29 Dec 2014
Dear all,
So this week was Christmas!!
That means I had the wonderful and blessed opportunity to skype home this past
Thursday!! It was such an amazing experience to see my family and to be
able to talk with them!! I enjoyed it probably a bit more than I should
have because by the time 1 hour was over it felt like 5 minutes. But all
is well, and I look forward to being able to skype home again in May!!
Also this week I had a huge
strengthening in my testimony of "Pray always, that ye may come off
conqueror; yea, that ye may conquer Satan, and that ye may escape the hands of
the servants of Satan that do uphold his work" (Doctrine and Covenants
10:5). This happened primarily on Christmas Eve: So the morning of
Christmas Eve we had a District Class that went on forever (because it was the
day before Christmas, all the missionaries had a White Elephant gift
exchange). But so naturally that day we got lost trying to get back to
the house and We were about 3 miles away... So that was really
frustrating to the both of us, and we were walking in almost 100 degree
weather. So the entire time bad thoughts about my companion began to
enter my mind, which is of the Devil and I knew it. Especially because he
had done nothing wrong. So I noticed the Devil had been putting these
thoughts in my mind and I wasn´t trying to get rid of them. So I began to
pray in my heart. Just as we were walking. Praying primarily that
the thoughts would leave my head, but other then that about anything I
could. I was just talking to God about anything I could think of, and I
was enjoying it. Eventually I asked if the Lord could bless us physically
by making the heat more bearable. Nothing happened... I then asked
the Lord, "Is my faith not sufficient for this small task?" and
I asked again if He could make the heat more bearable. Again nothing
happened. So I changed the question: I asked instead if He could
bless me with the faith to be willing to suffer through the heat to work for
Him. Just at that time we walked around a corner and a wall of cool fresh
wind hit us. It was amazing!! I felt so much more refreshed and had
the energy to go the rest of the way home. The entire rest of the way
home I thanked and praised the Lord silently and humbly.
I realized that day that I had not
done enough to show my faith to the Lord earlier. I didn´t talk to Him
often enough and I didn´t show that I was doing this for Him. I needed
that attitude to be willing to do anything for Him. I bear my testimony
that through prayer and faith the Lord WILL bless you. He WILL
respond. The rest of this week I´ve spent as much time as I can talking
with the Lord in my head. I´m trying to come closer to Him in any way I
can, and the best way to do that is to talk to Him. Just like the best
way to become closer to anyone is to talk with them and to do things with them,
I challenge you all to talk to Him throughout your day and to keep Him with you
while you do the things in your life. I promise you will feel His divine
presence and you will come closer to Him.
I wish you all an amazing week and
hope you all try and come closer to your Father in Heaven. I leave you
with my humble testimony.
In the name of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Elder Forsgren
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