MY FAVORITE BOOK OF MORMON MISSIONARY
CORIANTON
For those who aren't familiar, Corianton was the son of Alma. Alma was a guy who was a little rebellious in his youth but then repented an became a 10/10 prophet of God. So he had some sons. Corianton was the wayward child and was pretty rebellious and disobedient despite the good examples his dad and brothers set for him.
So like most worried and ticked off parents, Alma gives Corianton a little lecture. It actually takes up 4 whole chapters in the Book of Mormon (Alma 39-42). Anyway Alma pretty much calls him out on his mistakes his pride, lack of respect and work ethic, his immorality, you name it. Now I don't look up to Corianton for all this stuff, but because of what he does next after his dad calls him to repentance.
At this point Corantion could do a few things. He could do what most kids do and get all ticked off, offended and mad at his parents, or he could change. He decided to change.
By changing he listened to the words of a loving father and prophet of God. He accepted Christ's atonement and let God shape him into something great. Now it doesn't talk a lot more about Corianton in the rest of the Book of Mormon minus those few chapters, but we know he did repent and become a man of God because of just a few other verses where he is mentioned.
In Alma 49:30 it talks about the great conversion of many people due to the missionary efforts of Corianton and his brothers. That in turn brought peace to the land. In Alma 48:17 Mormon is describing Captain Moroni when he says:
Yea, verily verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yeah, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.
And then he goes on to compare Moroni and his spiritual strength and power to Corianton's in the next verse
Behold he was a man like unto Ammon, the sons of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah, yea, and also the Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God.
He is listed as a man of God along with some of the greatest missionaries of all time.
This is evidence to me that when we truly repent we are forgiven of our sins entirely. Change requires a great amount of humility and Corianton is an amazing example of that to me. He was able to make this change and accepted the call from God and a prophet to serve a mission. He allowed the atonement of Jesus Christ to work in his life and then worked diligently to bring others truth so they could experience that change and atonement for themselves.
What a guy.
DOUBT AND FEAR
As humans we all have fears. Its inevitable. It could be we fear rejection, relationships, change etc. But whatever it is, its important to realize that we aren't alone in our fears. No matter how big or small it's likely a bunch of people understand. If nothing else, your Savior understands. In D&C 6:36 Christ says "Doubt not, Fear not." I think its interesting that he couples fear with doubt. Our fears stem from our doubts. That's why it's so important we doubt our doubts before we doubt our faith. Doubt is natural and we all have them at some point, gospel related or not. But as we turn to faith and search for truth we can turn doubt into strength instead of letting it become spiritually destructive. Elder Rasband said, "Take heart, brothers and sisters. Yes, we live in perilous times, but as we stay on the covenant path, we need not fear."
One of my favorite scriptures is when the Lord comforts the sons of Mosiah as they set out for their missions "and it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted." His next instructions to them were to "Go forth". (Alma 17:10&11) God knew we would doubt and fear so he gave us tools to help us through it. Examples the Holy Ghost, the scriptures, ministering angels and the list goes on. Some great people in the scriptures, even Jacob (Genesis 37:35), wouldn't allow themselves to be comforted at times. But what is the point of that?! We all doubt and we all fear. Let God guide you through your doubts and comfort your fears and then go forth as Christ directs. Let God do his job and allow yourself to be comforted. Do your part, be obedient and help others along the way and he will always uphold his promises in his time.
I strongly recommend watching some of the videos put out by the church about this subject. It's called the face of belief and doubt. They are AMAZING!