Have you ever thought that as you were going about your day? You had your plans set then all of the sudden your scrambling, and everything falls through and you find yourself stuck with no idea what to do. Well from many experiences over the last 6 months I can tell you, it happens!
As a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I get to go and teach people about Jesus Christ. It is very rewarding in every way, but like I said before over the last 6 months I have wondered why, if I am doing this work for the Lord would so many things get in the way of slowing me down. For example, we ride bikes every other day and the past week we have seen more flat tires then miles we traveled... o.k. maybe not that many, but quite a few. Each time this happens we have to stop and fix it and it ends up changing the whole day. Just yesterday we walked down to the bikes and mine was flat so I carried it up and patched it pumped it back up put it back on and we were out of there within about 15 minutes or so, so it wasn't that much of a set back. We biked hard and made it on time to our appointment, and after we finished came out and the same tire was flat! I thought it was just the patch leaking so I decided I would pump it with my little hand pump, but literally as fast as it went in it was going out! I was frustrated! This has been a reoccurring nightmare for us each week and I couldn't understand why. I took my frustrations to the scriptures and found that, HEY! Opposition is necessary!? What? Yeah that's what it says, "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born 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." (2 Nephi 2:11) So your telling me that these things that slow us down test our patience are essential for us to be happy?
This may be hard to grasp at first, but I can testify that these things that come in our life that slow us down, maybe even stop us for a time, will all be for our good and that if we endure it well, God will bless us and help us! I know these things are true and as we trust in him we find joy in the journey.
