From Dad 5/25
Good morning men,
What an awesome responsibility we all carry as priesthood holders. Those very serious and very important moments when what has been given to us to bless the lives of others is called upon as well as our faith and preparedness to exercise this faith to give blessings in the name of our Father in Heaven. Each time such a blessing is given, mom and I both have felt the strength of the Spirit in our presence witnessing from whom the blessing came. Over the years mighty miracles have been realized. More than once people committed to serious surgery or medical procedures have been pronounced after such a blessing whole and in no need of any further medical treatment. Such blessings are not intended for abuse of the services of the medical community, but in the Lord’s wisdom can come when such medical procedures would not be in the best interest of the one receiving the blessing. There is a difference.
Sister Frank who worked in the German courts for over 30 years suffered alcoholism only in her later years. You may remember her telling us she could not even exercise sufficient self control to enter a grocery store or to take a walk outside their home without her husband for several weeks before her level of self control was strong enough to just say “no” when the temptation to drink would come. Even today those temptations remain very strong. She knows this challenge will be a part of her life as long as she lives. So it is with addictions. Today she is still uncertain whether she has a Father in Heaven. She is starting from the beginning when we talk about prayer. She mentioned this week she has been able to say the “Lord’s Prayer” daily for several weeks. We talked a lot about how important her personal feelings are to her Father in Heaven. She said the closing prayer and it was from the heart. This is a hard fought battle for her to bring the Spirit back into her life and to feel His guidance from day to day. This is what our hope is for her.
Anne Berner said the closing prayer in our meeting this week. She asked the Lord to help us all find and stay on a good way. We want nothing more. Much of the time was spent in the Bible. She loves the Bible having been a religion teacher in the schools most of her life. She is in the middle of working through can we know or only believe something is true. She is sincere and in time this too will become clear to her. We talked about how the Book of Mormon was not given to us to replace the Bible but as a second witness that Jesus is the Christ. She does not challenge us on the truth only seeks to be sure all truth she currently holds in her heart is not being given up. She has in her heart a clearer picture of what the Lord intended with the restoration. Her grandson will be baptized tomorrow. This too will have a great impact. When he too has the gift of the Holy Ghost and can do some joint teaches with us where he bears his own testimony, this will bring a feeling she can understand in no other way. When mom bore her testimony to Anne this week the Spirit was strong and we could feel she was spiritually moved by this experience. Testimony from the heart is the most important thing we have to give when we are with other people.
Sunday it is my responsibility to talk with a father and husband to a family who love him dearly as to whether he is prepared to give all of them up without a struggle. The way to help him understand is through the example of our own family. I would be committing the unpardonable to tell mom we not have or see our family again after this life. A mission is hard and the separation is long but not as long as eternity. The struggle that lies before him is to come to know in his heart that God lives and he will stand in front of him and at that moment he will know whether he has prepared himself to be with or without his family after giving that report of his life at that time. Then change is too late. If change is to come it must begin now. Tomorrow never comes.
Have a great week. To the one in the MTC we say “soon you will know the rest of the story”, stay close to your Father in Heaven and you will understand each step of the way. To those who live to the east we say daily we understand better how life with family to the west has its challenges as well as its blessings. To those who will be in California next week we say, “wish we were there”. Being family is the greatest and the miles only make the ties stronger, not weaker because we won’t permit it to be any other way.
Love always,
Dad and Grandpa
What an awesome responsibility we all carry as priesthood holders. Those very serious and very important moments when what has been given to us to bless the lives of others is called upon as well as our faith and preparedness to exercise this faith to give blessings in the name of our Father in Heaven. Each time such a blessing is given, mom and I both have felt the strength of the Spirit in our presence witnessing from whom the blessing came. Over the years mighty miracles have been realized. More than once people committed to serious surgery or medical procedures have been pronounced after such a blessing whole and in no need of any further medical treatment. Such blessings are not intended for abuse of the services of the medical community, but in the Lord’s wisdom can come when such medical procedures would not be in the best interest of the one receiving the blessing. There is a difference.
Sister Frank who worked in the German courts for over 30 years suffered alcoholism only in her later years. You may remember her telling us she could not even exercise sufficient self control to enter a grocery store or to take a walk outside their home without her husband for several weeks before her level of self control was strong enough to just say “no” when the temptation to drink would come. Even today those temptations remain very strong. She knows this challenge will be a part of her life as long as she lives. So it is with addictions. Today she is still uncertain whether she has a Father in Heaven. She is starting from the beginning when we talk about prayer. She mentioned this week she has been able to say the “Lord’s Prayer” daily for several weeks. We talked a lot about how important her personal feelings are to her Father in Heaven. She said the closing prayer and it was from the heart. This is a hard fought battle for her to bring the Spirit back into her life and to feel His guidance from day to day. This is what our hope is for her.
Anne Berner said the closing prayer in our meeting this week. She asked the Lord to help us all find and stay on a good way. We want nothing more. Much of the time was spent in the Bible. She loves the Bible having been a religion teacher in the schools most of her life. She is in the middle of working through can we know or only believe something is true. She is sincere and in time this too will become clear to her. We talked about how the Book of Mormon was not given to us to replace the Bible but as a second witness that Jesus is the Christ. She does not challenge us on the truth only seeks to be sure all truth she currently holds in her heart is not being given up. She has in her heart a clearer picture of what the Lord intended with the restoration. Her grandson will be baptized tomorrow. This too will have a great impact. When he too has the gift of the Holy Ghost and can do some joint teaches with us where he bears his own testimony, this will bring a feeling she can understand in no other way. When mom bore her testimony to Anne this week the Spirit was strong and we could feel she was spiritually moved by this experience. Testimony from the heart is the most important thing we have to give when we are with other people.
Sunday it is my responsibility to talk with a father and husband to a family who love him dearly as to whether he is prepared to give all of them up without a struggle. The way to help him understand is through the example of our own family. I would be committing the unpardonable to tell mom we not have or see our family again after this life. A mission is hard and the separation is long but not as long as eternity. The struggle that lies before him is to come to know in his heart that God lives and he will stand in front of him and at that moment he will know whether he has prepared himself to be with or without his family after giving that report of his life at that time. Then change is too late. If change is to come it must begin now. Tomorrow never comes.
Have a great week. To the one in the MTC we say “soon you will know the rest of the story”, stay close to your Father in Heaven and you will understand each step of the way. To those who live to the east we say daily we understand better how life with family to the west has its challenges as well as its blessings. To those who will be in California next week we say, “wish we were there”. Being family is the greatest and the miles only make the ties stronger, not weaker because we won’t permit it to be any other way.
Love always,
Dad and Grandpa
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