On a more exciting note, we finally got one of our people on date to be baptized! She's a 12 year old named Haven who's been working with missionaries for years now. Consequently, she's heard the missionary lessons many times, but hasn't wanted to be baptized due to anxiety. After much prayer and fasting on the part of Elder Smart and I, we were finally able to get her to commit to being baptized in December. Unfortunately, this means I probably won't be in Cave Creek to see it happen, but I am super happy for Haven, and grateful to God for this miracle. (Missionaries have been trying to do this for years, and I finally got to be a part of seeing it happen. :)
Last Monday evening, we had the most wild storm come through Cave Creek that I've ever seen. We were casually driving down a highway when we suddenly noticed very large looming dark clouds not too far away and a dust storm starting to form underneath. Then a gust of wind suddenly almost blasted our Toyota into the adjacent lane. Thankfully we arrived at our destination quickly and went inside before the worst of it hit. Shortly after sitting down inside a member's house, the wind was joined by a ridiculous downpour and a lightning bolt every second or so. This particular house had windows on all sides, so we had quite the light show: bolts flashing in front, to the left, behind, in front again, and to the right all in 5 seconds or less. The lightning continued after the rain had stopped, and we got back the car to head back to our apartment for the night. Suddenly a huge multi-pronged bolt split above us and struck around us on at least six different sides of the car simultaneously. Thinking I was clever, I rolled down the window and stuck my ear out to hear the thunder. BIG MISTAKE.
This past week, I've been thinking and studying a lot on the process of gaining a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. For some of the people that we have stopped teaching recently, it seemed that they thought it was simply too much work to gain a testimony. As I've thought about it, I've recognized that there is some truth to their words, gaining a personal witness that the gospel is true isn't necessarily "easy". It requires effort. It is not an event. And no single event, no matter how powerful or memorable it is can produce a deep testimony. (See 1 Nephi 3:29-31) As Alma described in Alma 32, you must experiment (act) upon the word, or else your faith will never grow and you can never know with a certainty. As I though about the process of my own testimony building (which is ongoing) I realized that having powerful spiritual experiences wasn't what convinced me that the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints followed the truth. Rather, it was the fact that if I read, prayed and pondered with a truly sincere desire to know, the Spirit spoke to my heart every time I did so. That consistent feeling in my heart more than anything else is an undeniable witness to me that the gospel is true. But again, it requires reading, praying, pondering and acting on the things I've read. And doing it over and over again. So gaining a testimony is not like ordering a pizza for delivery, it's not going to be brought to you on a platter. But it is 100% possible to gain, and 200% worth gaining, because knowing and living the truth changes everything in life for the better. :)
Have a wonderful week and take care of yourself! Don't accidentally fall into a cactus! It hurts...
Love, Elder Dickison
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