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An Apostle’s Visit
Our stake in Delhi was blessed to have an Apostle visit us. It was amazing to see how God is mindful of his children all around the world. In the past one and a half years there have been incredible things taking place in India—the temple announced in Bengaluru, the visit of President Russell M. Nelson and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland with their wives, as well as visits from Elder David A. Bednar and then Elder M. Russell Ballard. I know for sure that great things are going to take place for the saints in India.
The special stake conference was a delight. It was incredible to hear and feel such spirit-filled messages and to see how each message related to the others. The main focus was missionary work, families, prayer and treasures of eternities.
There were so many wonderful counsels given. The following are some that touched my heart. I loved how Sister Evans described prayer in such a beautiful way. She said, “as we pray, we will have our own magic moment in which our Heavenly Father is communicating with us.” I thought about how prayers are truly magical whether it be us talking to God or God talking to us. Everything about prayers is heavenly and divine. How lucky we are that Heavenly Father is eagerly waiting for us to talk to him and also to help us. Our part is to seek his help.
Focusing on things that will actually matter when we go back to heaven and how being submissive is not a weakness, but a strength, were counsels given by President and Sister Hansen, which followed an invitation to ask God “What lack I yet?”
President Evans talked about how we can share the gospel with the people around us. It doesn’t have to be forced on them. The only thing that we need to do is to testify of our beliefs and as we look for opportunities to share the gospel, it will become natural and normal. I know that this is something that our Heavenly Father expects from each one of us: to share the fruit with those who haven’t tasted it so that the happiness that we feel can be theirs too.
Elder Ballard testified of the truthfulness of the plan of salvation. When talking about his wife who passed away last year, he beautifully put his words together and said, “I know where Barbara is, I know who she is, I know she will be mine and I will be hers.” Hearing that, I felt so blessed to have this gospel of hope in my life. I felt how much Elder Ballard loves his wife. Such a simple truth but so important, we will see our families again. Mortality is only for a small moment. He invited us all to feed our spirits by seeking that which is righteous because our spiritual selves are our real selves. He talked about how the Church will continue to grow because it is true.
I am so grateful for this gospel in my life and I know without a doubt that it is true and that this life will only be better if we walk on the path that Jesus has shown. We all are of such great worth and can achieve so many things because God created us for nothing less than greatness.