Hello everyone! Good afternoon! I hope that you have had a great week. I am filled with the spirit of God as I write this email today. My love for this gospel burns within me.
This week we have been on many exchanges throughout the mission with the Zone Leaders, and my heart at times is filled with sorrow as I recognized the sadness I have seen. The sadness in many I have met that are so distraught by the choices they have made. We must all come to know God's plan! That He DOES live, and we are here to learn and grow. This earthly experience with life's perfectly tailored trials are all for nothing if not! It is all part of the plan, a plan from a loving Father in Heaven.
As I study the scriptures and the premortal life, I imagine being with our Father in Heaven. I imagine waiting in His arms as he taught us the Gospel and the purpose for our existence. He taught us everything and displayed the perfect plan, that we might return home to His presence and gain the great joy that He has. We were taught many great and wonderful things, but we had to leave His presence, or we could not grow! Each of us, when we are born in this life, have to at some point leave the arms of our mothers. If we were to be cradled in their arms all of our lives we would not learn nor grow. As I picture leaving the presence of God, I picture one last meeting. I picture Him speaking to us, with tears in His eyes, pleading that we would stay true to the plan that we had accepted. It must have been very difficult for Him to let us go, but the peace there must have been knowing that IF we did follow the plan, all would be right. The plan that God gave each of us, IS perfect. It's the most loving and perfect plan that has ever been given to man. This earthly life may be tough, but if we will just rely on God and follow Him, all will be well.
My dear Brothers and Sisters, my entire mission has been filled with moments of seeing many who have squandered their lives away! Who, along with each of us, accepted the plan but came to earth and fell short. I send this today, as I have prayed to know what to share this day, with a plea to all who might read this today, to STAY TRUE! We at times think we know better or justify ourselves in doing things we know God would not be proud of. We must have the courage to rebel against anything that is against the Lord! For this my dear friends, is the only way we will ever be truly happy in this life. I have seen one too many lives slip away. We must cleave unto God! God's plan is perfect! He has restored His church, led by a living Prophet this day who will lead and guide us safely back to Christ! We have been given the Book of Mormon. For that Book I will be forever grateful, it's words guide me each day. How blessed we are to have the Word of God, it is the road map in this life. God has given us every tool to be happy here.
In the end we must decide, who am I serving? If we serve our own desires and pleasures in all things, we will end up lost and hopeless. We must follow God, for His plan will shape us into eternal happiness. We must have faith! It takes faith to follow God! It takes faith to follow Him, when the world is telling us that God is not "cool". We must not fear man, but stay true to God. I wish to bear my witness to all this day, that God does live. His plan is perfect.
I wish to share of an experience we had this week. We had the most wonderful baptism of a man named Bilson! Two weeks ago we pulled up at the church to meet up after an exchange. As Elder Brown and I got back together we were discussing the exchange. As I looked out the front window of the car I saw a man walk in front, the spirit strongly touched my heart that I should go talk with him. I ran to the end of the parking lot and quickly realized he was Marshalese!! I began talking with Him and told him that God had sent us to speak with him and help him find true joy. I looked at the church building and realized we should just take him on a church tour right then. As we sat with him the chapel singing I am Child of God, I couldn't get over the familiarity of Bilson. I just felt like I had known him all of my life. We had the most powerful lesson and placed him on date for baptism and set up an appointment for the next day! The next day we went to find his house but had no luck! For days we wondered how we would find him again. That Tuesday as we drove down a street we saw a section of apartments we thought might be his! We realized they had the same numbering as the apartment number he had given us! We ran to the door, and Bilson answered! He had the biggest smile on his face, and the first thing he said was, "Where were you Friday, I was waiting for you!" I will never forget that feeling as we found him again. We taught him each day this week, he wanted to know everything he could about the gospel! Each lesson would end in tears, as he would say how he "knew it was true." Bilson was baptized this Sunday! It was the most amazing feeling there. As we watched the baptismal service, I recalled a talk given on faith in sacrament meeting! A woman commented how she admired the Marshalese and the faith they have to leave the islands and move here. Well, Bilson has greater faith than I have ever experienced. He, feeling his child and wife deserved a better future, moved here on his own a few weeks ago! He wasn't sure why he was taking the risk, but felt it pulling at him. Here in a place where few speak his language, he has daily sought a job to pay for his family to be able to fly over here! He has been in search of a place to worship but had no luck. He took a step in faith to follow his feelings to move to America, and God gave him the restored gospel! I ponder the miracle that God placed him in the path of missionaries that could speak his language, and that he could find a place of worship he could call home. As I watched him enter the water, I just can only imagine the joy God had in His heart seeing His son come home! What a miracle. For years he has sought the truth, and now hundreds of miles away from home, God has rescued his precious soul. I love you all! Take faith in God. He is in charge of our lives, blessing us and guiding us each day. We simply must not fear man, and stay true. I love you all! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!
Elder Brock Aiken
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