Elder Brandon Escamilla: 24 SEP 2018 ~ Week 5 in MTC: The Church is On Earth Once More!!!

여러분,

Well we hit our halfway mark on Friday. Only one more month and I’ll be in Australia! Crazy stuff, time flies. If only Korean flew faster haha. Kidding it’s actually coming a lot faster than expected. Thanks to God. 하나님과함께할수있습니다!! WITH GOD, WE CAN DO IT!!

So this week has just been a week of Spirit kicks in the gut, chest, tear ducts, everything. First time was Tuesday devotional. I testify that we have prophets and apostles who lead and guide the church in our day. We were blessed to be spoken to by an Apostle of Jesus Christ, Elder Andersen. Every Tuesday and Sunday I go to choir practice, because why sit around and enjoy free time when I can go and be uplifted by music and surprisingly get inspired by the comments and testimony of the choir director who is also an institute teacher. So I actually learn a lot and I always leave inspired. Look into the history behind songs, you never know what they have in store. Additionally my companion (동반자) may or may not like to go to choir. I may or may not get to go on splits with the other missionaries to go to choir.... the world may never know. All I’ll say is that I’m always uplifted going and coming from choir. That’s all I’ll say.

But anyways back to the story. I was sitting in choir and there were rumors that we were having an Apostle, but I didn’t care. Whoever speaks always does a great job and I always end up inspired. I was sitting in the 2nd row from the bottom in my “international” seating (because the MTC likes to display the color in the front of the choir. I oblige because it’s usually good seating), when I look up as the door opens up and I see Elder Andersen standing there waiting to come into the room. As he later walked into the room and we all stood. The Spirit and love of God filled the room. The Holy Ghost filled the room, testifying to each and every one of us that this man was a man of God. That he was truly an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. My heart and soul was full my chest swelled as the Spirit testified to me and I was filled with the love of God. He testified of the holiness of temples. Do you treat the temples as holy as they truly are? As the HOUSE OF GOD? Do you go to partake of His peace, love and knowledge? Do you keep your covenants? He stated that he has been surprised in the past with those who break their covenants. Surprised that they would ever take these things lightly. But he later realized that he’s gotta be patient and remember that they haven’t had the experiences or knowledge of the Gospel that he has. I’ll just say that truly spoke to me, in addition to all the emails I’ve received.

After the meeting I was filled with love and joy that we are God’s church on earth. That God loves us enough to continually send prophets to lead His kingdom through them. I sustain and testify that President Russell M. Nelson is the Prophet on the earth today, much like Noah and Moses. He is the only one who holds all the Priesthood keys. Through these keys we hold the authority and power of God to do God’s work on earth. Such as Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, temple marriages and sealings that allow us to be with family and loved ones for eternity, forever after death. The Priesthood we hold as men of the church is the power Jesus Christ used to perform miracles, and the same power used to create the earth and everything within it. If we are faithful, that same Priesthood can be used to perform miracles in our lives. If you need a blessing of comfort or healing, ask the missionaries or your closest priesthood holder. Then don’t be afraid to give a blessing to perform miracles. Have faith in the Priesthood you hold. By you not giving the blessing to perform the miracle, you are basically saying Jesus Christ can’t do this... come on. Have confidence. Most of all have faith. It’s only on your faith and the other persons that miracles can be performed. When giving a blessing, BLESS them don’t just give a prayer.

The Priesthood has been restored in these latter-days through the Prophet Joseph Smith. For our Sunday night movie, we watched the Joseph Smith movie... I left the movie just astonished and dumbfounded. Yes I’ve seen this movie before. However, watching it this time took me back to when I first watched the movie over 7 years ago. I was meeting with missionaries and they invited me to the Mesa Temple Visitors’ Center. We ended up watching this film while we were there. It was at this time that I first felt the Spirit testify to me that Joseph Smith was a prophet and I first gained a testimony of him. I invite you to go to this link: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/topics/joseph-smith?lang=eng

It’s a short 5-6 minute video depicting Joseph Smith’s First Vision. The vision where he literally saw God, the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Before you watch it, offer a simple prayer to God, desiring to learn if this event actually happened. Watch it, and listen to the feelings in your heart and chest. The tingles you may feel flow through your body. Pay attention to it while you watch it. Those good feelings you have, is the Holy Ghost testifying to you that it is TRUE. Then pray again to know where to go from there. God will answer you. I promise you. You have to listen very carefully, because it’s a very soft, quiet voice.

After watching the movie, I said I left speechless and astonished. How could a man, that went through all that Joseph Smith went through, continued to stay firm in his belief for a Book... a book that he may have made up?? You know why he endured all that? Why he endured the criticism, persecution, mocking, tar and feathering, time in jail for fake accusations, being driven from state to state? You wanna know why? BECAUSE HE DIDN’T MAKE IT UP. BECAUSE IT’S TRUE. BECAUSE HE ACTUALLY SAW GOD THE FATHER AND JESUS CHRIST IN PERSON. (https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-03-08-testimony-of-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng) Face to face. He spoke with them. They told him that none of the churches were fully true. They didn’t have the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they were missing portions of it. Think about why there are so many churches who interpret the Bible differently. Why wouldn’t you want more scripture to provide further guidance and clarity on what God’s plan for us is? That is what the Book of Mormon does.

We came back to the room and I just dropped. Filled with so much gratitude and joy for my knowledge of this Gospel. Do you realize that through Jesus Christ you can be forgiven and made right of all your wrongs? While I dropped, I just lost it. Everything, like not just tears (unfortunately), but I couldn’t help it because that’s how grateful I am for this knowledge. It’s true. Please, please, please understand how great this Gospel is. I wish I could go to each and every one of you and bear testimony to you in person. This is what life’s about. The 2nd link I included is Elder Holland’s testimony about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. It is with the same intensity and pure testimony that I KNOW these things are true. With every fiber of my being it’s true. If you have this knowledge, then you shouldn’t be wanting to scream it on the roofs and share it with every single person you meet. I know I do, and you can bet your butts that I will speak to every single person I come across in Sydney, Australia. It is because it’s THAT important of a message and it is THAT TRUE. Have faith, if they reject you now. Know that eventually all will confess that Jesus is the Christ —> Mosiah 27:31

You may wonder why these emails are so long, and if I really have a lot of time. The answer is no. I don’t have any time. I honestly need to be preparing the lesson we are about to teach in Korean, but I’m spending this time testifying to you because this is my calling. I have been called to testify that Jesus is the Christ and that His church is restored on earth again and it’s found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (예수 그리스도후기성). I am a representative of Jesus Christ. I am an extension of the 12 Apostles, a lower case “a” apostle. I know these things are true, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Elder Escamilla

Alma 16:16, 17:13-14 Great is the work. The scriptures can also be found here: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng