Helping Hands

Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Family!

It was so good to hear from you this week. I have such a strong testimonies of how important families are. How important it is to have support in this world that is sleezy. So thank you for being supportive for me and for each other. IT sounds like things are continuing to go well at home.

Things are going well here. This week wasn´t as good as last week, but still filled with miracles. One of them happened on Sunday. We really wanted to get one of our investigators to church, but through the week he had canceled his appointments with us and we just kept praying he would find the time to come with us. Well Sunday morning came and one of my companions was very ill and couldn´t get out of bed. And so we did everything we could to find a member that would be willing to come with me for the day and to help get this investigator to church. We found someone, and on the way to the train station I was feeling so stressed that our investigator wouldn´t even be there. But after this feeling came another feeling of peace and I felt the spirit tell me that everything would be OK and that he would be there. Sure enough he was, and after church was over he told me that he had really enjoyed it. He loved how everything was focused around the family and that the classes helped him to apply the gospel to his life, it wasn´t just stories. I was so grateful! The spirit was strong during church that day and I was so grateful for the Spirit to calm me down that morning before we got there. Heavenly Father is keenly aware of our situations. I am very grateful for his foresight. It is because of His foresight that he can comfort us and guide us in our day and throughout our lives. I know God leads our lives, and that He requires a lot from us. Sometimes we may think certain things He tells us to do aren´t that important, or we are not sure how to handle everything. I believe very strongly in 1 Nephi 3:7, that when God commands or requires things of His children He provides a way. I also know that He has answers to why He is requiring it of us, or asks it of us. Those answers don´t always come right at first (Ether 12:6- our faith is tested before we receive a witness) but they do come.

The other day my companions and I read together in 1 Corinthians 3:10-14. And it talks about how important it is to build our faith in Jesus Christ, but that some will build on gold or silver or other things. But the day will come when there will be a fire to see what we are made of. Of course those who have built on Jesus Christ will be able to withstand the fire, those that build on anything else will not be strong enough. And it helped me understand more of why this life can seem so hard or unfair. It is not a comfortable feeling to be burned. But God has given us the things we need to build and to withstand the fire that he will send. The fire is a purification process. It´s not just a test to see who built on Christ, but it is a part of our very progression to becoming worthy and able for exaltation. What makes it even harder is Satan will send storms to confuse and beat down on us. It´s important to note though that God prepares us for the fire and does it for our benefit, for our progression to become a better person, and Satan does it to destroy us. But we need not fear, we can withstand anything when we do our honest best in keeping the commandments. God does not leave us alone or turn away, He is there.

I know the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. The world is filthy, dark, and confusing. It is selfish and rude. The gospel of Jesus Christ is clean, and nice, and loving, and bright. Christ is the way the truth and the life, the life we really want. Let´s follow Him.

I love you family!

Love,
Sister Fitzgerald