Hey guys.
WOOOO! I am so full of the spirit right now
family. I had the most wonderful opportunity to go to the London Temple
this morning for my P-day, that why this letter is a little late.
Brothers.... the temple is where its at. Nate and caleb, how long has it
been since you've done baptisms? The spirit in the temple can not be
rivaled by any other place on earth. The spirit that is there just can
not be faked or manipulated or copied by the adversary.
I had the most amazing experience this week of having 3 really amazing experiences.
1.
This week I was able to go into a catholic Church for a little while.
Me and my companion just went in for 10 min at eight and no one was
there. So we sang some hymns. The weird things was that... I felt the
spirit. And that really concerned me, not only did I feel the spirit but
my companion received revelation to go and see a recently made widow...
and when we went their she urgently did need our help. She didnt tell
anyone that day, but she had an amazing one and when she came home....
there was so husband to tell it about or to share it with. It really
made her cry. We were able to give her a blessing and able to say a
prayer and she slept the whole night away with out waking up once. It
was TRULY a miracle. But like I said it really scared me at first. Why
did this other church have a similar spirit to our church. Well, I
decided to do a test. The next day was Sunday, so I went to church on Sunday
with a mind fixed on paying very close attention to the spirit and how I
felt. Sacrament meeting was amazing. I felt the spirit even despite the
screaming children and injured babies. But the really amazing thing was
sunday
school. We went in there and had a lesson about joseph smith, the same
one you guys had... and I felt the spirit more strongly then I ever had
before. My Heart was litterally on fire and I was trying to hold back
tears. That's when I realized what was different about our church. The
other church was made for a righteous purpose.. to worship god. A very
commendable and amazing thing. So the POWER of the holy ghost was there
if you were in the right mind set. But... our church had something even
better. THE TRUTH. The doctrine that we taught was pure and simple
truth. Truth from our father in heaven the penetrated the very soul. I
gained a very strong testimony of Joseph Smith that day as well as
affirming and strengthening my testimony of this church being true. The
best part? I left church with that spirit still inside of me because I
had the GIFT of the holy ghost. The constant companionship of one of the
members of the God head. That spirit was not just in that tabernacle of
stone that we worshipped in. But also in the tabernacle of clay that my
spirit dwells in, in this mortal form.
2. This week we had the most teaches I have ever had
on my mission. 21 teaches. Thats about 3 teaches a day, which was
something me and my companion made a goal of when the first 2 days we
had an average of 3 teaches per day. So we striving very hard to make
these teaches and we were knocking 5 a side after we tried to see a
potential and we had very rude people slam the door in our face. So I
was kinda upset, but I looked at a picture of Christ on the top of a
Restoration pamplet and my heart was quickly softened and uplifted. Well
we started walking away, But I saw this man sitting out side of his
home.. it looked like an old folks home. And I suggested we speak to
this man. So we did. And we had one of the best talks I've ever had. He
was a member of a church called the Brethern.This man was amazing and he
had the strongest testimony that he was going to live again in the next
world and in the power of the savior. Well about 5 min through the
talk.. I knew he didn't want to know more, and I knew that he wasn't
going to be baptised. And after another 5 mins. We said a prayer and
left. Now we were kinda looking for the numbers. We wanted three
teaches. And that would have counted as one... but as we walked away
something strange happened. My heart broke. I have never experienced
this feeling before. I had talked to this guy a total of 10 minutes yet
the very though of him not receiving eternal glory and knowing he was
doomed to the terrestrial kingdom was just heart wrenching. I asked my
self why? Why? Why couldnt you have said yes and receive all that
heavenly father has to offer to you. Eventually I had to come to terms
with the fact that he was using his agency and that God would be the
judge of him and I hoped things would turn out for the best. I dont know
whats going to happen to this man. But the real realization was what I
call a Taste of Charity. A taste of the true love of Christ. For a brief
amount of time, for someone I had really no idea who he was. I felt
sorrow, that he couldn't live with God again. He had the opportunity and
he rejected it. Then I realized.... Wow. Christ and God must feel this
but 500 times stronger. How must he feel? When a ton of his children are
rejecting his word. How bad must he feel when one of us commit a sin
that takes us farther from him. I received a taste of charity that day
and I hope and pray that I will be able to continually develop it.
3. The third experience was right after we were in
the catholic church in experience 1. We walked out and we were on our
way to this widows house and I stopped some random women on the street
walking her Dog. And we had the most amazing talk. She came from a
broken family, and I came forward and started talking to her about
families and how faith in Jesus christ could bring them close together.
Haha. Well she just kind of laughed at then and I asked her why and a
really good discussion came out of that... But the sad thing is that she
rejected me 3 times. Would you like to learn more about this gospel
that can bring you close to your family? Would it be ok for us to come
over and teach you more about this amazing gospel? Would you like to
experiment on the words we are teaching and see if they can bring your
family closer? No. Same experience as number 2. As we walked away. I
almost started begging her to accept and I almost started crying because
I knew that his could help. All I could do was bear my testimony about
how I know that if it wasnt for this Gospel. That my family of 10! Would
be a lot worse off then it is now. That We could very well hate each
other. But that we dont. That we love each other and that this gospel
has brought us so much happiness into our family life. I couldnt help
but ask why she didnt want that? But again its agency. But what I'm glad
about is that while bearing my testimony, it got stronger as well.
Family, I really do know that this gospel links families through time
and all eternity. And that with this gospel and precepts that it teaches
we can be together forever through out the eternities.
Now, I hope these experiences didnt throw you guys
off. I am really happy. This week has been amazing. With those
experiences teaching me and bringing me close to my God. Thank you for
the advice letters you sent me. :) I havent read them yet, I have no
time, but I did print them off and Im going to read them. My continued
letter really did come on Wednesday. We had transfers this last week so they let you write on Wednesday
to just let you family know where you are and if you got moved or not. I
love you fam! This church is so true!!!!!!!! Grow strong in it.
Recognize the divine potential that you hold and then practice and
develop that royal spirit with in you. Practice family!! I love you so
much guys. You are all such great example to me. Don't ever forget that I
love you.
Elder Hale.
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