"Y después de haber caminado en la obscuridad por el espacio de muchas
horas, empecé a implorarle al Señor que tuviera compasión de mí, de
acuerdo con la multitud de sus tiernas misericordias.
Y sucedió que vi un árbol cuyo fruto era deseable para hacer a uno feliz."
"And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I
began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according
to the multitude of his tender mercies.
And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to
make one happy."
The world is a confusing place. There are lots of different things
trying to win our attention. There are lots of decisions to make about
what to do, and what to be. And honestly those decisions really come
down to what you believe, what you believe to be truth, or of value.
And these things determine our goals and our desires throughout every
day.
But like I said, the world doesn't make those decisions easy. Maybe
the nature of these decisions, too, makes them inherently difficult to
make anyways. Either way, sometimes I think it is easy to feel like
you been walking in the dark for a long long time, you had a direction
at one point but it's been so long since you started down that path
that you're on now that you're not really sure if you're still going
in that same direction, or if that direction was right to begin with.
This week we had a bunch of experiences that seem
to have been just hand picked, to be seen side by side so that we
could pickup on this lesson. It seems that all week we have been
meeting people who have recently found themselves in the dark, and
they've realized that they've been there walking around without
direction for a long long time. And then, in different stages of their
attempts to find the light again, we knock on their door.
Before we knock on a door we tend to be having a lot of fun together
just talking or enjoying the day (or not...weather is crazy here). But
after we knock there is always always always a feeling of love. Not
from me personally because I still have a lot to learn in the way of
charity and such, and I honestly have no idea who is on the other side
of the door or what their story is. But we feel the love Heavenly
Father has for them, and the love He has for us. There's some
apprehension, we desire so much to be able to find the right words
that will give this person a chance to accept or reject our message. A
silent prayer for those words, and then the door opens.
The Gospel is the light that we need in our lives. It gives us the
means by which we can see, and thus the ability to choose a direction:
closer to God, or farther away.
There is a lady we found this week who is recovering from problems
with addiction. She has been looking for a higher power to help her
make permanent changes in her life. We taught her about baptism and
when we taught that baptism is a covenant, tying us to our Savior and
allowing us to receive His help and begin from a clean start, she told
us she felt something about that (the spirit!!!), like it's what she has been looking
for.
This other lady has been a member her whole life but never really
figured out the gospel. She found herself with a severe addiction and
no way to support her two kids. We were introduced to her at the point
in her story when she had just recently gotten out of jail, had been
reading eagerly the Book of Mormon for many months, and is starting to
get on her feet again. She knows that the Savior is the only person
who can help her, and she has made the decision to rely on Him and is
really changing and it's incredible to see her strength of testimony.
Jose. We found him while looking to visit a less active member. We had
a 30 minute lesson on his front porch! We taught him about the
restoration of the gospel, baptism, the Book of Mormon, and how to
receive answers from God through sincere prayer. When we asked him to
be baptized he said, "well, I will have to ask God about it!" But we
could tell that he felt the truth, and we are really hopeful that he
will have a desire to progress with this truth that he has recognized.
Another lady let us in and we taught her the same exact principles as
Jose. The spirit was there, and I could feel so powerfully the truth
of the things we were sharing. She recognized it, but declined our
invitation to ask God if our message was true. She couldn't accept
that God, our Heavenly Father, would come down personally from Heaven
to restore the truth to the earth with His Son Jesus Christ.
[BTW, I testify to you that this really did happen]
So. With these little snap shots, think about D&C 50:24.
24 That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and
continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth
brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
Here's an invitation- take a truth that you know, or have been taught, and take it to our Father in
Heaven and ask Him to teach you, to confirm its truth, and help you
apply it more fully in your life. Because the truth of the gospel, the
knowledge of our Savior, with whom we can have a daily and personal
relationship, changes lives!!
I encourage you to start with the Book of Mormon, as always :)
Updates!
we are moving! To a cute little house/apartment behind the Logan
tabernacle. I'm so excited!
Hermana Ferguson and I are both staying put for another transfer.
A lady in our ward is a crazy intense couponer and gave us all kinds
of handy things like toothpaste and shampoo.
I love my family!
We had a fiesta with the ward this weekend. So fun! Wow I didn't
realize how many people I really love a lot in this area. It was so
cool to hang out with them all at the same place. We had a little
dance party :)
One of our friends in the ward went out to a lesson with us, and when she walked out of her house we noticed she had this cute little ear muff thing on, she was so adorable! And so we told her that, and she goes, "Good. Then these are for you" and then pulls a bright yellow one and a bright pink one out of her bag and gives them to us!! hahahaha, they are the coolest things ever I love them. She had us wear them to the lesson and then to the ward activity. I love it.
We worked in a cemetary!! It was called "make a difference day" and we just raked up pine needles in the cemetary. It was pretty fun. Hermana Ferguson describes it as "pokey". Afterwards the people who were running this service project gave us all kinds of expired food. #sketchy.
