Week 3‏

His week was great. We had an awesome Zone Conference last Thursday where President Sagers taught us a lot. We covered a lot of things and I don't have my study journal so I can't remember it all. But one thing I do remember is that we talked about the Natural Man.

Ok, random change of subject. I don't remember if I told you about an experience back when I was with Elder Fibke. We were on exchanges and I was with Elder Roberts (this was the first time I was with him, not the 2nd time when we lost the truck). He and I were knocking a street and there was a guy mowing his lawn, we offered to help him and he declined, and also told us that he lived in Utah for 14 years growing up and they couldn't convert him there so we won't convert him here. We just laughed and kept going. Once we finished the street we were headed back up and he had stopped mowing because his knee hurt. He said to us "I wish I had taken you up on that offer." So I ran up and took the lawn mower and Elder Roberts talked to him while I finished the lawn. Then we talked for a little while longer and then left. The big impact was the fact that he now had a different view of "Mormons" than he had before.

So a couple weeks later Elder Fibke and I went over and talked to him, we invited him again to learn and he again declined, but he was happy to see us.

Another time this past transfer I went there with Elder Lancaster and talked to him for a  minute, but he was busy.

Two weeks ago Elder Phister and I went over and he invited us in and we had a really good talk about religion and were having really good progress in the discussion when something came up that he had to leave quickly, so we were cut short.

Just now, as I was sitting here typing, I saw someone walk past and I looked up and there he was, looking right over my head at a book shelf. We made eye contact and he sat down and talked with me for a couple minutes. He is a really good guy, and I really want to start teaching him, but there's something blocking it and I just can't figure it out. Before I leave here my goal is to get a personalized Book of Mormon to him and invite him again to read it. I am not sure how it will go, but I have a goal in mind and I am going to reach it.

Ok, so back to Zone Conference. President talked about the Natural Man, who he is, why he is an enemy to God, and how we can overcome him. It was a really good training that spoke perfectly to everyone listening, because no matter what our situation was spiritually, we learned how we can improve. There was a quote, I don't know who by, and I will paraphrase, but basically it said the only way to beat the natural man is to suffocate him. We do that by eliminating the things that cause us to sin. Media, thoughts, behaviors, etc. As we eliminate the "mists of darkness" around us, the natural man is snuffed out.

Random cool thing that happened too. At each zone conference one of the wards in the area provides the lunch. This time they set up a bunch of Texas decorations and stuff, and even had a rodeo rope out. During lunch Sister Sagers picked it up and started spinning it (in case you didn't know, both President and Sister Sagers were professional rodeoers (if that is a word)) anyway, she told Elder Fa to start running, and then she roped his ankle and basically would have owned him if she had just given it a little pull. But she didn't. he still almost fell anyway, but it was able to stay up. It was cool. Then President came over and started spinning it and roped someone else. It was hilarious. (and no I don't have video of it because President reminded everyone that the call packet says not to use the video feature on cameras, which was a very widespread forgotten thing, so I won't be sending any more videos home. But that doesn't mean my parents should delete the ones I have either, I want to see those when I get back) Anyway, it was fun.

That's about all I can remember from last week, it flew by and I left my planner in my suit coat in the car so I can't look at it to tell you anything else.

We have started doing an activity found on pg 114 of Preach My Gospel under the Mission President section. It is a great activity that I would suggest everyone takes a look at and does. It will increase your testimony of the Book of Mormon. And if you don't have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, or if it has gone dormant, then you definitely need to do it. If you don't at least read the Book of Mormon (again if you have before, and regardless of whether you do the activity), you are cheating yourself out of blessings your Father in Heaven has for you. And now you won't be able to come up to me and ask 'Why didn't you tell me?" because I just did. Read it.

Anyway, what I was originally getting to with that before I called some people out, is that this activity is awesome. I actually did it already about a year ago on my own, but now that we're doing it as a mission I have gotten another clean copy of the Book of Mormon and I am starting over. I have seen things that I have never noticed before, and I am learning a lot. It's incredible to see the blessings that come to me by simply studying the Book of Mormon. I love it.

