Family and friends,
This last week went by pretty quickly! A week ago, last Sunday, Francisco was not able to make it to Church for his confirmation, but thankfully he was able to this last Sunday so we were able to do it there! He is really excited to start preparing more for the temple. I remember when we taught him about the temple and he was really emotional because of what that meant for some of his family who has passed away. We are excited for him to go to the temple and do the work for them!
We've been struggling trying to help one family that we found on Facebook. This guy is really into the Bible and he was quick to accept help from us on using it better. But when we introduced the Book of Mormon, he got a little worried. All his life he has read the Bible and thought it was the only scripture. But now he is a little slow on accepting something else too. He says he will read it to find out for himself so we really hope he keeps that promise. It's been extremely hard trying to maintain contact with him. He brought his wife to Church last week and they seemed to really enjoy it. Everyone was really nice to them. They are a family of 10. But it's been pretty difficult getting along which seriously hinders the Spirit that can help them become closer. We obviously hope for the best and pray for them often!
It's been wonderful being able to learn more about the Lord's atonement and what that means for all of us. No matter what, we can look to Him in faith because of what He has done and because He descended below all things. Because of that, He knows how to lift us up. I really like the words that President Nelson has used when he said, "The Lord paid a debt that He did not owe, and we owed a debt that we could not pay." How wonderful it is to know how much our Savior loves us. His love for us is what took Him to the depths of such great suffering. At times, we might feel like we hit our "rock bottom," but always remember that Jesus Christ broke rock bottom and kept going into the unseen depths of eternal suffering. Not just once over, but for as many souls as we are from eternity to eternity. All of God's children that have lived, are living, and will ever live, Jesus Christ is the Savior of them all. He was alone, no one was with Him. I'm sure He knew of the kinds of places he needed to go in order to suffer, but knowing that He would walk it alone makes it that much harder to comprehend. I don't want to deny what the Savior has done for myself, or for others. I believe that's at least part of the reason why we ought to be kind and forgive one another. It's so that we don't deny what the Lord can do and how He can change others. If we don't forgive then we deny the Savior's atonement. I believe that if we walk with grudges like that up to judgment day in front of the Savior, we might very well fall to our knees and weep that we rejected the idea that the Lord can change others and change ourselves. I love Him, and I am forever grateful for Him.
Take care!
- Elder Markham
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