I'm going to tell you Ms A's story. Our branch second counselor, Sal (the amazing cook who made those pastrami burgers), is a manager at the local O'Charlies. One of his coworkers was having a rough time so he pulled her aside and with branch president's permission, gave her a blessing. Some time goes by and she starts to get interested in the gospel. The first time we went to her house she opened the door with excitement and asked "are you guys from Sal's church?" We've had a couple lessons with her since and she's retained everything. She remembers what we teach her and loves learning about the gospel. She said she's been struggling with her faith lately because life's been weighing down on her. She also expressed the frustrations she's had with her former church not being willing to answer her questions. She would always be in trouble because she asked "why?" a lot. We've answered a lot of her questions and she's diving right into the BoM. Her mom tried to "anti" her by saying "they have other books" so when she asked us we told her exactly what those "other books" are and why they're important. When we said that, Amanda asked "do I need to read those to know if this stuff is true?" We said it would be good to read them too but to finish the BoM first because that's the main one. The thing that impressed me the most about her was how intelligent she is. We asked her what she thought the meaning of life was and she said she didn't know. We showed her 2 Nephi 2:25, "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy" and asked her what she got out of it and she went to town picking that one sentence scripture apart. She gave the kind of explanation someone who's studied the Plan of Salvation would give without even knowing what the Plan of Salvation was.
I like what Elder M. Russell Ballard said with the tree. That principle is described in Alma 32. It's so true that if you don't nurture your faith it'll die completely. I've seen that with multiple people out here. It's sad really. But I have seen people out here with tons of faith. Let me tell you about Mr R. I don't think I've talked about him before. Here's his story, it starts with the Hermana's. The Hermana's were tracting out an apartment complex one day a few weeks ago. In one of the apartments a lady answered. The Hermana's asked if she wanted a message but she was apprehensive. A few moments go by and the Hermana's heard a man's voice which said "let them in". The lady let them in and the Hermana's met the man who invited them in. His name was Mr R. The Hermans's talked with Robert for a good while. They gave him a BoM that had Ether 12:27 and Moroni 10:3-5 highlighted in it.
Moroni 10:3-5, "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."
They also prayed with him. Some time passed and Mr R gave us a call. He said he wanted to meet. Neither Elder Shelley or I knew who he was but we agreed to meet anyway. When we met him we found that he had read those two highlighted scriptures every day for personal strength. We found out that he's been wanting to change his life for the better for a long time. He told us he was getting to the limit of what he could bear right before the Hermana's gave him that BoM. We found out he had experienced the power of the Holy Ghost testifying of the truthfulness of our message through those two verses alone. We found that he had hungered for the gospel. We taught him most of everything in 2 weeks. The sad part is he's now moved. He wanted to get away from the place that had been the stage of his problems. We contacted the missionaries of where he's moved to and told them everything they needed to know to continue teaching him. When Mr R moved he found that one of his childhood best friends had joined the church a year prior to him finding it. He's now literally running to the font. The first time we met him he was sad and depressed. The last time I saw him, which was 2 weeks after our first visit, he was near exploding with joy. He testified to us that he knew God had reached out to him through us. He knew that God still cared for him. He said he used to worry about what would happen in life but now he's not worried because he knows God will take care of him. At first Mr R was unhappy. But one miracle after another, and now he's completely happy. It was amazing to watch his story unfold. From the Hermana's finding him, to him demonstrating his faith by calling us, to his diligence in studying the gospel, to his testimony of the truth, and to his childhood best friend becoming a member a year prior, I truly feel like I saw the hand of God. It's hard to describe his story in detail without spending 2 hours on this email alone. But I know that God was there for him. I saw it myself. There's absolutely no way that the gospel isn't true. If it wasn't it wouldn't have changed Mr R like that. I already knew the gospel was true from my own experiences, but now I know even more.
The simple truths of the gospel will lead you to perfection if you let it. I've seen God's hand in the work this week in so many ways. It's been amazing.
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