I have decided that I love logic. I always have, but since being here, I love it even more. First of all because logic proves there is a God. There is no way evolution could possibly make any sense, and there is no way we came from a random big bang in the universe. I don't know how it all happened exactly, but I know it wasn't random and chaotic. Next, once you have seen there is a God, the next step would be to see that logically there is a Christ, a Messiah, a Savior. Once you look at all the different Christian religions, logically the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has to be the true one. why? well number one reason is authority. there are a series of ordinations and callings all throughout the Bible, both the Old Testament and the New. So there has to be authority from God. Well, where is most of mainstream Christianity's claim to authority? Knowledge, schooling, or self-proclaimed. Much like the scribes and Pharisees in the New Testament. They were lawyers, government officials, and religious leaders. But where was their authority? If you believe in the Bible, you believe when Mark tells us that they had none, by telling us about Christ's "Mark 1:22 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes." So we can eliminate every Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, non-denominational, and any other Christian church except two, The Catholic church and the LDS church, the only two with a decent claim to authority. The catholic's claim that Peter was the first pope (show that to me in the bible...) and that it was passed down before he was killed. Well, let's look at this logically for a second, only one aspect though because I am basically out of time. The apostles on the main land, specifically Peter, would not have ordained a new apostle without the entire council of apostles present, and even if they had, whoever the Catholics claim to be the next "pope" would not have been the senior apostle, because John was still alive, he was exiled. He was the head of the church when the rest of the apostles died (well, Christ was, but John was on the earth), and there were not any new apostles who joined him, so Cletus or linus or whoever the Catholics believe was the next senior apostle couldn't have been, because John was still alive. And, another logical look at it, they pray to saints and to mother Mary, neither of those principles are anywhere in the Bible, in fact Christ makes it clear we only pray to the Father.

So all that is left is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where a prophet was called the same way prophets in the days of old were called (numbers 12:6) and where the evidence of Christ's leadership is visible to all who take a look. There's my logical proof that the church is true.

I can't describe well in written word how I know the church is true spiritually, but I know. There is not a shadow of a doubt, because of the experiences I have had. It is true. If you don't know it is, find out. Step up. Be what the Lord wants you to be.

I love you all.

-- 
--Elder Braxton C Foust--

But to us he gives the keeping of the lights along the shore

It was interesting these last couple days as I have though about things that have been going on I thought about what to make my subject line. I decided a couple days ago that a line from Hymn 335 Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy would be appropriate. And then it was interesting to see another line from the same song as Elder Nielsen's subject line. Apparently we are on similar wavelengths this week.

This week has been... I don't know what adjective to use. It has been wonderful. Back in the day (as far back as last week) I would have said "It has been freaking sweet," but due to events, that's not how I want to say it anymore. So let me tell you why.

Last Tuesday we had Leadership Training. It was a big Leadership training, everyone in a leadership position in the entire mission except for Killeen and Waco were there together. (They are far enough away that they had their own the next day). It was a very inspired and powerful meeting. We talked about a lot of really good subjects, things from effective nightly and weekly planning, to personal and companion studies, to contacting. One of the things President Sagers talked about with contacting was language. He told us there are three categories of language that we are not to use. 1) Inappropriate language i.e. fetch, frick, freaking, etc. 2) not-missionary-like language i.e. crap, dude, stud, awesome (can be used correctly though in the context of something being awe inspiring) and 3) repetitive language i.e. um, like, I guess, uh, etc. Since then we have been putting forth an extra effort to use what Elder Baxter called last October when he visited, Celestial Language. It is rough, but we are working on it. It definitely makes a difference.

Another thing we talked about was cleanliness. Now, I'm not a filthy guy, but I have a hard time keeping things neat and tidy, especially my desk. But I know exactly where everything is. But after that training, I had a desire to be cleaner. So I cleaned the apartment, and tidied up, put stuff away that I never use, stashed extra blankets and pillows that aren't being used away, things like that. Our apartment is much cleaner now.

I also got a lot out of it for leading, for helping others to follow examples, and to correct others in a more effective way. A big part of that came from the way I felt corrected by the spirit. I feel more the weight of being a leader, of setting an example, of being the kind of leader my Father in Heaven wants me to be. It's not a burdensome weight, it's not a struggle, but it's something that reminds me of the importance of what I am doing. I have been given "the keeping of the lights along the shore." so that I may rescue and save "some poor fainting, struggling seaman." whether that be member, non-member, or missionary. And I love the stewardship, because it keeps me accountable, and I want to do well not only for myself, but to help others.

