April 26, 2017




Mi Familia y Amigos,

This week was a wonderful week working in the Lord's vineyard!! It had some really high points... and it had some really low points... But looking back I can see that I really learned a lot this week! I feel like each week I understand a little bit better why they always say, "be grateful for your trials"... they really make you who you are.

One particular day this week was especially hard. We had a lot of rejections, a lot of fall-throughs, and a lot of lost time... to sum it up we had a whole lot of nothing! You would think that after more than a year in the mission I would be used to rejections... but hey, they still sting a little! To make a long story short, we came home really exhausted and a little bitter. That's when I remembered a scripture that I had read earlier in the day... 1 Nephi 7:8-13. Here Nephi rebuked me along with his brothers as he said, 

And now I, Nephi, being grieved for the hardness oftheir hearts, therefore spake unto them, saying, yea, evenunto Laman and unto Lemuel: Behold ye are mine elderbrethren, and how is it that ye are so hard iyour hearts,and so blind in your minds, that ye have need that I, youryounger brother, should speak unto you, yea, and set anexample for you?
How is it that ye have not hearkened unto the word ofthe Lord?
10 How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen anangeof the Lord?
11 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten what greatthingthe Lord hath done for us, idelivering us out ofthe handof Laban, and also that we should obtain therecord?
12 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lordis able to do all things according to his will, for thechildren of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him?Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.
13 And if it so be that we are faithful to him, we shallobtain the land of promise
Sometimes when I read, I find scriptures written just for me. 

It's really easty to forget. It's easy to forget the amazing things the Lord has done. I felt ashamed as I realized all of the miracles that I had let slip from my mind that day. Not just from that day but from my whole mission! I have actually seen someone accept the gospel and change their life in 8 days!! I've seen someone's countenance change as they heard the plan of salvation for the first time. I've seen a family become united in the gospel and start the path to eternal life TOGETHER. I've had angels protect me and the Holy Ghost protect me from some very dangerous situations. I've seen the Savior's smile and his outstretched hands as I've read the scriptures. 

I've seen the hand of God. 

How could I ever forget that??

If there's one thing that Ive learned on my mission it's that God lives and loves me. So, my dear family and friends, let us be faithful and always remember him. The prize is eternal life. It's definitely worth it. 

I love you all!! 

Hermana Van Deusen

Good thing my comp took pics this week!!!! 

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