God Wants Us to be Happy

!Hola! This week has been really awesome. We had changes this past week and I am staying in Los Pensamientos probably for 1 more month.

This week, we have found some really cool new families that we are so excited to teach. Other than that, my week was normal. Lots of walking, talking to new people and visiting people on our list of 500+ members!

 This week, I want to spend my time talking about an experience that we had in a lesson.  We were in a lesson with an investigator who told us that she had issues with why a lot of bad thing have happened and why she has so many trials in her life. When she said that to me, it made me think of what Elder Torres (he lives in our house with his companion) said the prior day. He said that “there is a difference between a trial from God and a trial because of a consequence from our actions.”

When he said that, it really made me think. The fact is that it is the truth. We live in a world of decisions. Good and Bad, And every time we make a decision, there is a consequence for it. If I choose to rob a store, I will likely go to jail. If I choose to read my scriptures everyday, I will likely gain doctrinal knowledge.It is that simple.  I have really gained a testimony of that living here. We have had people ask us and complain to us saying, “where is God in people killing each other” and many other questions similar to that. Really, these are the actions of man, not God. Men choose to kill and to commit sin. It’s a little strong, but it is true. I have really gained a testimony of keeping the commandments. We live in a world of decisions and we have a guideline. If we live our lives in accordance with the commandments, we will make good decisions, be happier people and we will know that God will bless us.

Funny enough, I read a story from a conference talk about a story about an elderly man.  The elderly man was telling a story to his granddaughter. He told her that there were two wolves inside of me. One is white, one is dark and they want to fight. The dark wolf has feelings of anger, sadness, pain, shame, rejection and fear, On the other hand, the white wolf has feelings of happiness, joy, love, peace, tranquility and charity. His granddaughter  sat there for a minute and said, “which wolf is going to win?” He replied, “whichever one I feed.”

We need to remember that God is the one that wants us to be happy and Satan is the one who wants us to be sad. However, it is not as clear sometimes to distinguish the distinctive color of the wolf. In the world we live in today, the wolf is grey.  With the world moving in a different direction, a life away from the the commandments is becoming a popular and even appetizing lifestyle. 

Until next week,

Elder Hendrix