Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Life’s Choices are Important

Today we met with a woman we will call Jane. One of our elders asked her to tell us a little about herself. She did. For over 20 minutes she poured out her heart about how hard her life had been and how many bad choices in her life had made it even harder. Time and again I wanted to stop her and say, “Can’t you see how that choice led you to more misery?” But I held my tongue.

Though hastily married only once to a man she later discovered was gay, she has given birth to eight children, fathered by different men. All of the children are now wards of the state and she is living with a man she refers to as her fiancé, but he refuses to marry her.

Jane lives in a tiny room in a pieced together house. She has no money and no prospects. Her life has been filled with alcohol, drugs, and selfish men. Yet when she saw the young missionaries walking down the street, she felt impressed to call to them and speak to them. They invited her to church and she came.

Today we gave her a Book of Mormon and explained briefly its origin. I think our elders were somewhat “shell-shocked” by the story of her life. She didn’t spare many details.

Why am I sharing this story with you? Three reasons: First, the Lord never gives up on us, even people lost in serious sin. Second, by listening to Jane, I gained a deeper appreciation for my family and how the gospel has been a guide and beacon to help us to escape the many terrible traps of Satan. And third, for those willing to accept it, the atonement is powerful enough to redeem even the most lost of Heavenly Father’s children.

Will we be able to help Jane to receive the blessings of the gospel in spite of her sins and mistakes? Only time will tell. Will we try? Of course. That’s why we are here on a mission!

My testimony and appreciation of the gospel of Jesus Christ is strengthened every day because it is true!


Dad

1 comment:

Laurene Ross said...

I love this story. It is hard, I find to help my children understand how blessed they are when it comes to not knowing what horrible situations there are out in the world. I guess you can never know till you go out and see how blessed you really are.

Sam and I were reading in 1 Nephi chapter 11 today and when he read about devils and unclean spirits that people were afflicted with, he wanted to know how that can happen and what was meant by it...very difficult to explain to one so innocent of the world how this comes to be. It scared him.

I guess we can only teach, pray, be an example and have faith. I hope this will protect him from such pain and anguish.