November 11, 2013

Bonjour encore,

So this week we worked pretty hard. There was one particular day that was really hard. It was in the evening. We had some tombez-vous (fallen through appointments), after calling to confirm rdvs for the next day we had even more fall through, and we got insta-rejected by like 98% of the people we talked to. We still had about an hour left and while I honestly felt tempted to head back to the apartment and call it a night, we stuck it out. 

There is a scripture in alma that came to my head. It is talking about the sons of mosiah and goes something along the lines of, "When we felt discouraged and were about to turn back, the Lord comforted us and said, bear with patience thine afflictions and I will give unto you success." This comforted me and we finished out the night by getting rejected by alot more people. That evening after planning we reflected on the day and while we hadn't seen much fruit we felt confident that we had given it our all. The next day went about a million times smoother. We had awesome conversations, got multiple coordinees, gave out multiple BOMs, and set multiple rdvs. 

I have come to learn that at times the Lord decides to try our faith and our patience. Even when we are working diligently and obediently we will have those occasional hard days. But if we stick it out and continue giving it our all, He will give unto us success. We will see miracles. The Lord has promised us blessings if we do the things He has asked us to. While we wont always see these blessings immediately, I know that we will always see them. 

When hard times come and you face trials in spite of the fact that you have been doing all the Lord has asked, stay strong and continue on. Trust God. He has promised us blessings and He always keeps His promises. Those promised blessings will come soon enough. I know this because I have seen it over and over throughout this past year. In my life and in the lives of those I have been blessed to be around. I love this gospel. I love this work. I love you.

Elder Swenson