Date
May 27, 2015
Area
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 4th walk
Companion
Sister Di Bari
Love, love love :)
Friends & Family!!
So yeah, haha every week in the mission is the best!! I know it sounds crazy--but its true!! Haha I can not express the love I have for this time to serve with all my heart, might, mind, strength, time, means, talents. This is the work of God! I see it, every day!! As His servant I am blessed to witness, the perfect love that our Father in Heaven has for His children.
HE LOVES YOU! All of you! So much!!...Do you know that? Do you feel that love?
Brothers and sisters, if you do not feel the power of His love day-to-day, I promise you: you can!! As our Father, He wants nothing more than for you to know and feel and recognize the love He has for you. 2 Nephi 31:3.
I feel I need to share a sacred experience that I had just the other week. We were walking from an appointment past this park, and my sweet companion, Sister Di Bari, received the prompting that we needed to walk through the park. We start strolling through and spot this girl sitting on a bench and we scurry over. We sit right next to her and start talking with her, but as I do, I realize there is a little boy huddled behind the bench. Then, I realize he is picking up old cigarette butts from off the ground and trying to light and smoke what is left of them. I knew that he was the one I was in there for. Sis Di Bari continued to talk with the girl on the bench, and I walked around and sat beside the little boy. For the first 5 minutes the little boy would not look at me. He continued to pick up the old cigarette butts and struggle to light them as I spoke with him. I asked him what his name was.."Brian". I asked him how old he was..."11". My heart was pained and I quickly said a prayer in my heart that God would allow me to be a vessel for His perfect love, so sweet Brian could feel it. I asked him what made him want to smoke those cigarette butts and after a few moments, he responded "everybody hates me, my parents hate me, my family hates me, my friends hate me....and I hate me." My heart fell through the floor!...
I asked him if I could tell him why I was there..he said "yes". I told him that I was there because He was my brother and I loved him. He looked up at me for the very first time, searching my eyes for sincerity. I threw my arms around him and just held him for a bit. We sat there talking about how he was a son of God, and that His Father knew him and loved Him perfectly.
We talked about how we missionaries are servants of the Savior, Jesus Christ and He had sent us into this park, and at that time, because of the love He had for him. The Lord was aware of his needs and knew that he needed that love at that exact moment. We spoke about many other things--we cried together and prayed together.
It was one of the most powerful experiences in my life to witness the power of God's love. I witnessed a complete transformation because of the love that healed Brian's soul. It gave him life and hope!
As we were walking away Brian kept waving and yelling "I love you!" He continued to shout it at least 5 times as we walked away until we were out of sight. It lifted his soul to feel love and to give love.
I pray that all of you REACH OUT!! We are surrounded by people, every day and all the time. Whether they are family members, friends, neighbors, or perfect strangers we all have been called to lift those around us. I pray that we can leave everyone better than we found them--closer to their Father in Heaven and their Savior than we found them. I hope all of you know how loved you truly are. It is REAL. More real and far greater than anything you can imagine. God lives. We are His children and He loves us. He sent His Only Begotten in the most beautiful and powerful manifestation of that love. I know that Christ is the way. He is "the light, the life, and the hope" for our personal lives and the whole world. Learn of His ways, and walk in His path and you will come to know and feel of the sweetest, purest, love and peace that can only come through Him. Please read 1 John 4 in the Bible, and Moroni 7 in the Book of Mormon <3
Moroni 8:3
Sister Wade