Doubt not your witness!

A fun hike on P-day!

     How is everyone doing? I am loving it down here in Japan! We had some way cool experiences down here but I will just share one! 

     We got to meet with this man Bereket from Ethiopia! He is 25 and he is so cool! My companion does not speak English so I had to teach basically by myself. I taught the whole first lesson and gave him the Jesus Christ's Restored Gospel pamphlet and a Book of Mormon. There were two miracles that stemmed from this experience. He told me after the lesson that he liked everything I said and that he wants to find out for himself if this is the truth he has been searching for and if the Book of Mormon supports the Bible then it is ok. I told him that it did. He told me that he would read the pamphlet and pray as soon as he could, but that English was his second language so the Book of Mormon would be too hard to really understand on his own so he said he could not read it. We left and I just wanted to be able to have him see the word in his own language. He told me that in Ethiopia there is 18 used languages! His first language is Amahari and it is used by 55% of the population. I knew the Church was in Ethiopia but thinking that there were 18 languages used there I did not know if we would have a Book of Mormon in that language. I called the mission home office and asked if they could look for me. I called again the next day and they told me that they had found only 1! They are shipping to my area this week!! That was such a miracle to me to see one book was left for one prepared child of God to receive this work. 

     Although after the lesson I felt such peace and joy with the situation, I continued to psych myself out and be nervous even through the spirits comforting power.  That is the topic of my spiritual message today. 

 

    That was lesson one Saturday, and the next day at church I heard someone speaking quote this scripture, but I could understand little else because it was all Japanese. This was the scripture. D&C 6:23 - Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God? I felt such peace come over me when I read that scripture, but also guilt. I knew I had doubted in the moment I made the call to see if they found a Book of Mormon. I had doubted. Now this was small and some might think that you can doubt a little in the moment or be nervous. Now this is solely my opinion but I think we do not look at a moment just before the Savior performed the first act of the atonement in Gethsemane in this light. The Savior asked the Lord to take it from him. He had a moment of doubt because he was utterly alone, taking on the pains and sins of the world. I do believe that in a way the Savior did this so we do not have to. We do not ever have to doubt in the moment of adversity or hardship. We will never be alone. He will stand with us and walk with us the whole way. We cannot doubt our witnesses. 

     Are you doubting in the moment of adversity? Are you doubting in the simple things like I did? Are you doubting the witness you have already received? For example, serving a mission, or who you should marry?  I give this word of advice to me and to everyone: NEVER DOUBT YOUR WITNESS!

     We do not have room to doubt, especially in the moment of decision and trial! We received our witness when we were eight years old. What greater witness can you have from God? How can we doubt God when we received that strong witness so early in life? Well, God knows we will so he sends them every day through his messenger the Holy Ghost. Do not doubt your witness. God knows you and where you are needed and what you can accomplish. Satan knows also! So he will work every second of every day to turn that witness from the defendant to the accuser. He will make you feel that that witness was your own thoughts or that you were jut not thinking at all. That you cannot do it and why try even if you could. Do not back down and never give in. We have no choice and we have no time. In these latter days, we have to hold so strong to that rod and to our witness. We do not know when the Lord will come so stand strong.  But don't wait for Him to come through the door. Start walking towards it. Do not simply make it to the end, ENDURE to it. Never doubt your witness! Whether it be for life decisions or from the daily still small voice we receive, never forget or be slow to remember our God and how He has delivered us every day. Let us stand together with the Savior in giving all the Glory to the Father and never forgetting our witness. Joseph Smith saw two witnesses and he changed the world because he was never slow to remember Heavenly Father. Just keep trying. Keep going. Keep enduring in this life so you can walk into the courtroom and take a front row seat behind the defense and have no doubt of losing. I love you all so much! I love this gospel and I love my Lord. I have received my witness time and time again. This is the truth. I do sometimes doubt in the moment and I am working to make that internal change. But I testify before you all today, that I will never turn from my God and and my Savior. This is the truth! I know it! I will not deny it. The Savior is the Life, the Light, and the Way. Let us set ourselves on the way boldly!

Love,

Elder Trevor Aiken