Another thing that made this past week so great was an exchange on Friday. This was unlike any other exchange I have been on. I got to go to "tonga". Aka, the Euless 3rd Ward where the APs work. Elder Fa came back to Denton to work with Elder Phister, which was good since Elder Fa knows our area better than Elder Phister at the moment, and I got to go to Euless with Elder Bone. We had to do some errand running, which is a lot of the APs do, but we got to teach and proselyte too. My favorite part of it was probably spending one on one time with Elder Bone though. I don't know him well, so it was good to get to get to know him better. We had some really good conversation about our missions, about spiritual experiences, things we have learned, and other such topics. That night when we went in to plan the next day I saw a piece of paper on Elder Bone's desk which he had entitled something along the lines of "Being perfected." He had written things he needed to change in his own attitude and life in order to be a more obedient missionary and a better example. The things that stuck out to me was that the day before I had been prompted to do the same thing, mine was "Being Consecrated," and our lists were practically identical. That made me feel a little better about where I am in my progression spiritually.

Then on Sunday we had Stake Conference. Elder Bruce D Porter of the 70 spoke. I learned a lot from that too. He talked about having an attitude of gratitude, and a brother from his high school that was nicknamed Mr. Optimism. So I try to smile more now, and be more grateful. I would advise y'all to do the same.

And now here I am today. This morning I finished planning out a training I will be giving to Denton and Weatherford Zones at our zone conference on Thursday. It is going to be on How the Book of Mormon builds faith in Missionary Work. I am going to talk about a several things, but I will end it with talking about Lehi's dream, how the Book of Mormon is the Rod of Iron, and we need to use it to get through the mists of darkness we face in order to receive the blessings of the Atonement (the tree of life). I would suggest y'all go back and read 1 Nephi 11 and see how you can apply it to your life.

I love you all. I know this church is Christ's church. I know that he leads it today through his Prophet. I know that He lives. I know that our Father in Heaven has provided a plan for us, with the Atonement of Christ at the center. I invite you to take the necessary steps to follow that plan and partake of the atonement. If you don't know what those steps are, 2 Nephi 31-33 will tell you.

I love you all!

-- --Elder Braxton C Foust--

I am sick of tow trucks

We had a really busy week this week. It was kind of hectic with transfers. Especially Wednesday morning when we found out that both our car and the D1 elder’s car were gone. So we spent all day working on getting those back from two different towing companies, and then we got to work. Then on Thursday we had a good planning session for our area and our investigators, and we had to figure out what to do for Zone Huddle (combined district meeting that we are in charge of) on Friday, and since ZMC was last week before transfers, I had to relay all the info to Elder Phister so we could figure out what to do. It was a little stressful. But we got it all done and taken care of.

On Friday after the Zone Huddle we did an exchange with one of the new district leaders, Elder Petersen. He and I worked in my area. THe FIrst thing we did was teach Mary about the Atonement, and then we tracted until dinner. After dinner we went to the institute So Elder Petersen could interview Mary for baptism, she was running late so that ended up taking the whole evening hours. We are not sure yet if we'll be having a baptism next week. I hope so. Anyway, it was a good exchange.

Saturday was a good full day of work. We visited one guy who has been less active for 40 years, and he is now coming back and he and his wife are studying the Book of Mormon together on LDS.org using the tools and notebooks and stuff on there, he showed us all the cool stuff he has been doing with it and it was awesome. It is a good resource. He told us he wants to get the priesthood and be sealed, and he will be soon. It is awesome.

Sunday was a good day. We were busy all day long. No one made it to sacrament meeting, but that is alright, because it was a weird sacrament meeting. They did a seminary graduation program and the graduating seniors spoke about seminary, and it was a little on the ""I am so grateful for _______" repeated over and over again between tears side, so it was odd. And then for a musical number in the middle they sand If You Could Hie to Kolob. Which made it even better there were no investigators there, since that goes way over everyone's head. I just tell people it's talking about hiking in the canyon in southern Utah. Ok not really, that is the joke my dad said last night on the phone. Really I tell people that it is symbolic of Christ and moving towards him through the basic steps of the gospel, being faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Since that is what it is. Symbolism. who would have thought.

