Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Doors on Earth and Windows in Heaven

Wow the mission is hard sometimes.

We're both done being sick is great, but it's been a long week otherwise. Appointments fell through, it rained, we had to move people, had zone conference, all kinds of stuff. So we only had so much time to proselyte. But that time didn't exactly go great either. Knocking on door after door, no one wanted to talk to us. It was discouraging.

I've learned a lot though. Time and time again I was totally miserable and something would happen, I'd receive some revelation or someone would say something or I'd realize something and everything would start to get better again for a while. I have a new understanding of the "angels" mentioned that would bear us up. It can be ordinary people sometimes, compassionate, inspired leaders and friends.

If God is even mindful of sparrows, of course He is mindful of us. Trials come, but we are promised that we will never have to endure anything that we cannot handle, and nothing that is beyond what is ABSOLUTELY necessary for us to grow and progress. It will all be for our good. I have abiding faith in that.

I could look at the past week and say that it's been terrible or something like that. But I've learned so much that I'd be discrediting the week God gave me. It was a good week because I'm coming out of it better than I went in. And I'm grateful for that, and for the mountains God gives me to climb. I look forward to another week of challenges, and hopefully I'll have good news for you about someone besides myself! That's way more important anyway.

Well, I guess I do have one nice story. We were walking in a pretty ghetto area of our ward and I looked across the street at a house. It was pretty nice actually, and had a bright red door with no awful security gate or anything. I figured that since it was so nice in that area, surely it must just be people who wouldn't want to listen and would be rude to us, like any other house like it that we'd knocked on. I was determined to pass on by, but the Spirit reminded me of a commitment that I'd made earlier in the week, and decided to knock. While the man who opened the door wasn't interested at the time, he was very polite and I think that if there was a seed planted, it will grow. He told us he didn't go out much or get out to church because he'd been on a couple combat tours in Afghanistan and had bad PTSD. We left him with a card and I told him about the wonderful, positive messages that Mormon.org has. I hope he'll check it out.

Oh! And another one! No one had signed up to feed us last night, so we'd resigned ourselves to eating at home, which is alright, when suddenly a less-active lady with a nonmember husband called us up to invite us other for pozole! We were really grateful. She said she'd seen that we didn't have dinner on facebook (thanks to our RS president!) and called us. We didn't get a chance to teach too much and the husband wasn't super interested (the all-star game was on) but I think we'll be back over there and be able to show him it's a good thing to be interested in, haha.

Anyway, when doors close on Earth, sometimes slammed in our face, sometimes when we try to testify and it doesn't get through, and sometimes when they don't even open, the windows of heaven sneak open a little more to let blessings through.

Be strong and of a good courage!
Elder Adams

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