Good morning I hope you all have had a wonderful week! I hear many complaints about the rains in Utah! I think the Lord is trying to show you all what rain is about. I am glad about that.
This week has been one of the most touching weeks of my life! The spirit of the Lord has been so strong and so present. I know that God is at the helm of this work! Laly, JJ and Lorenzo will be baptized this Saturday. I am so excited! I love them with all of my heart! They are so excited for the baptism. They truly see all of the blessings that have come into their lives and how it has changed them. On Wednesday we had a great lesson with her! That truly touched my life forever. As we talked about the Book of Mormon I felt really impressed that I should share my testimony of that book to her. As I bore my testimony, the spirit just flooded the room of the truthfulness of that book. To all of us. She began to cry as the spirit came in the room. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It is truly what makes me happy on a down day. I love that book with all of my heart!
The past month or so I have been trying to better understand what faith in Jesus Christ means. I have always thought that Faith in Jesus Christ just meant to believe and know that he lives. This week as I was truly trying to better understand that and the Atonement, I was deeply touched by the spirit. As we sat in a leadership training, President Larkin said “faith in Jesus Christ isn't merely that he lives, Faith in Jesus Christ is having faith that He died to heal us from our sins and sicknesses.” That is the truth. I have never understood that. We have to have faith that when we make mistakes, as we all will, that God can and will forgive us! If we will only but turn to him and ask for forgiveness. I know that Jesus Christ died for all of us, if we will turn to him in faith! As we do that, He can and will heal us.
One more thing that touched me this week, was the reality of the priesthood. Our bold message to the world is that the priesthood of the Lord, the same authority that Christ gives his apostles in the New Testament, has been restored to the earth! That through that power God leads and guides His church! That authority must exist on the earth, without it everything would be in disarray. The past few weeks I have had many oppurtunities to give priesthood blessings. I have been overwhelmed by the love of the Lord for each and everyone of us and the blessings he is willing to freely give us. As we take time, to really think about our lives, really ponder and recognize the blessings of the Lord in our lives, it truly fills your soul. At that moment we can come to recognize that God does live and his Son did die for us. They bless us daily, if we will just count our blessings.
I know without a doubt in my mind that this is Christ's church on the earth, the exact same church he came here to establish before He died. The priesthood authority of God is on the earth. It has blessed my life deeply. I love you all. Have a blessed week!
Love, Elder Aiken.
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