Hello, y’all! I hope y’all are doing well! This week was pretty good, and also it was pretty quick! I hope y’all have a merry Christmas and party hard!!!! Christmas is my favorite season because everything is focused on our savior and there are usually more opportunities to serve others!
This week I have noticed a common theme. As some of you know I recently got a Polaroid SX-70 (which is a super cool camera hehe) and when I got it I wasn’t sure if it worked or not, and the leather on it was very old and falling apart.
The leather on the camera had to all be scraped off and redone and it was not an easy task haha. It took a couple of hours to accomplish, and it was kinda scary because I didn’t want to ruin it.
(Now I bet you’re reading this and wondering why the heck I’m writing this in my weekly email and how does this tie into missionary work or the gospel at all but I promise it does, just keep reading 😉 )
As I was scraping off the leather I was thinking in my head “this sucks” or “I should’ve just kept it how it was” or “this is going to take forever” but every time I had that thought in my head I had another thought. There is a story by Hugh B. Brown called “God is the Gardener” and what I was doing to this poor little camera reminded me of his story.
I was scraping and cutting and pulling apart this camera and it may have seemed like it would never end or that I would end up making it worse, but I kept hearing in my head, “just keep going”. There was a lot of work that had to go into it. I had to cut the leather, glue the leather, stamp the leather, and wait patiently throughout this whole process.
Now after all this work, I was left with this beautiful camera. It seemed like It was never going to end, or I would mess up, or that it wasn’t going to be worth it, but It ended up turning out exactly how I wanted it and more.
This is a concept we can relate to in our own lives. It may seem like what we’re going through isn’t necessary or worth it or maybe you just can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But it is always worth it. God has a way of scraping us, cutting us, stamping us, gluing us, and It may seem like a long process or it may not make sense, but it does and it is a short moment in time.
In D&C 121:7-10 It talks about how we will be rewarded for the things we endure. I hope this makes sense to someone and it wasn’t a pain to read through, but all that matters is you know our Heavenly Father loves you. He is shaping us into exactly what we need to be. I promise if you endure it you will look back and see the growth you’ve made, and that you are better now than you were.
I love all of you so much!! Keep praying and building that relationship with our father in heaven! Keep up the good work!
Elder LeBaron
