A True Miracle...

Last night I promised myself in my journal that I would go for a walk today and get some exercise since it has been far too long. Well... it turned out to be so much more than that. We made our usual rounds feeding a flock of ducks on our way, stopping to say hi to some horses, dogs, ducks, and a goat, turning around and feeding the ducks on the way back. From behind us, an unusual voice said "Looks like those ducks know where to get a good snack." I had to know where his accent was from so we quickly finished up with the ducks and caught up to him. He looked to be about 30 and is from South Africa. After being born and raised there Vincent and his family came to America just 4 weeks ago to start a ministry in Texas soon. I noticed he carried a black book with red edged pages and asked if it was a Bible. It sure was. The King James Version even. It was so neat to hear first hand how learning of Christ and his infinite love has changed his life. After he asked me if I was a believer I shared that I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, shared my testimony, and expounded on some of the simple truths that I find great hope in. That God still speaks today. That we have a living prophet. That we believe in the Bible and the Book of Mormon as testaments of Christ that compliment and witness that they are both true accounts.

I agreed with most everything that he shared with me. That we must embrace Christ, put off the natural man, and become new. That we can only find lasting joy as we lay aside our carnal desires and completely lose ourselves in honoring His name and that we must do it for the right reasons - not for the praise of men, but out of true love and gratitude to Christ and our Heavenly Father. That all we can give to him was initially given to us by him - our tithes, our lives, our will, our time/talents, etc. That alone, all we do could never be enough to return to Him. We need Christ. Without Him there is no other way nor means whereby we can enter into eternal life. Vincent was overall very optimistic and joyful - very pleasant to speak with.

Our only disagreements were on the topic of little children, our "deserving to go to hell," and that there are additional books of scripture. When he said that he believed that little children are born in sin and are destined to go to hell if they do not choose Christ, I completely broke down in tears as I looked at my two sweet little boys sitting in the stroller. It is true that we do not teach them to hit, or steal toys, or throw tantrums - they do that all on their own, part of our carnal nature. It is our job as parents, friends, and leaders to teach them the ways of Christ so that when they reach the age of accountability, the age of 8, that they can choose for themselves who they will serve. Secondly, we do not all deserve to go to hell. God loves us and would love for nothing more than for us to all choose the path of truth and righteousness and return to Him. But he also loves us enough to allow us to choose for ourselves. It is we who decide our fate by our choices and actions. Christ has already paid the price and will fulfill his end of the bargain if we fulfill our end. As it says in 2 Nephi 2:25 "Men are that they might have joy." He wants us to be happy. From the beginning of our conversation I wished that I had our extra copy of the Book of Mormon with me. We walked togther for a mile and I invited him to turn with me toward our house so that I could give him a copy. He respectfully declined saying that he believed the Bible to be the only word of God. I shared that it gives me great comfort to know that God speaks to us today in the same way that he spoke to those in days of old with Moses, Noah, and others - through prophets and apostles, through continued revelation both globally and personally. I'm grateful that God hears and answers prayers. Through our discussion which we continued to hold as we stood on Horne I invited him two more times to come with me to get a Book of Mormon. He asked if I would read again the New Testament and study it. I accepted the invitation. I then invited him to seek out a Book of Mormon. He said he has seen them at the Goodwill. Since he was heading that direction I urged him to go pick one up and read from it. The Book of Mormon will change your life in the same ways the Bible has, yet much more magnified.

I am so grateful that I went on a walk this morning. I'm grateful for friends that encourage me to do better and be better. I am grateful that I have, once again, got in the habit of reading my scriptures each night and writing in my journal - making goals and plans for my life on a daily basis. I am grateful for the Section 33 in the Doctrine and Covenants that I read recently urging two missionaries to "open your mouths" - for the courage that gave me to simply open my mouth. I may not know what I plan on having come out of my mouth, but in order for anything good to come out I've got to open it first. I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who knows and loves me. I feel so overwhelmed with joy. That's what I imagine eternal life being like - just a constant flow of overwhelming joy that we don't know if it's even possible to feel any more. I'm grateful to Vincent for sharing his testimony and in turn helping me to strengthen mine. I hope he made it to Goodwill before all the Book of Mormons are gone :)