There was probably more stuff. ni modo.
LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
horas, empecé a implorarle al Señor que tuviera compasión de mí, de
acuerdo con la multitud de sus tiernas misericordias.
Y sucedió que vi un árbol cuyo fruto era deseable para hacer a uno feliz."
"And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I
began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according
to the multitude of his tender mercies.
And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to
make one happy."
The world is a confusing place. There are lots of different things
trying to win our attention. There are lots of decisions to make about
what to do, and what to be. And honestly those decisions really come
down to what you believe, what you believe to be truth, or of value.
And these things determine our goals and our desires throughout every
day.
But like I said, the world doesn't make those decisions easy. Maybe
the nature of these decisions, too, makes them inherently difficult to
make anyways. Either way, sometimes I think it is easy to feel like
you been walking in the dark for a long long time, you had a direction
at one point but it's been so long since you started down that path
that you're on now that you're not really sure if you're still going
in that same direction, or if that direction was right to begin with.
This week we had a bunch of experiences that seem
to have been just hand picked, to be seen side by side so that we
could pickup on this lesson. It seems that all week we have been
meeting people who have recently found themselves in the dark, and
they've realized that they've been there walking around without
direction for a long long time. And then, in different stages of their
attempts to find the light again, we knock on their door.
Before we knock on a door we tend to be having a lot of fun together
just talking or enjoying the day (or not...weather is crazy here). But
after we knock there is always always always a feeling of love. Not
from me personally because I still have a lot to learn in the way of
charity and such, and I honestly have no idea who is on the other side
of the door or what their story is. But we feel the love Heavenly
Father has for them, and the love He has for us. There's some
apprehension, we desire so much to be able to find the right words
that will give this person a chance to accept or reject our message. A
silent prayer for those words, and then the door opens.
The Gospel is the light that we need in our lives. It gives us the
means by which we can see, and thus the ability to choose a direction:
closer to God, or farther away.
There is a lady we found this week who is recovering from problems
with addiction. She has been looking for a higher power to help her
make permanent changes in her life. We taught her about baptism and
when we taught that baptism is a covenant, tying us to our Savior and
allowing us to receive His help and begin from a clean start, she told
us she felt something about that (the spirit!!!), like it's what she has been looking
for.
This other lady has been a member her whole life but never really
figured out the gospel. She found herself with a severe addiction and
no way to support her two kids. We were introduced to her at the point
in her story when she had just recently gotten out of jail, had been
reading eagerly the Book of Mormon for many months, and is starting to
get on her feet again. She knows that the Savior is the only person
who can help her, and she has made the decision to rely on Him and is
really changing and it's incredible to see her strength of testimony.
Jose. We found him while looking to visit a less active member. We had
a 30 minute lesson on his front porch! We taught him about the
restoration of the gospel, baptism, the Book of Mormon, and how to
receive answers from God through sincere prayer. When we asked him to
be baptized he said, "well, I will have to ask God about it!" But we
could tell that he felt the truth, and we are really hopeful that he
will have a desire to progress with this truth that he has recognized.
Another lady let us in and we taught her the same exact principles as
Jose. The spirit was there, and I could feel so powerfully the truth
of the things we were sharing. She recognized it, but declined our
invitation to ask God if our message was true. She couldn't accept
that God, our Heavenly Father, would come down personally from Heaven
to restore the truth to the earth with His Son Jesus Christ.
[BTW, I testify to you that this really did happen]
So. With these little snap shots, think about D&C 50:24.
24 That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and
continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth
brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
Here's an invitation- take a truth that you know, or have been taught, and take it to our Father in
Heaven and ask Him to teach you, to confirm its truth, and help you
apply it more fully in your life. Because the truth of the gospel, the
knowledge of our Savior, with whom we can have a daily and personal
relationship, changes lives!!
I encourage you to start with the Book of Mormon, as always :)
Updates!
we are moving! To a cute little house/apartment behind the Logan
tabernacle. I'm so excited!
Hermana Ferguson and I are both staying put for another transfer.
A lady in our ward is a crazy intense couponer and gave us all kinds
of handy things like toothpaste and shampoo.
I love my family!
We had a fiesta with the ward this weekend. So fun! Wow I didn't
realize how many people I really love a lot in this area. It was so
cool to hang out with them all at the same place. We had a little
dance party :)
One of our friends in the ward went out to a lesson with us, and when she walked out of her house we noticed she had this cute little ear muff thing on, she was so adorable! And so we told her that, and she goes, "Good. Then these are for you" and then pulls a bright yellow one and a bright pink one out of her bag and gives them to us!! hahahaha, they are the coolest things ever I love them. She had us wear them to the lesson and then to the ward activity. I love it.
We worked in a cemetary!! It was called "make a difference day" and we just raked up pine needles in the cemetary. It was pretty fun. Hermana Ferguson describes it as "pokey". Afterwards the people who were running this service project gave us all kinds of expired food. #sketchy.
There was probably more stuff. ni modo.
LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!