Dear Friends and Family,
I hope all of you loved conference
as much as I did. It was truly a blessing to hear from our inspired leaders.
I'm grateful for the talks on missionary work and how the work is hastening. I
especially loved both of President Uchtdorf's, Elder Ballard's, and Elder
Scott's (and of course President Monson but that's a given) talks. I love how
missionary work is being emphasized and how the Apostles know how important the
Atonement is in our lives. This conference has inspired me to be a better
missionary and to further His work here in Selah.
This week was also incredible for
teaching. There is a less active family that has been visited by the
missionaries for years now. They haven't ever come to church, but they love having
us over. We prepared a lesson from last General Conference and gave it like we
always have. Then, something really special happened. I actually can’t remember
what we were talking about, but the subject of Infant baptism was brought up.
Elder Maughan, like a boss, taught that all children are saved through the
Atonement and are automatically admitted to the Celestial Kingdom. Apparently,
the father had lost a child when she was only 2. We promised him that his child
was saved. And he began to cry, which I didn't think he was capable of
doing. I couldn't help but smile that his heart was being softened. There
was a long period of silence, where the Spirit testified to them that what we
were saying was true. I guess the next step is to get them to start living the
commandments and be sealed to her in the temple, so he can live with his
daughter forever.
We also gave a church tour with
an investigator. The tour went normally, and then we got to the baptismal font.
We sat down and talked about her concerns. We promised her that if she
would read and pray about the Book of Mormon, she would know that our
message was true. I don't know why people don't do it! Maybe because they don't
want to be happy or change their lives. Anyway, the Spirit was there and
witnessed to her that the Church of Jesus Christ IS restored through a living
prophet. It was a pretty rad lesson.
Another powerful lessoned I learned
this week was repentance. It may be hard to believe, but I am not perfect.
Shocking I know but I definitely need repentance. I am the type of person to
not forgive myself, even though God has already done so. I have learned that we
need to let go of our sins and trust in the Atonement to make us clean. I read
this scripture the other day and it is in Hebrews 8:12, "For
I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more." God will not remember our sins, but
we may. We must strive to have faith that we can be forgiven and then "let
us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let
us run with patience the race that is set before us." (Heb 12:1) It will
be hard, but through righteous living, we can overcome spiritual death to live
with our families forever. I love you all and have a lovely week!
Love,
Elder Spencer Coleman
No comments:
Post a Comment