Hello everyone!
Well... today is another hello but sadly it's a time to say goodbye! It turns out that I'll be leaving the Conyers area today... the spirit has called me away to another land and to more wonderful children of God... I'm excited for the miracles and experiences to come!
I want to share an experience with y'all today that I've learned much from...
So my Mom is the best in the whole wide world... and I'll defend that truth to the day I die! Haha. (every Mom is the best though! I love y'all so much!). So she loves to send me packages... and she loves to help me or other missionaries get whatever they need to continue to serve the Lord. Most of the times, that includes sending protein bars, shoes, suits (Thanks Sister Fox!) and other various things... and sometimes I place a special and specific order in for something that I need.
Well, weeks ago, I asked my Mom if she could send me some DVD's with some of the Mormon messages and Bible vidoes (check them out on mormonchannel.org) on them so that I could use them in lessons with members, investigators, less-actives, recent-converts, etc... well, I was only expecting maybe one or two DVD's with manybe a few of the videos on there... but my Mom, being the best Mom ever... she went all out and got ALL of them on DVD's to send out to me. Now... I would like to point out that there is about a couple hundred total vidoes of ALL of the Bible and Mormon messages when compiled together... so that in of itself is a large task... but I would also like to point out that my Mom isn't the most computer savy person in the world! But she didn't let that stop her... she went forth with faith, hard-work and patience... and as she did so, she learned to rely on the Lord through prayer and works on how to create these DVD's. It took her a LONG time and MANY failed attempts before she finally compiled all the vidoes on DVD's. Excited to send them to me and confident that they would work, she packaged them up and sent them out to me with a letter telling the story/experience she had while creating these DVD's.
I got the package with these DVD's in them not too long ago... and I opened them with much excitment and anticipation. I dropped one of the DVD's into our player at the apartment ready to watch the first video... when all a sudden, the DVD player came up with an error message "unable to read disc". Slightly discouraged but determined that it must be just the one DVD, I dropped in the next to see if it would work... "unable to read disc". It turns out that NONE of the DVD's she had made seemed to work... I was a bit frustrated since I was so excited to use them in teaching appointments... but then I read the letter my Mom sent which described how much she learned from the experience of making these DVD's... and then she said at the end of the letter to the extent of... "I don't care if you ever use them or if they work, but know that I made them with love and that I learned much from the experience and came closer to the Savior in doing so. I love you!". My frustration quickly left me as I was touched by the love of my Mom... the next Monday I emailed her back and said "Thanks for the DVD's, they're perfect :)"
. Good story eh? Well this isn't all... the Sunday after all this had happened, I went up and bore my testimony during fast and testimony meeting and used this experience as my testimony that regardless of the outcome of what we do... the most important thing is that we did it out of love for others and the Savior. The true meassure of success in Gods' eyes isn't what the outcome or result is... He just cares and loves us for doing what He asks us to do with our very best effort. As we do so... we learn and grow and come closer to Him. The most amazing thing happened because of this though... after I shared the experience through my testimony and after the meeting had concluded, I was approached by a member of the church who informed me that she would be able to take the DVD's and "take care of it". A few days later, she returned the original DVD's to me along with a new DVD that had ALL of the videos on them in working order.
So why did I want to share this experience? Well... first is for the things that it taught me before the DVD's had been fixed. It's not about the outcome or result as we serve the Lord... what matters is that we served with love and we gave our very best. As we do so, that's when we're blessed and receive the praise, smile and blessings of God.
The other lessons to be learned? God has a perfect plan... and because of the Atonement, that plan will ALWAYS come to pass despite our short-comings. Because of the Atonement, we will all receive eternal life as we choose to obey God and follow His Son, Jesus Christ... in a sense, all of our DVD's will be "taken care of" by Christ. He will re-write them, edit them, re-format them and do whatever He needs to do in order for us to receive Gods' greatest gifts. For this I am eternally grateful for... along with a mother who is the most Christ-like women I've ever met... and I'm so thankful for a Father in Heaven whose plan is good and will always work out as we do our part. I testify of the Savior and the power of the Atonement and I do so in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, Amen.
Love y'all!
-Elder Wahlen
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