April 10, 2016

To my friends and family,

This week was a very busy but rewarding week. Sometimes in missionary work, and I feel like in life as well, even when concrete results are not there, if we look hard enough at what we have done and we have truly tried our best, we will find that we have been blessed so much by the Lord.

My culture tidbit: I ate octopus. Yes, the whole thing (including the face), and, yes, it was delicious.

Anyway now that that is out of the way, I want to talk a little bit about drawing closer to Christ and by doing so drawing closer to God. I feel like there is some misunderstanding about this topic. First of all, every single person living on this earth, regardless of the sin, regardless of the level of faith we have, regardless of the trial, and maybe most of all regardless of how far we feel like we have strayed from Christ, all of these people can draw near to Christ. There is no barrier that is too large, no regret or pain too great, that the Savior’s eternal and incomprehensible love cannot reach. I testify that as His servant and as a fellow son of our Heavenly Father, if you seek to draw closer to Christ with all of your heart and with all your soul that He will meet you there.

The first step in drawing near unto God is through sincere prayer. As we kneel before our Father and take that first step in showing Him that we want to have Him in our lives, several things will happen. First, if we are willing to look, we will see His hand more in our lives. We will feel the burdens that we were carrying before become a little lighter. We will be a little happier, and life will seem a little brighter. As we are grateful for the things God has given to us, our lives will improve. Second, as we patiently wait on His timing, we will receive answers to our prayers. We must remember that God will not answer a prayer based on curiosity or selfishness. He will answer those who pray humbly and seek with all of their hearts to know if He is there and truly seek to know what path they should take. I know with all my heart that prayer is the first step in drawing closer to our Father. I have seen so many blessings in my life and I have received so many answers to my prayers, not for any worthiness of myself, but simply because my Father loves me more than I can ever express or understand. I testify that if you will kneel down and invite God into your life this week, your burdens will be lightened and you will find strength that you did not know you had.

I love you all,

Elder Coleman