Howdy Howdy family and friends!!
It was indeed another beautiful week here in good 'ol Childress Texas! It's kind of amazing how we always seem to learn and to grow and how Heavenly Father really does prepare us very specifically for very specific trials and situations we will be put in.
The last few days have been pretty amazing, the last few weeks have just FLOWN by! It's so hard to think that I've been here in Childress for a month already! And ever since I got here we've been looking forward to stake conference (just a big gathering in our geographical area up here in the panhandle of TX) because Elder Andersen from the Quorum of the 12 Apostles is coming to speak! Now it's just a few short days away! crazy. We are all very excited though, and we fasted as a branch this Sunday so we can all have a spiritual experience this coming weekend as we listen to an apostle speak! :D
This is also getting me SO excited for general conference coming up here in a couple weeks!! There is SO much exciting stuff on the way!
As I was thinking about what to share this week some lines from one of the songs on the new Nasville Tribute CD:
" There's nothing like the kind of smile you just can't hold back,
as the truth comes alive, and believing starts a whole new life."
Those words just make my heart stir even just thinking about them!
And tying this all together with the title of this e-mail, we've been working the last few weeks a lot with this amazing man named Danny, who is preparing for baptism next week, and he's been having some struggles. The most amazing thing that I've seen these past few weeks is just how much his countenance has changed, and how he is truely lighter. He knows without a doubt that the gospel is true, and it has been restored in its fullness in these last days, and he is fighting hard to change from who he has been in the past.
Sister Carroll and I were talking about thinking again (shocker right? :P) on Saturday night, and I was trying to describe the conflict that I have in my mind sometimes, even when I know something is true, I wonder how could there be so much adversity if it really is true?? And I know Christ's path was filled with adversity, and He was perfect and true His entire life! But, to me, and I'd never thought of it like this before, but to me it just felt like a demon or something in my head that just tries to keep the negativity and not let any light in. That just kind of keeps me in a place where I was before instead of letting me move forward.
Fast forwarding to Sunday evening we met with Danny, and he's had a ROUGH day, and he very cautiously shared with us how he felt: "It's like I'm not playing with a full deck of cards, or like I've just been bad for so long, I don't know how to be good... do you think that there is just something evil in me?"
I almost started crying when he said that because I just felt the conflict he was feeling in my heart, and it sunk deep. We went to the scriptures, in Mosiah 3:19, and talked about the natural man and the spiritual man that is inside each one of us. As we went through the passage one line at a time, we discussed how it is sometimes a person's trial to be more aware of that conflict than others. I received a lot of answers to questions I hadn't realized I'd had before. And it was just really, really amazing to feel the truth in the words I spoke, that I know didn't come from me, but from the Spirit.
During the lesson I felt a little anxiety, because as missionaries we really only help people spiritually, but there are a lot of other things in the world that take our time, energy, and thought space... We continued to Matthew 6:33-34 as we addressed a temporal concern with him, and did the only thing we could do, just promise blessings. We don't know how everything works, but we do know that Christ's promises are ALWAYS kept, and as we follow His counsel, everything will work together.
This week was really and truely amazing, everything kind of came together in studies this morning I ran across this scripture in 2 Tim 3:7 - "[there are people] Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
It was right in the middle of some counsel from Paul to his son Timothy, talking about how people would turn away into apostacy, and some of the characteristics they had... and I've seen in my life that I LOVE learning, but this helped me to remember that knowledge has no purpose without truth everything is useless unless it has a purpose... so even though it's nice to know things, I need to learn with a purpose, always, the words I say need to have a purpose, always, and the steps I take in life (physically and metaphorically) need to have a purpose, always.
It's good to know that the gospel is the good news! I'm happy to have it in my life, and I'm very happy to have opportunities to share it, in its restored fullness today!
I love you all! Keep searching for truth, It'll light up your life! (seriously :D)
With all my heart,
Sister Heather Ann Lagrosa
Picture:
1- I've been dreaming of this picture ever since I started my mission!
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