We doubt not the Lord nor His goodness

Hello There. Today I want to talk about Hope. And why is that? Because Portuguese is Hard, that's why :) We have begun doing these things called "English Fasts." That means you can only speak Portuguese. That is unfortunate because I don't really speak Portuguese. Teaching lessons in Portuguese is hard. Planning lessons in Portuguese is even harder. It is really hard. I know that the Lord can help me, but sometimes I am afraid to hope that He will. I have seen too much in my life and in the life of others to doubt that the Lord has all power, and He chooses to use that power in our behalf because He loves us. A lot. I have faith that He can help me, because He has helped me and those I love, but will He help me? Sometimes I'm afraid to hope that He will. What if He let me down?

On days where we have English fasts, we can speak Portuguese for the last 15 minutes of the day so we can discuss goals and thoughts and such. I expressed the desire for planning lessons to be allowed in English, because when I am planning in Portuguese, I get frustrated and then I don't feel the Spirit. After I said that, one of the Elders in my district, Elder Gray, said that the Portuguese does not limit the Spirit. God asked us to speak Portuguese and He will not withhold His Spirit when we try to do what He says. He completely contradicted what I said, but he amazingly did it in a way that did not cause offense, or anything. In fact, I felt this wave of realization as the Spirit told me that what Elder Gray said was true. I knew the Lord will not forsake me. I have learned that He will support me in the past. Why have I not applied it to my life now? So. I've started applying it to my life now. Guess what? The Lord is helping me.

I know that we can have faith AND hope in God and His promises. He will never forsake us. We can ALWAYS feel His help. Sometimes things don't go as we expect, but we can ALWAYS feel His love and His help and His peace when we have the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He has promised us. And He keeps His promises. So now, I am trying not to doubt the Lord. We've proved Him in days that are past, and He does not change. He loves us. He will help us. We can count on it.

Lots of Love,

Sister Larrabee