Apr. 9, 2018 in Ellsworth, Maine - The Hope of God's Light

Hello!

Well, we have officially had snow now for 6 months of the year, hooray for Maine!  The word on the streets is there are one or more storms left... honestly it just makes it easier to talk to people by joking about the snow and anyone will laugh cause it’s so ridiculous!

We had E, K, and D at church again! D had been off the map for a bit but we met with him this week, he came to church, and he’s praying about baptism in June. We have two families were still working with who want to come this Sunday! We are so hopeful!! :)

We had some AMAZING experiences this week. We have a family who we were able to teach a powerful restoration to this week. We offered to say the opening prayer while inviting the mom to give the closing prayer. She was nervous but we taught her how to pray at the start and let her know we’d teach her again at the end. We gave an overview of what we’d share, used scriptures, asked questions, and that's when the dad came out from the shower (that’s where he was when we started) and started making noise, popped open a bottle, plopped down on the couch and interrupted the lesson. We told him we were right in the middle of a really important lesson but that we’d love for him to join us. He did. They know they need to ask God if the message we shared it true, and they are excited for us to return. They missed church this week cause of a sick child and work, but we plan to teach the Plan of Salvation and keeping the sabbath day holy this week and help them come to church! :)

We had another miracle where a man (P) let us in and told us he wasn’t interested in our message, but his parents were always rude to or avoided missionaries, which he didn’t think was right. We thanked him and had a great conversation. He is a very very good man and loves his kids. He has a religious background and knows he should be going to a church. He asked us if we have ever questioned our faith, as well as how can God let bad things happen to good people. I asked Elder Powell what he though and Elder Powell did a great job talking about agency. I shared Alma 14 with him about the people who were thrown into a fire when they obeyed the words of Alma and Amulek. P understood and seemed to be slightly comforted. We shared one of my favorite quotes from Life of Pi, which says “Doubt is not the absence of faith, but an element of it.” We explained if our doubt turns us away from God, then we are crippling ourselves. If it turns us to him in question, study, and prayer, then we will grow closer to Him. We shared a bit about the restoration with P and then showed him the Mormon message, The Hope of God’s Light. 

Video: The Hope of God's Light

In it, a man is reached out to by his friend, telling him that God wants him on his side. The man works for 2 years then finally receives another spiritual confirmation. P thought it was a great message, then we told P that the most important part was when the man received a spiritual confirmation for himself. P said he though it would be hard not to believe after the first experience the man had with his friend. The spirit spoke to me and I asked P, “Well, what is the difference between that man’s friend calling him and God sending us to you when you are looking for a church and have questions?” P paused and said really nothing was different, and he had thought that too. P then rushed over and found a piece of paper and pen, wrote down his name and number, and asked us if we would please come back. He told us all about his schedule and we’re going to see him this week. It was such an amazing experience! :)

God truly know each of us and is there whenever we feel like letting him in. Have faith, and use it to see a miracle. If you don’t act on your faith nothing will happen, but if you do, God will be there.

Love!
Elder Branch :)

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