Wow, there is this guy in the library on the computer next to us listening to some really heavy obnoxious screamo metal crap turned up so loud that I can hear it through his little earphones. It is funny how much I can feel a difference in the spirit with it than what I would have noticed back home.

Anyway, Sunday night was awesome; we had dinner with a family in the ward that feeds us every other week. They bought the missionaries nerf guns, so we have nerf wars while we're there, and we spar with nerf swords. It’s pretty fun. We went from there back to the apartment so Elder Phister could call home, and then we went to the Institute to do numbers and for me to call home. It was good to talk to my family again. I have a feeling I'll get home and everything will be different.

But that is ok. I just can't wait to get home and beat Jaden at everything again :)

Well, I am really tired and I can't think of anything else to really talk about, nothing to rant on today, I could find something, but I’ll save it for later.

One thing I learned at church was that maybe sacrament meeting is supposed to be a trial of our faith. That sounds harsh and backwards, but hear me out. Sometimes we hear these ridiculous talks and testimonies that just drive you crazy and don't do anything but fill the room with fluff, and that drives some people away, they feel like they didn't get anything out of it. Well that is the trial then, because the most important thing we do on Sunday is partake of the sacrament. It is that ordinance that renews our covenants and gives us a fresh start. So if we are forgetting that and complaining about not having a spiritual experience at church and don't want to go, let's take a step back and think for a minute "what did I do to prepare myself to take the sacrament today?" "What have I done to invite the spirit to be with me and to create and environment that the spirit can uplift me today?" Sacrament meeting is the most important part of the sabbath day. If we are not taking full advantage of it, we are damning ourselves to a degree. So let's take advantage of it.
-- --Elder Braxton C Foust--

Surprise for Elder Foust‏

Well, it is transfers this week, and we were a little surprised when we found out some transfer news this past week.

On Friday was our Zone Leader Council. President Sagers grabbed Elder Fa and said he wanted to talk with him. Long story short, Elder Fa is the new AP.

Which means Elder Foust is staying in Denton for transfer number 4.
It is kind of interesting being in this position, cause like I said last week, I was pretty sure I would leave. But there is something the Lord needs me to do here, and to learn from here. So I need to get to it and find out what it is. Luckily, I have really good guides to find out what those things are. ^"Feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." and "By the power of the Holy Ghost you may know the truth of all things." Two very important promises for me, especially in this coming transfer.

I was excited on Saturday morning to see my transfer information; we have a lot of great missionaries coming in, and some that I have never heard of. Something else came up, they closed one of the areas in our Zone, and so they have to shuffle up the districts now. It turns out there will be 3 new District Leaders in our Zone, and it is the ZL's responsibility to teach them how to be a District Leader. So I am responsible to teach all of our District Leaders what they need to do. Well, me and my new companion, Elder Phister. (Fibke, then Fa, now Phister. and my name is Foust.) The thing about Elder Phister is that he is a new Zone Leader, so I get to teach him how to be a Zone Leader, while teaching them how to be District Leaders. It's going to be great.

I have been praying that God would help me to better understand how to receive that revelation I need as a leader, to help those I have stewardship over, and I was led to "Feast upon the words of Christ," "And by the power of the Holy Ghost you may know the truth of all things," and "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass." As I prayed for the opportunity to apply these things, I was then given the transfer information that I would be training 3 new district leaders and a new zone leader. I feel a little like President Eyring when he talked about praying for a trial, but I don't really view it as a trial, simply an answered prayer meant to refine me and help me be better. As Elder Sare said a few transfers ago, "The Refiner's Fire: It's Hot. And it Texas it is also humid." Just throw me into the Fire and call me Shadrach, cause I don't plan on getting burned, and I expect Christ to be by my side. (And If I do get burned, you can call me Abinadi).

This transfer will rock though. Elder Gypp, my mission brother (he was also trained by Elder Warburton) is coming up here to be in the Denton 1st ward. And Elder Russon who I got to be friends with in Killeen is coming up too. It is going to be a rocking transfer. We'll have a baptism in a couple weeks (pushed back due to stake conference) and we're planning on setting a few more baptismal dates this week. Things are picking up and we are going to see miracles.

