Maximum Happiness

This week we were prepping Kimberly for baptism! She is so amazing. On Saturday she had her baptismal interview and it was wonderful. She is really looking forward to her baptism and so are we. She just has such an open heart and accepts the gospel with such enthusiasm. It is making a change in her and we can tell. Her baptism will be this Saturday at 11am! 

Then, next Saturday on the 17th of February, Destiny will be getting baptized. This is one of the biggest miracles on my mission. I don't think I have ever seen anyone make this big of a turn around. My first week meeting her, she refused to pray at all and she said she didn't believe in a God. She has completely turned now to having faith in Christ. She prays daily and she reads the scriptures and comes to church. She went through some really hard trials in her life and we kept coming over to visit her during those hard trials. She soon began to notice that even though the world felt like it was crumbling down when she came to church, she felt peace. When she read the Book of Mormon, she felt peace. When she prayed, she felt peace. And when we came over to teach her about the gospel, she felt peace. It was undeniable to her that there was a reason she felt that peace. She now bears her testimony to us that she knows God is real and he is helping her through these trials. It is so amazing. My words are inadequate to describe this experience. I am so grateful to have been apart of her life and I look forward to her baptism. 

The gospel of Jesus Christ is an amazing thing. It is the perfect path to bring us maximum happiness in our lives. In the skepticism of the world it is often said that seeing is believing. However, on my mission I have come to learn that it is actually the opposite. Believing is seeing. As we believe in Christ it allows us to "see things as they really are" (Jacob 4:13). Believing and having faith in Christ allow us to see through the skewed perspective of the world, that sin brings happiness. It allows us to see that the most happiness comes as we follow our savior and redeemer Jesus Christ. He is the way, and he doesn't give us commandments for us to please him. He gives us commandments so we can be happy. He knows that true happiness is founded upon principles of righteousness. I am so grateful for my savior. I know he lives. I have felt his love in my life. 

Love, 

 

Elder Hallmark