Gooood Morning Everyone! I hope that all is well and that you have had a fabulous week.
My dear brothers and sisters! This week has been truly powerful and uplifting! I have come to know with deep assurance the plan that God has for us is perfect and reassuring. This week was covered with miracles, miracles from a Father in Heaven who loves his children and dearly wishes for their return into His spiritual presence.
A few weeks ago we received a referral from the Spanish sister missionaries. We had been trying for many days to come in contact with this woman but never had any luck. Friday evening as we were running around the complex we were in, there was a woman sitting on the stairs. She introduced herself as Diane. My heart yearned for her happiness as I spoke with her. Her faced showed worry and shared a sense of longing for something more. She said, “I just moved in, I have been in addiction programs and need to change my life. I actually have two children that were baptized into your church, I really like what they have shared.” Quickly I realized this was the woman we had been looking for during the past few weeks. She talked about how sad and alone she was and how horrible she felt with the mistakes she had made. We had a powerful discussion with Diane, and she said how dearly she desired to come to church! We can't wait for her to come to church in the coming weeks. How amazing it is to know, that GOD can heal her! That she can be free from her past and that He turned us down a different path to see her that day!
Soon after, we walked up a stairwell to talk to a young man that was smoking on the stairs above. The door to the apartment he was sitting away from was full of people, seemingly lost looking for so much more. As each one would walk down the stairs with beer in their hands, they would hide it behind their backs and walk shamefully past. Cigarettes were snuffed out. Corrupt language ceased. It saddened me to realize that each of these people were about my age. Living rioutous lives and deep down they wanted to change. As we talked to Shane on the stairs he said, “I need to change my life, I know what I am doing is wrong.” For days I have pondered about these two experiences. I couldn’t blame those young people for the ways they were acting, we knew some of the homes that they came from and probably didn’t know different. The powerful observation? Each of them knew the way they were living was wrong, whether they were taught it or not. I reflect on a hymn titled “O My Father”. It goes like this:
“O my Father thou that dwellest in the high and glorious place, When shall I regain thy presence and again behold thy face? In thy holy habitation, did my spirit once reside? In my first primeval childhood was I nurtured by thy side? For a wise and glorious purpose Thou has placed me here on earth and withheld the recollection of my former friends and birth; Yet oftimes a secret something whispered, ‘You’re a stranger here,’ and I felt that I had wondered from a more exalted sphere.”
Although many individuals we meet each day, have wondered far from the true path to happiness, they know that God lives! We have that devine knowledge in each of us. I testify to you that God truly does love us. I have felt His love often when I didn’t deserve it myself! God is our loving Father in Heaven! He is looking out for each of us! As we strive to gain greater faith and hope, we can each feel greater of His guidance in our lives. For God yearns to be with us. I love you all! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Aiken
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