Hi everyone! How are you all doing? I hope and pray
that you are all doing well and are learning lots and are having lots of
opportunities to learn and grow! I know I definitely am! Every day I am blessed
to be able to learn something new, and it seems like even with the things I
know, there is always a new way to look at it. One of the great things
about this life is that we are here to learn and gain experience. While our
circumstances may change at times there are eternal truths that always remain
the same. We can find these in everyday life and draw strength and greater
understanding from them.
This week we have had close to the two extremes in weather.
At the start of the week we had sun and more sun. I was thinking, "man it
just can't be much more humid or hot than this!" But then the
weather completely switched and the weekend brought tons of rain. So much that
the streets in some places were like little rivers! Through it all we kept
walking. At times our circumstances may make us rethink why we are doing what
we're doing or even question the truths we have come to know, but the fact is
the truths are always the same and are always there!
One of the things I have learned about so much is the
un-changing, un-qualified, perfect love of Jesus Christ. Come sun, come
rain, wind or snow, His love is always there for us to partake of. It
truly is the most amazing thing, which gives us the most happiness and light in
our lives. I love that this week I had the opportunity to witness a few people
say their first prayer. The thought that struck me with this was that their
prayers were so pure and simple, and that Heavenly Father was so happy to be
hearing from them. Prayer is truly the way that we can communicate with our
Heavenly Father, and receive guidance, understanding, and answers to our
questions. It doesn't matter who we are or where we come from to Him, we
are all His children. He wants us to learn and keep progressing and eventually
have all he has. He has a perfect plan for each one of us, and the plan doesn't
change. I am so thankful that we can find strength from these unchanging
truths. In the world where so many things are confusing, and there are
seemingly numerous ways to find "happiness" there are eternal truths
which if we build on we can have clarity, strength, and purpose in our
lives.
I love the new video of the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi Chapter8, which talks about the vision of the tree of life which the prophet Lehi saw.
{if you haven't seen it yet, go look it up! Then read the chapter!} In the
vision he was shown a rod of iron, which led to the tree of life. As
people grasped hold of the rod (the unchanging truths or words of God) and
pressed forward they finally made it to the tree. And why did they want to get
to the tree? Because the fruit of the tree (love of God) is true, complete
happiness. It is the source of our hope and all goodness. The way that we get
to partake of the fruit is to continue holding to the truths of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, continuing to learn and move forward.
We have the way! We have the promised result! We just need
to see it through. There will definitely be hardships, we may lose sight of the
way for a time, but Jesus Christ is always beckoning us to return. He is
waiting for us, hoping to give us the greatest welcome home if we will just
rely on Him and on the path he has laid. I know that this is the way, and that
we can have such marvelous blessings in our lives when we choose to keep
trying to learn and move forward. I promise you will be able to see these
blessings and know the eternal truths, if you just keep trying. Un día todo
estará bien. Dios les ama. Yo les amo. Seguir adelante! (One day all will be well. God loves you. I love you. Keep pressing forward!)
Elder McDonald
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