Childers

Pictures from MLC: Me and my companions grilling

Me with Elder Draney

Me with Elder Peavler and Elder Cuthbertson

Us posing together

Selfie with Elder Brown

Me in the car with the Costco goods for our barbeque

Me and Elder Draney and Elder Kulmayer in front of the Mission Home

Me with Elder Lambert and Elder Yorgason up Pratt's Hill

Me with Edinburgh Zone Leaders, Elder Searcy and Elder McKay

Went to the 1872 Cup for Rugby! Edinburgh versus Glasgow, it was amazing. We went with Ben Atiga and his daughter; he's been coming to church with his family who are all members of the church. A real gentleman.

Selfie with Aaron at the Rugby, he's a good man and a good friend.

Little trip up north to Thurso, John O'Groats, and Dunnet Head, the northernmost part of mainland Britan. What a beautiful place.

Cool painting in John O'Groats

Sister Unbedacht came to visit the mission which was fun to see her, all of us were in the same Zone when she left about a year ago

Elder Yorgason had to sleep on the floor