April 10, 2017

GOD IS GOOD

Hey y'all!

Well this past week was a pretty good one! We had to push back the baptism one week though because one of the speakers that Abbie wants to talk at her baptism wasn't going to be in town until this weekend so we had to push it back a week which works out for us because we need to teach her a few more principles before she will be 100% ready. and because we pushed back a week we were able to attend the Zone leaders baptism in Roanoke so that she could see what hers will be like, and after wards they took us out to eat at Mission BBQ.. So I wasn't complaining :)

This past week we picked up a new investigator named Barbara! She is super awesome and super prepared to hear the gospel, She was a referral from one of the members in our ward. She was telling us how she has been looking for a church that feels like "home" and is willing to put the Book of Mormon to the test to see if it is really true. The spirit was so strong during the lesson, it was truly amazing!

This week I also got to go on an exchange with Elder Estes which was a lot of fun, we did a lot of door knocking and really focused on ways that we could invite the spirit unto the hearts of these people and it was really cool and probably the most fun I've had door knocking in a while. There was one door that we prayed with a lady who told us no and she ended up telling us to come back after the prayer so that was pretty exciting. So cool to see how the spirit can change the hearts of the people!

So, something funny that happened this week would have to be getting hit on by our gay neighbor.. I'm now known by all of our neighbors as "Bubble Butt" haha its a little weird but hey I cant help it that's what happens when you play baseball your whole life right? ;) haha people definitely know how to keep me on my toes out here!!

So for my spiritual thought this week I wanna share a story about the atonement of Jesus Christ.

There was once a bridge that spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river parallels with the banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing the train to cross it.  A switch man sat in a shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed. One evening as the switch man was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train lights. He stepped onto the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance. Then he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position, but, to his horror, he found the locking control did not work. If the bridge was not securely in position, it would cause the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with MANY people aboard. He left the bridge turned across the river and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river, where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate the lock manually. He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train crossed. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man’s strength. Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. “Daddy, where are you?” His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, “Run! Run!” But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time.. The man almost left his lever to snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realized that he could not get back to the lever in time if he saved his son. Either many people on the train or his own son – must die. He took but a moment to make his decision. The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the on rushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked; to tell his wife how their son had brutally died. Now, if you comprehend the emotions that went through this man’s heart, you can begin to understand the feelings of Our Father in Heaven when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life.

I know this was a long story but remember that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know us and they know what we go through, TURN TO THEM IN YOUR TIME OF NEED. I can promise that as you do your life will be better than it ever has. I love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Elder Wilson