I don't really have anything to rant about today either, so let's just read the ending of a powerful talk about Christ's Atonement

"Whether you are not yet of our faith or were with us once and have not remained, there is nothing in either case that you have done that cannot be undone. There is no problem which you cannot overcome. There is no dream that in the unfolding of time and eternity cannot yet be realized. Even if you feel you are the lost and last laborer of the eleventh hour, the Lord of the vineyard still stands beckoning. “Come boldly [to] the throne of grace,”³ and fall at the feet of the Holy One of Israel. Come and feast “without money and without price”⁴ at the table of the Lord. I especially make an appeal for husbands and fathers, priesthood bearers or prospective priesthood bearers, to, as Lehi said, “Awake! and arise from the dust … and be men.”⁵ Not always but often it is the men who choose not to answer the call to “come join the ranks.”⁶ Women and children frequently seem more willing. Brethren, step up. Do it for your sake. Do it for the sake of those who love you and are praying that you will respond. Do it for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, who paid an unfathomable price for the future He wants you to have. My beloved brothers and sisters, to those of you who have been blessed by the gospel for many years because you were fortunate enough to find it early, to those of you who have come to the gospel by stages and phases later, and to those of you—members and not yet members—who may still be hanging back, to each of you, one and all, I testify of the renewing power of God’s love and the miracle of His grace. His concern is for the faith at which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there. So if you have made covenants, keep them. If you haven’t made them, make them. If you have made them and broken them, repent and repair them. It is never too late so long as the Master of the vineyard says there is time. Please listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit telling you right now, this very moment, that you should accept the atoning gift of the Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy the fellowship of His labor. Don’t delay. It’s getting late." -Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

I love you all. I know this church is true. It is getting late, so let's get ready. Let us be as the 5 wise virgins in another parable, and have our lambs ready to go.

-- --Elder Braxton C Foust--

Week 6 Already‏

This transfer has definitely been the fastest so far. I'm sure y'all are sick of me saying that every six weeks, but it is true every time. It just gets faster and faster. I am pretty sure I will be leaving, so refrain from mailing anything to me after Saturday in case I leave on Wednesday Morning of next week. I'll let you know for sure next Monday once I know my transfer doctrine.

Anyway, this week has been awesome, mostly in the general "I'm on a mission telling people about the restoration" kind of awesome way.

We had some awesome lessons this week. First was on Wednesday with Mary. Like I told you before, she moved her baptismal date back to the 19th of May, which was ok, we'll work with that. We are now in lesson 4 with Mary. The cool thing about lesson 4 is you can teach it in any way you want. It is the Commandments. Including the Ten Commandments, the Word of Wisdom, Prayer, Obedience, Sabbath Day, Fasting, Law of Chastity, and others. We decided to focus on Prayer and Scripture Study this lesson. It was great because she has been struggling with prayer.

I think many people have the same problem with prayers that Mary has been facing. Sometimes it feels like our prayers are not being heard, like we're talking to the wall.
We talked about the structure of prayer, and how we can talk to our Father in Heaven about literally anything. It is a conversation between us and God. It was really good. Our exchange from the ward talked about how his son needed help with Spanish but never came and asked him for help. But because he is his son he has every right to ask him for his help with anything. It was an awesome analogy that helped Mary understands prayer better.

On Thursday we had Free Speech on campus again. I am pretty sure I have told y'all about free speech before. It's where we get to stand on some grass and talk to people about the church as they go to and from classes. It was a lot of fun. We have new Mormon.org pass-along cards with a QR code on the back (you know those scanner boxes that are on everything now) and we gave out a whole box of 100 in the first couple hours. It was awesome. We also gave out several copies of the Book of Mormon and a lot of pamphlets. It rocked.

On Friday all the missionaries going home between now and October had a super secret meeting in Hurst. Really it was just like a normal zone conference, but was focused on getting the Doctrine of Christ into your heart so fully that it will remain as a part of you forever, and how to constantly be nourishing it after the mission. Obviously I was not there, but Elder Fa was, so I got to go on exchange that day with Elder Lancaster. We had a good time knocking doors pretty much all day long. That night was the best part of the day though.

