SWEET IS THE WORK!
Letter from 2/24/2014
Hey Mom,
Sorry all your plans
were thrown for a loop. Ours were, too, sort of, but we did have an
amazing miracle. Last Saturday, I was able to witness the baptism of
Nick Nelson (one of my investigators from Folsom) and it was the best
one I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. Nick had been
investigating the church for almost 4 years. His wife was baptized 3
years ago. He has three beautiful children: a 6 year old girl, a 4
year old boy, and another boy that is about to turn 2 years old. They
are all so sweet. Their family is so blessed. I remember talking to him
about the gospel and trying to get down to why he was holding himself
back. He came to church every week, participated in all the activities,
and loved everything about the doctrine. He just had some pride to
swallow as far as the restoration of the priesthood. I explained and
testified countless times about the purpose of that divine authority. In
the end, I left him saying, "You know what Nick, I am not worried about
you. You will make the decision to get baptized and it will have
nothing to do with me or anyone else. You will want to do it because you
will come to realize that it all makes sense. You will come to realize
that it is all true. You're going to want this for yourself. You're going to
want to have this forever. You're going to want to be with your family
for all of eternity. So, know that I am not worried. Your foot is already
across the line. You just gotta take a leap of faith and jump." A few
months later, I recieved a call from him. He asked me if I would sing
'Nearer My God to Thee' for his baptism. Of course I couldn't refuse,
but I had to ask what changed his mind. He told me, "It all makes sense.
It's true, and I want it with my family forever." I believe that
everyone in the world at one point or another, in this life or the next,
will come to a crossroads on their own road of forging their destiny,
to decide whether they will accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their
life or not. It may take longer for some than it will for others, but I know that
God is our Father in Heaven and that He will do everything within His
power (without denying us our ability to choose freely) to help us
return to Him. I know that this is the true kingdom of God that has been
restored on the Earth once more. I know I felt the Spirit so strongly
at that baptism. I saw the completion of a family in the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints and they are on the road to eternal
happiness. I had the honor to sit next to my Mission President in this
baptism during the ordinance (REALLY COOL, RIGHT!!!) and he whispered to
me, "You see that, son. This is our work. We play a small role in this
and you helped make this happen. Now go out there and harvest. I love
you my son." I almost broke down. Kinda reminded me of Helaman when he
referred to his soldiers as sons, not because they were all young, but
because he loved them. My Mission President and I have not [always agreed on everything], but I love him and he has always loved me. I love being a
missionary. It's sad that I now have only a year of service and now the
clock is counting down. I will be home sooner than you think, everyone. I
love you all and I pray for you all.
Elder Sierra
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