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Elder Wahlen and Elder Romero

Reporting from the front-lines here in Conyers!

Howdy howdy everyone,

How are you today? Have you ever thought about how Christ blessed the children here in the Americas one by one? How wonderful is that? He prayed and blessed them one at a time... by name... and asked for very specific and individual blessings... it amazes me that He still does that for each of us today.

Again, I am unsure of what to say this week in my email to you all... but I pray that some good will come from it.

This life is a time to prepare to meet God. We are tested, tried and challenged constantly to prove ourselves worthy to enter into the presence of God again one day. We are allowed to endure these tests and learn from them as we rely on the Atonement of Christ. We grow and learn by experience and by the grace of the Savior. As we make poor choices and make mistakes... the Atonement is there to catch us and save us. To stand us up once again, to dust us off and let us try again. We repeat this process again and again as we pursue perfection which Christ so lovingly commanded us to become. "...be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect". We are perfected through Christ and His Atonement because of the healing and enabling power of the Atonement. Without it... we would all be lost. Left to wallow and suffer in our sins... but there is a way. There is a light... and it is He. The great I am. The Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end. The chief high priest and the author and finisher of our faith. I testify of Him... that He is the only begotten of the Father and that He lives... and that He is the Savior and redeemer of the world. He is my savior... and I love Him so dearly.

We are teaching a wonderful women who is preparing herself and her children for baptism. The baptism was to be today and has since been postponed until next Saturday due to a personal struggle with smoking. She is a women and mother of great love and great faith. She has done all that she can to kick this habit of smoking... prayers, plans, fasting, studying, etc... and yet she still struggles. 

We went and met with her last night... and to make a long story short, we came to the wonderful conclusion that she is completely and entirely helpless. She can't do it. She cannot overcome this obstacle and it will forever stand in the way of her being baptized and entering into the kingdom of God... but you may be wondering, why is this such a wonderful conclusion?

 Because those statements are only true of herself... alone... as a fallen and imperfect being... but the good news is this: That with Christ, she CAN and WILL overcome these things. She and well as all of us are COMPLETELY helpless when we try and stand on our own... especially in the face of our natural weaknesses... but Christ is there to rescue us. As we let go and rely WHOLLY upon the merits, mercy and grace of the Savior and His Atonement... as we let it go and give it to Him to take... He is strong enough (and the only one strong enough) to bear those burdens and take them from us. Yes, it is true... we must work to un-yoke ourselves... we must work to give it to Him... to yoke ourselves WITH Him... and He will take it. He will take this from her according to her faith as He will take ANY pain, suffering, sorrow, hatred or worse from each of us as we do our part and allow Him to do so. He brings healing in His wings... a complete and eternal healing... and an enabling strength to propel us forward to the life to come and overcome ALL things.

This mother of great faith is in the battle of her life... but she has the courage to stand up and keep fighting... right alongside her older, loving brother who is the Christ and her one and only Savior. I invite each of you to join her... to join me... and to continue onward with the Savior at your side. You cannot overcome the struggles... but with Christ, you can and will. I testify of this... and I know and promise that each of you will and can experience this in your life. Pray and ask for help... seek it from your priesthood leaders... and that relief you seek will be given by the eternal healing hands of our Savior. I love you... and I pray that as you are healed by His love... that you will go and serve and do the things that He would have you do to share this love and healing. 

Have a blessed week. This gospel is true. He lives.

-Elder Wahlen