Dear Family!
Thailand made it onto the Women's Conference video!! Did you see it? Go
back and watch. It has our youth out in front of my church, and my relief
society (I was standing behind the camera when they filmed it!)
"Thailand looks so hectic,
is it ever stressful with how crowded it is?"
A good
question. Well, sometimes it is! But when you're as tall as I am comparatively,
you kinda just look over heads.... So, it's pretty spacious sometimes. There are
some abnormally tall Thai's, but over all, these are my tiny people. They're so
cute. :)
I have two
thoughts for you today.
Let's talk about "Ask and ye shall receive.
Knock and it shall be opened." What happens when we don't receive what we've
asked for or that door didn't open? Did something go wrong? Did we ask
amiss? Or did we go about asking in the wrong way?
I'd like to make a comparison between two types of askers.
Why does it seem like doors to answers are sometimes bolted up? I think
there's a difference between the people knocking. The first of which is a man
who approaches the door with what he believes to be the keys. When his
confidence (at its most arrogant) approaches the door, he is perplexed and
unmoving by the idea that his key is not unlocking the door. He is
positive that there is no need to knock because it is his right, and his
door, and everything inside already belongs to him as heir anyway, so this
key of his will no-doubt, unlock this door for his own benefit, on his
time-table, right... this... moment.
But then it doesn't.
The second man comes to the door with a humble heart, wishing to ask of the
man behind the door (the true owner of the estate) to consider his
entrance. He knocks, the door's lock is unbolted from the inside, and the
merciful master opens the door, sees the humble beggar's need, and fills
it.
The difference was the approach: Genuinity and Humbleness to ask.
The first man felt he had "all" already, the estate was his to be claimed,
but he was denied entrance in his pride.
"Save they shall cast these things away [being puffed up, rich, wise, and
supposedly learned] and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in
the depths of humility, He will not open unto them." (2 Ne 9:42)
This week I
was sitting in sacrament meeting and before I knew it, I heard my name over the
pulpit that I was going to be sharing my testimony! I then look over and see
Elder Khanakham (President's right hand man) smiling really bright and
expectantly. I realized I was standing up and that walk to the pulpit was like
this: imagine a blank white wall.
I lift the
microphone, introduce myself, and, well, bear my testimony. I found myself
sharing what I want to share as a closing with you today.
This last
week, I rode passed that same man who had thrown the cigarette down the canal. I
want you to know that he came for that appointment but he didn't see us and left
again. So now it had been almost 2 weeks since I had talked with him. So a few
days ago I found myself riding down that same road. There he was.
I stopped.
Something was different.
He had shaved.
His face and feet were clean. He had cut his hair. He didn't smell.
I sat next to
him and asked, "How have you been? How is the smoking coming?"
He says: "I
quit."
"You
quit?"
"I quit. For
more than 10 days now."
"...You
quit."
"I quit. It
was easy."
It was
easy. And all it took was a single statement: "There is nothing God can't
do."
I don't know
where this one-armed man will go from here, but I don't plan on giving up easily
on him. The fruits of repentance is change, and I've seen him "clean up his act"
in more ways than one.
When I had
finished speaking and closed my testimony, I felt immense gratitude for the
opportunity to share. It's like God knew I wanted to and threw out the
opportunity while I stared blankly at first, then found myself leaping for the
stage.
When you
become a witness to the truth-- you never can reject nor hold in what you know
to be true.
If you want
doors opened to you, if you want to be a witness that there is indeed a God
behind the door, I challenge you to seek and knock for yourself.
The windows of heaven will be
opened.
Love,
Sister
Painter
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