Monday September 1, 2014
Dear Family,
This past week we had the
opportunity to attend a memorial service for Elder Thredgold and Elder Xiong.
It is a rare opportunity for the entire mission to be together (the only other
time was when Elder Holland came), and it was a neat experience. It was so good
to hear more about them from those who knew them. When I walked in I realized
that I recognized Elder Xiong's picture. I never worked with him personally,
but I've seen him around lots. It was a nice service. Keep praying for
President and Sister Day.
Our cute little Li family
is having spiritual experiences in the BOM! They still don't fully recognize the spirit, but I do. As I listened to Li DX talk about what he
learned reading II Nephi 2, I had the Spirit confirm to me that he had learned
that through the Spirit. It was so apparent. And it was so neat. I really feel
that they have this window of opportunity right now, and Heavenly Father led us
to them at this moment to catch them in this moment of opportunity.
Reading the Old Testament this
morning I had some thoughts about trials of faith. The children of Israel
receive the Lord's blessing to fight against the tribe of Benjamin (this is in
Judges somewhere). They head out, fight, and lose. So they go cry to the Lord,
he tells them to go again, they go again in the same manner as before, and they
lose again. They cry a third time to the Lord and ask if they should go again.
He tells them to go again in the same manner, and they will have success. They
go again, and they win. I thought it was so interesting. If I had been one of
those Israelites, I would not have wanted to head out that third time. Why
didn't the Lord lead them to success the first time? Why did they have to
suffer? I'm not the Lord, so I don't know that I can really say, but it seems
to me that He had a greater purpose in mind. To allow them to go through a
trial, to see if they would stay true to what they knew. It gave them an
opportunity to use their faith. I think that the same is true now. Everyone’s
battles are different, but earth life is meant to give us a chance to exercise
our faith. We HAVE to come across hardship, or else life would be meaningless.
But when we place our trust in the Lord, there will be a way. A way that will
lead to lasting peace and happiness.
I love you and I hope you
have a great week!
Sister Rachel Caroline Edwards
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