This week I've been studying in chapter 17 of first Nephi, centering on verse 13, which states:
And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led.
I love this scripture because it demonstrates simply that those who will do the will of God will receive the blessings, particularly the guidance that they are looking for, as well as a testimony of God and his plan, demonstrated by the last line, "and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led." I was studying this chapter to help my investigators understand that answers would be received as they came unto God on Sundays at church. It ended up however having quite a different application in my week.
This conference my companion and I were determined to get our investigators to church. it being the second last Sunday before the end of the transfer, as well as general conference it felt like a perfect storm, being both a critical time in the transfer, and one of the only opportunities in which we had 4 chances to bring our investigators to church in a single week. The Saturday rolled around and we were unable to get anyone, even though God sent us to someone's door during harvesting who truly needed us. Sunday morning came and still, though 6 investigators were set to come, none came. During that session there was a talk given about following up as well as a talk about our 4 minutes to obtain our exaltation and I knew that these last two hours were critical. We literally ran from house to house resetting our investigators planning members to be there for support, and even helping one move to free up his time. But even then, no one came to see the conference. We were quite sad. As we left the chapel to finish the day we saw a car pull up that we did not recognize. We talked to him and he asked when the services were. We told him that he had unfortunately missed them this week and he looked quite discouraged. We asked a bit about him and he said that he'd just moved in and was looking for a church. We set a return appointment.
I know that sometimes our efforts are not rewarded in the way that we always expect, but those who keep the commandments and do their part receive that which is the Lord's will, and receive the knowledge that they are being led by him.
Elder Low
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