We enjoyed our Mother's Day Visit with Aldste Denton. Carter looks well and happy. We also met his companion Aldste Fortuna who seems very nice. At the end of this month Carter will have been out on his mission for 9 months. He says he loves receiving emails and letters. Please write him when you can. Thanks for your support.
Elder Denton's email....
I have a very inspirational story which some of you have heard, others were involved in, and the rest of you might hear sometime at general conference in the future (Elder Renlund asked this person to email him his story), but I love this story so I'm going to share it. I'm telling it the best I know it. Sorry if I get a few details off :)
There's
some very stalwart members here. The popular outlook on religion is
generally not very positive right now in Sweden and lots of Europe for
various potential reasons I'm not going to explore here. The point is,
it can be hard for these members to stay strong and harder for someone
to make the leap of faith and be baptized when they know they'll
probably lose some friends because of it. I want to tell you about
someone in Stockholm I've had the pleasure of meeting. I'll call him
John for this story.
John's
friend gave him A Book of Mormon a few years ago. He appreciated the
thought, but never read it. It just sat on his shelf. Still, every time
they would move houses, he made sure it made it into a box and back onto
a shelf at his new place. It wasn't until years later, about a year ago
from right now, that it started to play a role in his life. The friend
who gave him the book had left the church, and had just finished writing
his own book with the intent of disproving the Book of Mormon. Eager to
share his new perspectives with John, this friend sent John and his
wife a copy. This book didn't sit on the shelf. John read it. The whole
thing. It intrigued him. He became so curious about the Book of Mormon
in reading this book that he dusted his copy of the Book of Mormon off
and read it. The whole thing. His wife did too. Then they prayed and
asked God if it was true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. They
received a confirmation about both of those things. So they made the
decision right then to be baptized. John texted his friend thanking him
for both books, explaining plainly that because of them, he and his wife
had made the decision to be baptized. That probably wasn't the response
his friend expected. Then they showed up to church. The missionaries
asked if they had been here before and they said no, but we know the
Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and we would
like to be baptized. That was probably not the answer the missionaries
were expecting either. John and his wife were baptized a few months ago.
They are amazing. I've been able to meet them here and there and even
got to be on a lesson thanks to splits. Their faith makes the shadows of
doubt seem insignificant. One of the best parts of this story is that
because of their shining example, their friend who had left the church,
is starting now to attend church again.
The Book of Mormon turns people to Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ changes people, and changed people change the world.
I
know that faith is a real power. Through the eyes of faith, people can
do amazing things. If you've had trouble overcoming doubts in the past,
try changing your question from "Is this false?" to "Is this true?" I
promise that you can receive a witness from God if you open your heart
to His will. Things like pride, unchecked ambitions, doubt, lust,
laziness, or any other sins, interfere with our spiritual signal, but I
know that God can speak to you if you do what it takes to hear Him.
Love you all!
Have a great week!
Äldste Denton
Mother's Day Flowers from Sweden
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