Abide in me

Today's email comes with some quotes from a talk given by Elder Holland when he came and visited our mission. 

“Abide in me” is an understandable and beautiful enough concept in the elegant English of the King James Bible, but “abide” is not a word we use much anymore. So I gained even more appreciation for this admonition from the Lord when I was introduced to the translation of this passage in another language. In Spanish that familiar phrase is rendered “permaneced en mi.” Like the English verb “abide,” permanecer means “to remain, to stay,” but even gringos like me can hear the root cognate there of “permanence.” The sense of this then is “stay—but stay forever.” That is the call of the gospel message to Chileans and everyone else in the world. Come, but come to remain. Come with conviction and endurance. Come permanently, for your sake and the sake of all the generations who must follow you...

 When we join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we board the Good Ship Zion and sail with her wherever she goes until she comes into that millennial port. We stay in the boat, through squalls and stills, through storms and sunburn, because that is the only way to the promised land. This Church is the Lord’s vehicle for crucial doctrines, ordinances, covenants, and keys that are essential to exaltation...To new convert and longtime member alike, we declare in the spirit of Nephi’s powerful valedictory exhortation: “Ye have entered in by the gate; … [but] now, … after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; … press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, … and endure to the end, behold, thus … ye shall have eternal life.” 

 - Elder Holland

What I have come to know over this last year is that the purpose of this mission is not only to bring others unto Christ but to convert yourself. To stay, not by stubbornness, but guided by the truth and the light. To remain, not by reluctance, but through joy and pain. And to endure, not by barely making the cut, but always trusting that someone else is walking along the same path as you, pushing you along. This is not a one time experience, this is not 2 years and then we get a break. It is not "when you feel like it", or because someone is making you do it. This gospel is eternal, and I push that meaning to all its significance, it is bigger than me and a lot bigger than you all. And we will stay until the end.  

Full talk: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/04/abide-in-me?lang=eng

Elder Haddad