Trials and Blessings

November 29, 2010

Wow, last week was COLD!!!  I have a jacket but as I found out, the wind goes right through it.  Now I have to wear my sweater and my jacket at the same time, which is ok since I'm able to have layers.  "How about cakes?  Cakes have layers."  No Elders are like onions.  "'Cause they stink?"  Yes, they sweat in their layers, then they come inside where it is warm and the outer layers are peeled off.

 

Thanksgiving was good.  We went to only one family's house for dinner which was enough for me!!  The guy's Dad was there too and we were able to teach a lesson.  I liked it.  Nice and low key.  We also played flag football that morning.  Our zone didn't end up winning.  Oh well.

 

I just got an email from my first convert on my mission.  She has been having a rough time.  She was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and she is constantly in a lot of pain.  It is really hard for me to hear news like that.  Autoimmune diseases suck!  I hate them!  The thing that I love about her is that she is always so cheerful and from what she has told me, she is "willing to submit to all things that the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [her]"  She has so much faith and I hope that I am able to gain as much faith as she has.  It is hard for her because she has hardly been able to go to Church since she was baptized because of one health problem or another.  And yet she tells me that she still holds true to all the principles that we taught her.  I can't imagine not coming on my mission and missing out on meeting the amazing people that I have come to know and love.

 

I love the scripture 1 Nephi 17:1-3 "1. And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth.  And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness.  2. And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women ded give plenty of suck for their children and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings."  They were wading through affliction!  They were "hip deep", we might say, in trials.  And yet in the very next sentence Nephi is able to turn it around and say, "And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us..."  What an amazing attitude!  When we are humble we really do unlock the blessings of our Heavenly Father.  Soon after, they reached the land Bountiful and they were able to rest from all of their afflictions.  I hope that by the end of my life I can learn to be like Nephi.

 

I love you all so much.  I pray for you often.  I have really realized what is most important in life.  The experiences I'm having here only make me appreciate the more special joy that can be found in your own family.

-Elder Blakemore