Chapter 22: Open the Gate

"Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name"2 Nephi 9:41 I am loving it here in New Jersey! This past week was full of really cool learning experiences and miracles. If there is one thing I learned this week, it is that God wants to bless His children, and that the moment we turn to him in a fuller measure of faith and devotion to His ways, we are able to be blessed through the power of Christ. This week we were presented with a lot of different counsels and trainings from our Mission President. I learned something as we pondered and discussed together in my companionship how we would implement the counsel of our leader. Whenever we are given direction, it presents us with a choice—an opportunity: we can respond with faith and follow, or doubt and rebel. To be frank, there isn't much middle ground! We are either all in or we aren't. Now, does being all in constitute results of perfection? Of course not. Choosing to respond with faith means that we strive to follow the direction to the absolute best of our abilities. Our loving Heavenly Father knows our weakness, and he also knows our hearts. Our earnest efforts are noticed and met with compassion and deep love. They are also met with a pouring out of blessings. Blessings of joy. Blessings of mercy. Blessings of peace in knowing we are doing out best to be on the paths of righteousness. I know God is waiting to bless us at every opportunity we allow Him too, for God is a God of justice as well as mercy. We learn that there is a "joy that none receiveth save it be only the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness" and that "mercy claimeth the penitent." As we are penitent, or filled with a willingness to change and accept God's counsel and direction, we open the gate for the power of God to flow into our lives through the Savior Jesus Christ. It's true. It happened to us this week! As we made a sincere effort to try and be better, we had a miraculous lesson with a lady we are teaching. I was able to testify boldly of the truth of the Book of Mormon...and she testified too! She said ever since she began reading it her life has improved and she has felt so much peace; she knows it's true. It was a true miracle. Open the gate. Life is good. God is wise. Don't give up. Elder Childers

A beautiful picture of the Savior I found this week

Classic selfie

My one stringed guitar...I made a little Valentine's Day video of a song I wrote so you can check it out on Facebook if you want!

My one stringed guitar...I made a little Valentine's Day video of a song I wrote so you can check it out on Facebook if you want!

Red Velvet cake for Valentine's Day—thank you Mom ❤