December 15, 2014

This week I have been thinking a lot about the Book of Mormon (especially as the Book of Mormon zone conference is coming up) and just how crucial it is in our investigators' conversion. We were meeting with a specific investigator, Aaron, and the lesson was kind of going downhill. We invited him to pray about what we had talked about and he flat out told us that he wouldn't. We asked him what would be holding him back and he told us that he felt like God had been absent throughout his life, so why would he speak to him now after 20 years? We asked Aaron if he had even tried to communicate with God, and finally he brought up his real concern - that he blamed God for the horrible childhood that he had gone through. He asked us, "Why would a Heavenly Father that you claim loves me SO much let something so awful happen to a child who doesn't even know anything?" I immediately thought of Alma chapter 14 when Alma and Amulek witness the brutal murder of many women and children and Amulek asks a similar question. So instead of answering Aaron's question, we simply marked the passage in his Book of Mormon and invited him to read it and find out for himself. It just really struck me at that point how important the Book of Mormon is to us. I've never experienced what Aaron has, but I still can't imagine what it would be like to not know that one important truth that the Book of Mormon teaches, let alone all the other truths it teaches. I am just praying so hard that he will actually take the time to read and allow his question to be answered. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and for the peace that it brings in a world of turmoil. What a precious experience it has been to share that peace with the people of Fayetteville, Arkansas. I love being a missionary!

Sister Boll