This past Thursday, I had
the opportunity to go on a split with my zone leader, and it was a much needed
spiritual rechargement. I learned so
much…and then things got tough. The rest
of the week was very difficult; nothing seemed to go right. Then, on Sunday, a small miracle
happened. We went tracting in the small
flavela in the southern portion of town.
Poverty is everywhere and people don’t have anything. And yet, every person that I spoke with was
completely happy…happiness was found around every corner. These people were surrounded by their
families and, for them, it didn’t matter that they had few material
possessions. We taught three amazing
families. During one lesson, we started
with five people and by the time we finished teaching about the restoration,
there were 15 people eagerly listening.
As I bore my testimony each time, my heart seemed to mend from the
difficulties of the previous few days. I
realized that my whole life has been changed because of Canindé.
I will forever love the people
here.
Though I still don’t understand
them well,
I hope my testimony
manifested my love to them.
I have been studying about
the importance of symbols in our life.
The Prophet Samuel raised an ebenezer (“stone of help”) to the Lord in
gratitude for conquering the Philistines.
And, in Joshua, we read that the Israelites raised a monument of 12
stones to remind their children of the Lord’s blessings. I realized that the Book of Mormon is also a
“stone of help,” given by the Lord in the last days as a monument of truth and
light. It radiates the warmth of
infinite love and cannot fall. This is
what I spoke about in Church this week.
I hope all is well with
all of you.
I continue to move on and
look for joy in the small things.
Love,
Elder Larkin
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