These past few weeks have helped us to recognize more fully the importance of faithful families and the strength that comes from being around people with a high moral standard. I think we have known this for many years and were taught the value of family and friends from our youth. Sometimes, I think we all have a tendency to take our blessings for granted. Often, we fail to express gratitude to those who have had a positive affect on our lives.We have tried to implement this understanding in the raising of our own family and are grateful to each life that has touched ours for good. We hope in some small way we have touched the lives of others for good as well.
As we have been serving our mission here in the Utah Ogden Mission we have seen miracles taking place in some people's lives. I will not mention any names, but will tell of a few instances we are involved in that involve positive change and which, as a result, bring joy to us, to our Father in Heaven, and perhaps most importantly to these people themselves.
We have been working with a young couple, who are preparing to go to the temple soon and be sealed. The young man was born into the Church in Arizona and was involved in some church activities as a child and into his early teenage years. As a youth he became involved with the wrong crowd and did many foolish things. They were not only foolish, but were sinful, by his own admission. One of his most serious problems involved the use of drugs. Later, this turned to distribution of illegal substances and the crimes that are often associated with this activity. He was eventually arrested and found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison. The intent of prison is perhaps twofold, to punish on the one hand, and to reform on the other hand. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. A lot of this depends on the people you are around, both in the prison and on the outside once your time has been served.
This young man served his time and was released to the outside world. In his words: "I should have learned something from this experience, but I didn't" It was just a matter of months before he was sucked back into his former ways and not much longer until he was back in prison. He served his term, this time letting the reality of his choices sink into his soul and realizing that he wanted to change his life and make a difference in the life of others. This time he chose good friends and started attending church as he had done in his childhood. After a time he met a young lady who was active in the Church. They fell in love and were married a little later. They both wanted a temple marriage, but knew they would have to work toward this goal. This they determined to do, working together to learn about the gospel and to make and keep the covenants they made each week as they partook of the sacrament. They studied and prayed and had lessons presented by the missionaries. We have been privileged to be involved and have born testimony and encouraged these young people as they strive to come closer to the Lord by obeying the laws and the ordinances of the gospel. The joy shown in their eyes and on their faces as they progress toward their goal is also a joy for us.
Shortly after we were called on this mission, I was pondering our role, and wondering exactly what we should do. One day as I was in the Logan Temple studying the scriptures, I came to the Book of Exodus Chapter 18 Verse 20. It is a short verse, but it kind of jumped off the page and smacked me in the face. It reads: "And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shew them the way wherein they should go, and the things that they must do." This is a short sentence, but very profound in its implications. I have spent considerable time pondering this verse and find added and deeper meaning for us and for our missionary activity each time I read it. I know that as we learn the laws of the gospel and make covenants to keep them and then of our own free will walk the walk and do the will of our Father in Heaven, the blessings of Heaven will be poured out upon us in such abundance that we will scarcely be able to receive them. We will then be better able to share the joy that the gospel brings. These are the things that will release us from our own prisons, whether they be the bars of a physical prison or the distracting and degrading affects of pride or any of a myriad of things that are used to ensnare us and lead us carefully down the path of the adversary.
We feel humbled by the task of reaching out to others and helping them to be truly free. The Atonement of our Savior on our behalf makes it possible, but we need to do our part by teaching and observing the laws and ordinances of the gospel. We need to walk in the way we should go. We must do the things that are required of us as we seek to become true latter-day Saints.
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