At times we are confronted by
challenges that we don't have any desire to pass through. I've
experienced a few of those in this past week. I found out that I
would be leaving the Seneca Ward. I had only been there for 6 weeks,
and I had grown to love the people so much. I had family there, and I
wanted to continue to serve them. I felt that it wasn't fair
that I needed to leave, but The Lord had other plans in mind and I
always know that I can trust that He is working things out to help me
learn and grow. I have been transferred to serve in the Patuxent Ward
in southern Maryland. It is an entirely different world out here, and
I was hesitant to have a good attitude about serving with all my
heart again. But then I met the wonderful people! I have not met so
many nice and loving people in my life! Even by those who reject and
turn away from us, we are treated with respect. My companion is one
of the most stalwart individuals I have ever met in my life, I can
tell that we are going to be great friends. Right when we got to the
apartment I found out that we needed to move in the next few days. I
didn't even unpack at all, and right off the bat we had to spend many
hours moving furniture and appliances. The apartment had been lived
in for over 10 years, and the day that I come is the day that we
needed to move! That was a lot of work, but we finally got everything
shifted over to this nice brand new apartment. I woke up yesterday
morning and had that feeling that I was on vacation because
everything is so nice and clean.
On Friday evening, we actually
didn't finish moving everything until 7:30, and we had not eaten
dinner yet. We wanted to just eat and call it a day, but my companion
and I motivated each other to get on our white shirts and ties and
get out to try and work the rest of the night. We started looking for
the house of this less active member, and we just could not find it
off the main road! I circled around at least three times, and it
started getting late. So we pulled over and decided to knock on some
doors to try and talk to people. The second door we knocked on we
asked if we could share a message and the guy just steps out and says
go ahead! He is a man of faith that has said many prayers in his
life. He wasn't too much older than me, but I could tell he was
roughed up a little bit. When he spoke with us, I could tell there
was no guile in him. He was so genuine with us, and we had an awesome
conversation. It would have been so easy to not work the rest of the
night, but we just faced the challenge with faith, and we were
blessed. I've been thinking about this scripture a lot. "And
behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and
he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should
prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath
said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and
prosper you." (Mosiah 2:22) It's so simple, IF we trust in God
and keep His commandments, THEN we will be blessed. Face your life
with faith! And you will find joy.
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