Dear family and friends,
First
of all, every single sunset here is SO Beautiful! The pictures I post
do no justice to the real beauty and richness of color but the one with
the Sandies (Watermelon) Mountains and a big cloud over the top... My
companion and I are pretty sure that Jack's bean stalk leads to the top
of those clouds and there is a goose laying Golden Eggs! Anyway I'm so
happy to have such a beautiful planet to live on. All things both great
and small Testify that there is a God and when we allow our eyes to be
opened we truly see the beauty in everyone and everything around us!
This
week there have been some amazing things happening. We invited a couple
of people to be baptized and two accepted!! Another, the guy from the
military, said he's not ready or not sure yet, but he is still making
progress and we are seeing a lot of growth. Our biggest miracle this
week is Lisa. She was raised catholic and she and her family have always
believed in God. We met her on Saturday
when her cousin came down from Arizona to introduce us to her. We had
the most powerful little testimony meeting in Lisa's home, and after
which we shared the message of the restoration, gave her a Book of
Mormon and invited her to read pray and find out for herself if it is
true. She (And ME TOO) is sooo excited she said. I even cried, and I'm
not even ashamed to admit it. She has such a powerful strong spirit and
the Lord is working miracles in her and in our work. The sad part is she
is not in our area like we originally though, so we are going to have a
lesson today to introduce her to the sisters who are in her area. It is
sad but I know that the Lord will continue to work miracles in all
areas and all over the world so I am just excited to see what is next.
Faith:
I have studied this each morning this week. Faith one of the most
important things we can obtain. Without faith, the red sea would not
have been parted. Without faith Nephi would not have been able to obtain
the plates. Without faith Alma and Amulek would not have been delivered
from the prison where they were spat upon and ridiculed continually.
WITH faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we can obtain all that our Father in
Heaven has. I love the power of Third Nephi Chapter 7:18
where the faith of Nephi is so powerful that all he had to do was
Testify and the people had no power to disbelieve his words, because of
the greatness of his faith. I think that this is even greater than
moving a mountain by faith. How is it that we can begin to have the
faith that it would require to bring such a change into the very being
of another person. We all have our agency, but along with that we have
the knowledge of what is true and right, as well as those things
contrary to truth and right. And only by learning line upon line putting
our faith in Christ and following his example can we grow to any
measure of profit to him who we are eternally indebted to. He only wants
us to ask, and he has faith that we will. As a closing thought on
faith, the book of Hebrews explains: We understand that Faith is the
very creative power used to form this world. If God didn't have faith
that His word (Jesus Christ) could create the world he would not have
taken the steps to even begin doing so. Faith is power and I hope that
we can all continue to nourish and grow our faith no matter where we are
at right now.
I love you all and thank you for your support and strength. I hope that
as we go throughout this week we can all focus on the blessing of this
life and let those manage our thoughts rather than the challenges we
face. Challenges come and go, as I like to say "Circumstances never come
to stay, they come to pass, and it is up to us to make the best of each
and every moment."
-Elder McGarry
