Sister Kirkpatrick: An Instrument in the Lord's Hands: Silver Lining

To everything, there is a silver lining.

This has been one of the toughest weeks of my mission. I've seen a lot of sad things happen to people I love. I've learned a lot of lessons though. It seems like every thing that could have gone wrong this week did go wrong, and it would be really easy to just throw my hands up and say well why does any of this even matter that I've done for the past year and a half, and just forget it all for the last week and have fun, but that's exactly what the adversary would want me to do. I believe that part of trusting God and His plan for our lives is continuing to do what we know is right, even and especially when we don't get the results we hope for. It's easy to keep doing something when you're seeing immediate results, but when you aren't it takes a lot more trust to keep going. I believe that is when your true character is defined.

I've learned that agency is such an important part of God's plan, the only thing that's regally ours in this life is our choice. That's why it means so much to God when we make choices to come closer to Him, because He will never take our choice from us or force us to do anything, although He knows which choices will bring us happiness and which ones won't. We as humans tend to want people to make the choices we know will bring them happiness and keep them from the ones we know will bring them pain. While that isn't a bad desire, I don't believe it's the Savior's way. Of course He wants to help us be happy and not get hurt, but He still gives us our choice. At the end of the day all we can do is love people no matter what. I know that repentance can bring so much joy into our lives because it lifts burdens we don't need to carry, ones the Savior has already paid for. We can only change because of what He has already done for us. He never runs out of second chances when our hearts are sincere. Something I heard someone say that has stuck with me is "the worst sin is the one you think you can get away with". It's so true! The only person that really matters already knows us and our hearts better than we do!

I know that God is so aware of each one of us, and He answers prayers! Sunday morning, when the weight of everything that happened this week was catching up to me, I just happened to be reading 2 Nephi 2 next, and it helped me to trust in God's plan even more.

Verse 11 & 16 really helped me:

11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

16 Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.

I don't know why so many tough things happened all at once this week, or why these people have to go through these trials, but I know God loves them and He has a plan. I believe that they will come out stronger and more converted to the Lord as a result of this opposition!

Have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Kirkpatrick