Feb. 24, 2014
Hello again,
It has been crazy the last couple of weeks. We have been
hit with snow storm after snow storm. But finally we are out and about
again. Over the last month or so a lot has changed and happened. I
talked a little about J_____ our promising friend last time I emailed. He
was our friend who we explained we had the perfect lesson with. We
eventually asked him to be baptized on Easter Sunday and he accepted.
That was about three weeks ago, since then he has decided that he does not want
anything to do with the church and that everything we believe in is
false.
I do not bring this up to discourage anyone, but rather to prove
a point. It is a principle that I feel has been stressed greatly in
recent by all of the General Authorities. It is that Satan does not
rest. The only way to combat this influence from him is by our efforts in
service to the Lord.
I strongly feel that there has been so much of a push towards
missionary work, not only for the missionaries, but for the members, because we
need the blessings that come from it to fight against the influence of the
adversary. In the last month we have seen many miracles and been led by
the hand of the Lord. But also in this time we have seen people fall away
that I never would have thought would have.
I would give the same advice to prevent against this as we gave to our friend Brother H_____ the other day. If you want to find truth you have to go to
the source of all truth to find it. Brother H_____ is one of our investigators that I may have talked about in the
past. But that was a long time ago, so I will tell you about him
again.
He is the husband of a member that has met with the missionaries
for a long time. When we started meeting with Brother Hunt he did not know if there was a God. He said that there
could be a God, but he just didn't know. He now knows that he has seen
influence of a divine being in his life, and because of this he knows there is
a God. The things that led him to this conclusion are things that will
lead everyone to the same conclusion. Prayer, scripture study, and church
attendance although it seems so simple, it is the hardest thing in the world to
get someone to do. But that is what is required for a person to build a
testimony.
I have begun to see missionary work in an entirely new light because of recent
events. Before I used to see it as something that has brought me
happiness and I wanted to share with the others to bring them happiness.
Although this is still true, I now realize it is more than that.
These people that don't have the Gospel are vulnerable to Satan's
influence. They need the promises and blessing that the Gospel has to
offer if they are to have a chance to resist the evil influences of the modern
day world. These people need divine help if they plan to remain pure and
clean.
Elder Erb