So there is this family we met from Albania. They have lived in Texas for 20 years, and haven't gone to church during that whole time. We met them while knocking doors a couple weeks ago, but were not able to get in until Friday. When the father, I will call him Art, let us in, he told us to sit down and wait for him to get his whole family there so they can all listen. It was awesome. We taught the first lesson very simply so their two sons, who I will call Fabio and Adi, could understand. They all loved it, especially the mother, who I will call Era. (all the names are not their real names, but close enough for me to remember). They committed to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it, and to be baptized if they find out it is true. It was awesome.

Saturday was a good day. There was one guy we talked to that goes to a big non-denominational church out here that we had a really good conversation with. He has a hard time accepting the need for priesthood authority, but we talked about Luke 6:13, where Christ chose specific disciples to be his Apostles, as well as John 15:16, where Christ ordains those apostles. After we clearly showed the need for authority, he changed to the subject of grace. One thing people don't realize is that Mormons do believe that we are saved by grace. It's the only way. There is nothing we can do to deserve salvation. The thing he, and other mainstream Christians, didn't get is that in order to receive grace we have to be obedient to the commandments. It was interesting to me that he told us that baptism is not essential, but it's just a thing we can do if we want to. I quoted Christ as he said "Unless a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God" but he ignored it and went on about something else. It is simple; we are given commandments to obey them. Period. If we do not obey them, we won't receive grace. We are saved after all we can do. "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." We have to be obedient.

Sunday was a great day, other than the fact that I was speaking in Sacrament. It wasn't that bad, in fact I found it easier than I have in the past. The problem this time was that I am so used to giving trainings and having energy and participation, that a talk in sacrament where everyone is being quite and I shouldn't really ask for participation was a little rough. But it was still good. I spoke about the Doctrine of Christ. I used the story of hiking to delicate arch when I was 12 (it took me forever to remember what the arch was called. I kept wanted to call it centeniel arch because of the license plates and that’s as Jessica thought it was called because of the license plates, but that is also why I knew it wasn't called that). Anyway, I compared the doctrine of Christ to hiking to delicate arch, and how because I have experienced it I can tell others about it and invite them to try it out, and tell them how and why they will enjoy it. In the same way, we cannot invite others to partake of the Doctrine of Christ and the Atonement with a knowledge of it's power until we experience it. I then told of experiences I have had in my life and on my mission of people inviting others to learn about the gospel, and then invited everyone to do the simple things of reading scriptures, going to church, and praying for opportunities to share the gospel and the knowledge of how to do it.

Third hour was the combined meeting with the youth, RS and priesthood, and our Ward Mission Leader presented the new ward mission plan to everyone. It was a great lesson. We had dinner right after church, and then we went to a baptism in the zone with Mary so she could see how it goes. After that was a fireside that we stayed for, and Elder Fa kindly volunteered me to play the piano for right then, so I had to quickly learn to play 302 and 157. But I figured them out and didn't embarrass myself too much. The fireside was awesome. Three of the recent converts in the stake bore their testimonies and Mary really liked it.

I have learned a lot about the gospel. I have learned a lot about faith, grace, mercy, the atonement, and many other aspects. It is all very simple. As you read the scriptures, go to church, and pray fervently, your faith will increase. (As you do works, your faith increases, hmmm interesting...) As your faith increases, you desire to be more like Christ and you repent of your sins (something else you have done). In order to fully repent, you will be baptized by the priesthood authority for the remission of sins (wait... you have to do something?) and then receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (again, an act) and live worthy of his constant companionship (in order to live worthy, you have to act) and we endure (another word that shows action) through this life by constantly increasing our faith (how? Oh Yeah! Through obedience, which requires effort) constantly repenting (more effort) and renewing our baptismal covenant through the sacrament (renew = doing something). and listening for and following the promptings of the spirit (listening and doing). And all of this for what? It is a pattern for partaking (Action word) of the Atonement. Lets look at the work Atonement, to be At One with God, or to be reconciled with God. "to reconcile" = verb. So let's get up, and work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Let's follow (action) Christ.

Elder Braxton C Foust--