Turn to the lamb.
This was outside a church here this week.
I love Georgia.
If there's one thing I've learned it is that because of Jesus Christ,
all wrongs will one day be made right for those that love and follow
him.
Because of him, we can have joy and peace even when we have trials.
Remember our friend who's husband has the drug addiction? Well he
relapsed this week. And when he does, he disappears for a few days.
It's very scary for his wife and kids because they don't know when
he'll come back, and when he does it's never a pleasant sight. We
spoke with our friend and she was in tears about what to do. We
offered the elders to come give them priesthood blessings and she
gladly accepted. They had to give the blessings outside because of
mission rules, and it was pretty cold. But when the spirit came,
the cold disappeared. We each felt the warmth of the spirit and the
girls had the biggest smiles across their faces. Their step mother was
so surprised, "I feel so happy, but I shouldn't!" That is the miracle
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He isn't going to necessarily take away
our trials, but because of Him our hearts can still be full and we can
have peace. It reminded me of Elder Nelson's talk from this last
conference: "Joy and Spiritual Survival". I loved what he had to say:
"When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation, which
President Thomas S. Monson just taught us, and Jesus Christ and His
gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening--or not
happening--in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the
source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to
the world, the Lord is come.” And we can feel it all year round. For
Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!
That is why our missionaries leave their homes to preach His
gospel. Their goal is not to increase the number of Church members.
Rather, our missionaries teach and baptize to bring joy to the people
of the world!"
We can have joy because God's authority has been restored and
therefore we can be made clean and pure through repentance and
baptism, as well as receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We then have
the right to access those feelings of peace, comfort, and joy, even
though we live in "perilous times".
I love and miss you!
Love,
Hermana Wallis
This week Sister Gonzalez and Sister Ray go home! I'm going to miss
them so much!
Our zone and physical therapy adventure. Arm is good. I still have to
wear the splint. I just took it off for pictures. I'm sick of it.
To write to Madeleine please use: madeleine.wallis@myldsmail.net
