The Fire of Redemption

Hello, everyone!

This letter will be different then other ones, but before we begin I have some good news to share. Elder Tolman finally left to go back to his original call in Argentina this past week. He was a great district leader and overall fun person to be around. It's sad to see him go, but I'm happy that he finally gets to return. Anyways, now the gloves are off. We are throwing out the book, whatever you want to call it. 

I had the chance to do an exchange with Elder Coffman in Sparta on Tuesday. I met a lot of people they are teaching. One person that I want to focus on this week was named Tim. He asked the question, "Why couldn't God just snap his fingers and make us perfect?". I've thought a lot of about this interesting question. 

I reviewed all my life experiences up to this point and I came to a conclusion. Some of greatest joy I have experienced in my life comes from the joy of redemption. There are times in my when I have struggled. The peace and joy that came when I have relied on the Lord during these times has been greater than anything I have ever experienced. A scripture in 2 Nephi 2:11 comes to mind, "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things...". 

I have considered my time as a missionary thus far. In my first transfer, I struggled to teach and find people effectively. It was really difficult, but those experiences have brought me more joy when one of the people we are teaching agreed to be baptized. Her name is Angela, the lady with the goats. She has faced a lot more struggles than I ever could imagine. The gospel has provided her hope for future. She has seen the darkest parts of life and now has the light. 

Imagine the joy that I felt after this difficult transfer to see powerful miracles. One example, my companion and I were walking down the side of the highway. A man named Don pulled to the side of the road and asked if we were missionaries. He told us he had met with them in the past and was excited to get in contact again. He even wanted to come to our church sometime.

I will relate these teaching to the analogy of fire. It has been used throughout the scriptures it different ways. God used fire to purge wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. He used a pillar of fire to guide the people of Israel out of bondage from Egypt. Moses saw the presence of the Lord in a burning bush. The parable of the wheat and the tares describes how the tares will gathered and burned. Fire, like the bad experiences in our lives, can hurt us. It can also be used to light our way in the dark. How do we know which experiences will help us and which ones will hurt us? It's up to you!

Let The Depths of Humility Raise You Up

Elder Oram

P.S I will include more pictures of baby goats just for fun below. As I said, there is opposition all things.