August 28, 2006

  • From an e-mail dated August 21, 2006:
    Behold, thou wast called and chosen ... to my ministry; and I have lifted thee up out of thine afflictions, and have counseled thee, that thou hast been delivered from all thine enemies, and thou hast been delivered from the powers of Satan and from darkness!... And thou shalt continue in calling upon God in my name, and writing the things which shall be given thee by the Comforter, and expounding all scriptures..." (Doctrine and Covenants 24:1,5).





    Well, I don't really know what to say. I hit my year mark last Thursday. Sunday I turn 20. Time flies. Tell you what, if you want to hear a good story about how a dog almost took my life, write me a letter (Is it pathetic to resort to bribery?). I know that what I am doing is the Lord's work. I have felt His guiding Hand and have heard His divine Word.


    I know that the message we share with people enhances lives and uplifts the soul. Some times I wonder why so many people insist on persecuting us. I am barely an adult and yet people seem to fear me as if I have some sort of power to change the world. Maybe that power they sense is real, but it is certainly not mine. If I am to be feared, avoided, even hated, so be it.


    I take comfort in the countless lives that I feel I have touched. I have contacted too many people who have told me how much they needed me to feel like I am wasting my time. To quote a missionary in ancient America, "For because of the word which [God] has imparted unto me, behold, many have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen; therefore they do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge which I have is of God" (Alma 36:26).





    "And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me" (Alma 36:27).