Isn't it weird that things in our life will be going SO good then all of the sudden things just seem to start going wrong? Well I am right there with ya! So this email is all about keepin the faith.
Well first I hope everyone had an awesome week! Congrats to BYU for winning another game! While they are getting better and stronger, I am getting fatter and... FATTER! WHOO!
Love it. seriously I just want all of you to know that I am almost 220. Now I know that that isn't a lot considering my height, but I feel pretty good about it. Since I came out at 200.
So this week we have had a lot of good things happen! We also have seen people give up the fight for good. It might be the hardest thing for me to watch as someone lets go of all the progress they had made for a better life. It actually makes my testimony grow stronger of this gospel,because it seems that there is so much negative force against it. So when thinking about faith I discovered that I needed to strengthen mine. We cannot teach someone until we are converted ourselves. So If I am going to ask the people I teach to have a little more faith, then I too must have more faith.
I was thinking about why things will be good, then suddenly go wrong? Well if you think about it, when are we learning and growing the most? I believe it to be when things are difficult. We learn so much more from the hard than the easy. It is harder to have faith in something we can see. So Satan puts in front of us things we can visually see and wants us to put our faith in that. But its to easy. We as human beings naturally want instant gratification or results, but are we really satisfied with things don't last? I don't think so. But are we willing to find the things that do and will last? Do these things require more faith?
For me personally here on a mission I have seen that Heavenly Father won't let things just smooth. He has to let things come my way so that I can grow! It honestly is an act of love if you think about it? What parent wants their child to be dumb and not learn? After all He is a parent! So for me I just let the good times go and look forward to the hard, cause I know I am about to learn something I need to learn! These hard, fiery trials are designed to make us stronger, but they also have the potential to diminish or even destroy our faith in God. If we hold on to the little faith we do have, that WILL get us further then letting go of all of our faith.
We had a miraculous experience this week, that goes along with this. We were walking down a street about 2 weeks ago and knocked on a door. A man named Ryan came out and he was really interested in what we had to say. Before we left he said,"Hey i think my Aunt needs to hear this." So about a week after that, we were walking down that same street not even thinking about stopping at that house and while we were walking his Aunt came out of the house right as we were walking by. We instantly remembered what her nephew said. So we stopped and came up to her and said hello. She looked at us and started to cry. She said hold on and walked back inside. Elder Afalava looked at each other kinda puzzled.
But she came back out and was holding a large piece of cardboard. She looked at the other side that we could not see then turned it around to us. On the other side was a picture of her and a young teenage girl who looked like she had just gone through Chemo. Said said," This is my daughter, she died last year and I want to know why God took her from me." I instantly felt this overpowering amount of love for her. I didn't know what to say. She looked broken. So we just said that we cant tell you exactly why He took her home, but we can give you the happiness that you deserve. We asked her if she wanted to be happy. She replied,"I haven't felt happy in a really long time." Although she lost some faith, I know that she kept a little in God. I truly know that if we hold on to our faith and don't give up the fight, we will learn more than we can imagine. This woman could have given up, but she didn't. I can't wait to see how the gospel will enrich and uplift her life.
Fan the flames of faith.
Love you guys!
Elder Patch
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