June 16, 2014

Okay I just want to talk about Peter.

Peter is one of the most wonderful people I have every met. He is semi-active member I have been visiting since I came to Leeds. He is 69 and He joined the church 20 years ago this summer. He progressed well and gained the Melchizedek Priesthood and went to the temple and held callings and did his duty better than most men. All while being a bus driver. About 12 years ago he started slipping up. Stopped reading. Stopped praying. Stopped going to church. Slowly he just fell. He was miserable. He would drive the busses, and just cry. He would go home and turn on the TV and just sit. Or sleep till his next shift. He recognized that the adversary had got him. He was miserable. SO he started reading a chapter out of 2 Nephi. He still felt terrible. So he read it again. Terrible. 3 times he read it and nothing. So he went to sleep. He woke up and read it again. Nothing. So he turned a few pages and read a different chapter. He felt The Spirit for probably the first time in a long time. That was 12 years ago. Peter's testimony is incredible. He can hardly read the words of the Saviour without tearing up. Now Peter might still struggle with a few things. Not with commandments or anything we might view as wrong, but he struggles. But this man loves his Saviour. He loves his God. He is one of the many reasons I am on my mission. He has made an impact on me that I will never forget.

I love this church so much. I am starting, just starting to figure it out. What all of this means. As Boyd K Packer spoke of in his last talk, I am starting to learn things that cannot be taught.

Love,
Elder Gurney


Moroni 7:45-47:

45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.