How's everyone doing??? Wow. What a wonderful day today. I'm looking out the window right now... we're so blessed to be here on this beautiful Earth. Every day is a blessing!
I know a missionary that had an incredible experience this last week... and I wanted to share with y'all his thoughts and feelings and the lessons we can learn from them about Gods plan
and love for each one of us.
I
know a missionary that had been struggling with many different things for a long time. He had been struggling with health, success in the work, crazy emotional and spiritual roller-coasters... and to sum it all up... he was just feeling completely worn out and defeated. He had been giving every ounce of his energy he possibly could to serving the Lord and helping families come together for time and all eternity through the restored gospel, but he just seemed to be hitting more and more obstacles in every aspect of his work. He battled each day and took things one at a time... but he began to feel overwhelmed. His health had been giving him troubles on top of the normal missionary stresses and he was starting to feel a sense of hopelessness and thoughts of quitting... of giving up and throwing in the towel... and even thoughts of perhaps going home early from his missionary service started to creep into his mind. He felt perhaps he could go home and recover. Come back out and try again when he felt normal. Perhaps it was a mistake he was here right now? Maybe he was suppose to be at home doing something else? These thoughts haunted him... yet he kept going and things kept getting worse. Eventually, he hit a rock bottom point where he felt that he was ready to give it all up. He reached this point on a Sunday night... the night before he and his companion were going to receive a phone call from the mission President on what he was to be doing for the upcoming transfer... and he felt that in all likelihood, that he was going to have to confess his frustrations and let the President know that he was through with it. He was defeated and couldn't go on. He went to bed with this thought and plan in mind and awoke the next day and went about things with those feelings and thoughts still burning within him... but luckily, the Lord came into his life and spoke to him through small and simple but peaceful means. He watched some mormon messages that his companion had started to play in the morning while getting ready and each one of them spoke directly into his heart and mind. He began to feel at peace and the Saviors love for him... enough to help him to kneel down and begin to pray. He went into his room and dropped to his knee's and pleaded with the Lord to help him understand why he was experiencing these things... why he felt so alone... why he felt so frustrated... why he was questioning his testimony... why his health was so poor... why, why, why, why... he just wanted to understand why he was experiencing all these things. He prayed and prayed and asked and asked... and finally, he felt at peace... no answer... but peace. He lifted from his knee's and prepared for the day. He began his studies a short time later... feeling much more at peace but still weighing the options in his mind for when the mission President called his companionship about transfers... he didn't have to wait long until the phone call came. He took the phone and began to speak with the mission President... and being an inspired man, the President asked him "How are you? Are you feeling well? How's your testimony?". This was his opportunity... he could tell him right then and there that he wanted to give up... or he could rely on the peace that he had felt that morning and press forward. The spirit spoke to him at that moment and said "Here is your choice. It's up to you." This missionary paused briefly and weighed his options... and luckily, he decided to say "You know President... I'm good. I'm doing good. I'm excited to keep moving forward". Soon after, the mission President informed him of his new assignment for the upcoming transfer... and the most amazing thing happened as the words came through the phone to this missionary. The missionary, having had many months of physical ailments felt a sudden and progressive surge of energy and health flow into his body... his mind was made clear, the pains he had been experiencing were taken from him, he received and felt a new energy of life, energy and light throughout his body... he felt healed. This missionary began to cry as he felt the warmth of the Saviors healing power and the love of God flow through him. He managed to keep things together until the mission President was done speaking and ended the call. As soon as the call ended, the missionary again dropped to his knee's... this time with gratitude and humility in his heart and prayed and thanked the Lord. As he did so, he felt these thoughts and feelings enter into his mind and heart... they can only be described by words, but they weren't words spoken, they were felt. "My son, I love you. I needed you to become who I need you to be. I needed to test, try and prove you. You needed to be polished and forged. Know that my plan is perfect, and if ye shall continue and endure to the end in faith, all things will work out. Everything will be ok. I know of all your needs and I have always been there for you. Trust me. I love you.". That missionary has gone forward from that moment on without a single moment of being tired, feeling sick or feeling of being alone. He has been completely healed and is the happiest he has ever been.
Now, my intent in relying this story is solely for this purpose... to testify of these important things to be learned and to know...
Brothers and Sisters, my dear friends... I know that God lives and that He loves us. He loves us enough to cut us down... to test us, to try us... to prove us herewith if we will do all things whatsoever He has commanded of us to do... even in the face of adversity and affliction. Especially during those hard times! The teacher is most silent during the test. He knows what is best for us and has a perfect plan for us that will always work out in the end if we just keep moving forward with faith and never, ever give up! I know that He is ALWAYS there for you... even when you feel the most alone and abandoned. The light is coming...the dawn always breaks... and that light is the light is His only begotten, Jesus Christ. He sent Jesus Christ here to heal us... to enable us to learn and grow and become who He needs us to be. He suffered and died for us because He loves us and through Him and His atonement, we can and will overcome all things. I invite each of you to keep going... to never give up! Have faith and be patient... things will be ok. I promise! Everything will be ok. God has a plan... and all that He asks is that we keep moving forward... one step of faith at a time... and one day we will understand why. I testify that these things are true and I pray that we can all keep moving forward in faith and help others continue forward in their journey through life and the eternities as well as we reach out to them in love... and I do so in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
-Elder Wahlen
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