Monday, January 21, 2019

19 Years on Planet Earth

Well... I made it another year here on earth. I turned 19 like 15 hours before my sisters this year, so that is kind of cool :) Thank you all for the birthday wishes. Sorry I could not respond to all of them. Our email time is really limited. But, I read them all and am grateful for the thoughts.
This week was pretty good. We had an awesome lesson with a sister that we are teaching. She told us a story that happened to her about a year ago. She told us that she had just delivered her first child when her boyfriend left her. She was only 19 years old and was left alone with a new child. She hit a low in here life and told us that she had plans to end her life. She had bought enough medication to overdose and take her life. That very day, a young pair of missionaries came up and knocked on her door. She told us that she immediately felt peace and has had missionaries come and teach her every week since then. She is not quite ready to get baptized because she does not feel like she has forgiven herself for things that she has done in her life. That is one of Satans greatest tactics. He wants us to believe that we are past the point of no return. That we have gone to far. That we cant be saved. BUT... we are children of a God. Who is infinitely more powerful that Satan. I love the quote by Elder Holland that says something to the effect of "you have not gone to far or sinned to much. I testify that no one has gone farther than the infinite light of Christ's atonement shines." That is not exact. But I love the point of it. We all make mistakes and all far short of the mark. But, the perfect plan of our loving Father in Heaven allows us to repent and become better each day. 
We also had kind of a sad lesson with our most progressing investigator. He is a man in his late 60's. We showed up to his house to teach him and he really did not seem to be doing well. We asked him what happened and he told us that his son (40 years old) had recently been killed in Mexico. He found out only that morning. His son had moved out there when he was 18 and had not yet been back to the Philippines visit. He was supposed to come back to visit this year. It was super hard for him. But then, we had an amazing lesson on the Plan of Salvation. We testified that his son was in a better place and that without a doubt, he would be able to see him again. The spirit was sooo strong and I know that there were lots of people in that room from beyond the veil. 
I love the gospel and the chance that I have to share it out here for a short 2 years. The peace that it can bring to even the most broken on lives is amazing. 
I love you all and am grateful for the prayers and thoughts that you send this way. They are definitely felt of this side of the world. 
Love Elder Thomas



 

No comments:

Post a Comment