Howdy y'all,
I know that the Savior lives. I testify that He loves each and every one of you and that our Heavenly Father is aware of you and your needs. They are so much closer than we realize... they are involved in every aspect of our lives... and they love YOU so much.
So this is something I learned this week.... we can know of the Savior... we can even know who the Savior is and what He did for us... but it's an entirely different thing to know the Savior. To know the Savior, we must follow Him... do as He does... and be as He is. The road to truly know the Savior is not one oft traveled... but it's the one that will bring forth the most joy and true happiness in our lives. It's the one and only way that will lead us to the waters of everlasting life... and eternal glory with our families... and there is no greater joy than coming to know the Savior through following Him.
Can y'all do me a favor? Will each of you strive to have more experiences and encounters with the Holy Ghost this week? And not just moments of feeling the spirit... but moments of action that lead you to follow those promptings you shall recieve. I'd invite each of you to do this by kneeling and praying each day for the opportunity to serve someone as the Savior would... to be His hands... to do as He would do... and then I would invite each of you to act upon those promptings. See what happens. Learn by faith. Experiment upon the word... even if you just have 1 opportunity this week to do so... that 1 experience will change your entire week for the best... I can promise you that :) And who knows... you may very well change someones life for the best for all of time and eternity.
Alright, now to the experiences that y'all came to read :) Although I do pray that you would consider the invitiation extended above that you may have experiences of your own.
My companion and I went to teach a wonderful lady that we had met while out knocking doors... we had a youth from the ward all lined up to meet us at the appointment to teach with us and we were very excited for the opportunity... however, as it sadly often goes in missionary work, the women wasn't home. We quickly jumped back into the car and started looking up the address to our back-up plan when we recieved a phone call from a phone number we didn't recognize. We answered the phone "LDS missionaries, this is Elder Wahlen and Elder Webster"... on the other end of the line was a member of the church who lived in another ward not too far from where we are currently serving. She informed us that her dear friend and co-worker had been in a car accident a few days prior and was seeking a priesthood blessing. She informed us that she was not a member of the church but had recieved priesthood blessings before. We quickly agreed to offer her such a blessing... and she proceeded to list off the contact information for this women and her address. My companion and I begin to scoff as we quickly realize that we are literally about a football throw away from this womens home. We literally were on the same street at that very moment. We informed this wonderful sister that we were so close to her dear friend and she excitedly offered to call her friend to let her know we'd be there shortly....
We hand up the phone, do a quick flip around in the car and drive a few houses down to the address we had been given. We quickly go up to the door after a prayer and knock.... a sweet southern women answers the door and invites us in with a smile. We come in and sit down with our youth member team-up following closely behind. We begin talking with the women and asking her about her car accident and how she's feeling, etc... but quickly the conversation turns to the church and her member friends and co-workers. Turns out that this women had not only recieved priesthood blessings in the past, but her friends and co-workers (a group of about 5 members including her boss) had slowly but surely been sharing the gospel with her and inviting her to church. She had been to church several times with these friends and to top it off, she had even gone on a tour of the Atlanta temple when they had an open house. She relayed her experience in going through the temple house and remarked "I've never felt the spirit so strongly in my life than when I was at that temple. It was beautiful. So peaceful"... we talked a bit more and asked a few simple questions and then the tears started to flow as the spirit touched her heart once again. She opened up to us about her life and how she felt about the church and those wonderful members she had been so blessed to be associated with... we quickly testified of the message of the restoration of the gospel and invited her to act upon those feelings that she had been feeling for some time now... and she accepted to act. To follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the restored priesthood of God. What a miracle it was... she knew it was true all along... God had been preparing this women for years and years for this moment... for the opportunity to act upon her feelings. To act upon what she knew to be true between her and God... it was incredible. Not only for how we came to find her but for all the amazing work that God had been able to do through those friends and co-workers of hers that were willing to act... and willing to invite someone to come unto the Savior and come to know of the truth we hold.
To close, I would again like to invite each of you to not only seek out the spirit more in your every day lives... but to seek out more opporunities to act upon promptings given to you from God to invite someone to come unto the Savior. I love each of you! Have a blessed day!
-Elder Wahlen
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