Gubler and his Stewardship

Hey y'all! Sorry for not getting the blog post out last week. There's a good reason, I promise.

These last few weeks....I've learned a lot about stewardship. I've revisited many principles of responsibility with the visit of a General Authority, E. Morôni Torgan, and personal studies about the story of the Morôni of the Book of Mormon. It's interesting how things have come together to teach me about it, because the concept of stewardship is surprisingly expansive...and suddenly seeing it in every aspect of the church and my life has been faintly mind-blowing.
http://www.lds.org/topics/stewardship?lang=eng

Let's start with the definition. Stewardship is basically a responsibility to take care of...something. Though it's not so specific in the definition on the page I linked, I have come to firmly believe that all people are stewards, and that all callings in the Church are extensions of the stewardship that starts with our birth.

First, as children, we learn to become stewards of ourselves, through the example and with the help of our earthly parents, who in the meantime maintain us as their stewardship. This is why the family is so important. It's within the walls of a home we learn to become responsible for ourselves - the way we take care of the internal vessel, or the "cup and platter", as Christ said in Matthew to the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23. We teach in the Church that families are so important for this reason - we learn how to care of our own bodies, our own minds, our own souls through these two people, our mother and father. Everywhere else...we learn how to become not just stewards of ourselves, but also stewards of other things.

This is important. God seeks to raise us to this point: a steward of other souls; caretaker of other people. He seeks to make us more like Him - and in D&C 104:11-15 he shows us that he is the steward of all. I'm grateful for the love and care he has put into his stewardship with me.

The family, the most important calling in our lifes, is an experience in stewardship. In the same fashion, the mission is a school, in which we learn to be stewards in important things, in an environment designed to maximize learning and minimize the implications of mistakes we make. Virtually all things on the mission with respect to environment are quite temporary. Companion, area, investigators...they all present certain stewardships. They are serious. They can be heavy. But they are all short-term compared with the other stewardships in the Church, and because of this we can afford to make mistakes. We can afford to make many, not just because Christ permits as many that we repent of, but because the mission environment is designed to present many different stewardships in a short time.

I learned this week that a steward is what Christ was, and that the greatest stewardship is not of things material, but of people. While many of you may think of Him as the great Shepherd, I realize now that the shepherd is the perfect example of one who is responsible for beings other than himself. Heis the steward. In D&C 104:11-15, He declares himself in verse 14 to be the great steward of all - and as I recognize this, I'm grateful. I'm grateful for the thought and care that Heavenly Father has put into me, an incredibly small part of the great responsibility that He has. It serves to me as an example of the love that I too must have, both with my area, investigators, and other missionaries that are around me. I need to show an example in material and spiritual stewardship for them. I need to do better, so I can help them do better. I'm grateful to be part of the Church, which is His mechanism for helping me to become a greater steward, one more like He is.

Because of the time, I shall have to stop there - but there's more. Much more. I love the studies I've had this week. And I will strive to discover more jems of personal revelation. E. Torgan encouraged the older Elders in the mission to keep going - "...for the most important part of Christ's ministry was at the end." He told us that the most important part was yet to come. I believe him. And I'm excited! I'm getting aged here on the mission, but there's still much more to learn and to say before my time is up. The Church is true! The mission has been the greatest blessing I've had for this whole time. I know it's making me much better than anything else I could have experienced.

Anyway. Gotta run! I love y'all. I hope you're doing well. There are a few, though, in whom I wish to redirect to a certain scripture about writing to E. Gubler:
Alma 60:6

I hope the message is clear. Those who have written recently know who they are - but there are some in whom I am disappointed. I miss y'all! Just remember that Goob writes his story with the letters he receives, and that he simply wishes for you to be a part of it!

Love,
-Erich