June 11, 2011
This week had been a good one. I have realized that I started to rebel against the daily curriculum that God has set for me each day. I KNOW that every single think that happens to me is for my benefit and growth. Yet - it is SO easy to forget and focus on what I want it to be like!
I allowed a couple of adversities to take me out of my spiritual focus and the result was a loss of light in my life. Surprise! After a couple of days, this loss of light can really start manifesting itself in various ways. Probably one of the most powerful ways this is evident is in the lack of patience with others.
Being locked up in pod with 60 other guys, twenty plus hours a day has its own unique challenges. One of these is that you have to be around people that you would normally want to avoid! What I forgot is that these people are actually a blessing. They are here to provide me with many reminders to pray and seek the Spirit.
These individuals can only bless my life, unless I decide to rebel against the Light and try to press my own agenda of what I want my day to entail. If the Lord want to test me and provide me with opportunities for growth, who am I to argue??
I am grateful that He feels I am strong enough to handle more of the fire that refines the gold inside of me.
Showing posts with label prison life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prison life. Show all posts
Monday, July 11, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Ackward Missionary Moment
March 26, 2011
Today has been an amazing day. I had an awesome missionary experience with a guy in my pod. It was the same guy that got into a fight with the little guy who used a lock in his sock.
He asked me if I was "Mormon." I told him I was. This is the second time he asked me this question, so my spiritual ears perked up immediately. I gave a quick prayer - "Father, I am grateful for this opportunity to testify of Thee and Thy Son. Please bless me with the Holy ghost so that I may know what to say."
He asked me if we believe that the righteous will rule the Earth. I told him that we do. I guessed he was talking about the Millennium. He then began to quote several scriptures that had reference to that, such as the Lord's Prayer and some in Isaiah. He told me that the Lord said the "meek shall inherit the Earth." He goes on to expand greatly on this subject. He mentioned that it was written that there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
It was fascinating to me how much this non-member had learned about the truths which are so plainly taught to us by modern scripture. In fact, he was teaching me. I would never have guessed that this guy knew the Bible so well and had been obviously doing some diligent study. I agreed with everything he was saying. I, then, felt prompted to ask if he knew anyone else who was a Mormon. He told me he did. It was one of the Spanish speaking brothers in our "ward." He said that this brother really knew a lot.
I immediately invited him to come to church with us. He kinda ignored the offer, but you can bet I am going to watch him like a hawk and I am going to pounce at the very first prompting i get from the Spirit to follow up on it. I bore a quick testimony to him and told him how impressed I was with how much be knew about the gospel.
Now - here is the real crazy part: All this happened in the shower. No, we don't have to group showers here, thankfully. They have shower stalls that are lined up along a wall and three people shower at once. they are separated by a wall about four feet high, and three feet away from the wall. There are five stalls total, but only three guys shower at the same time so that there is an empty stall next to each guy.
You never know when a chance to bear witness of the truthfulness of the gospel is going to appear. I am grateful that since I have been developing the habit of praying always, I was completely prepared to share the gospel and stand as a witness of Christ - even with two other guys. I know that sounds bad, but I was so excited to share the gospel, I didn't care one bit!
Today has been an amazing day. I had an awesome missionary experience with a guy in my pod. It was the same guy that got into a fight with the little guy who used a lock in his sock.
He asked me if I was "Mormon." I told him I was. This is the second time he asked me this question, so my spiritual ears perked up immediately. I gave a quick prayer - "Father, I am grateful for this opportunity to testify of Thee and Thy Son. Please bless me with the Holy ghost so that I may know what to say."
He asked me if we believe that the righteous will rule the Earth. I told him that we do. I guessed he was talking about the Millennium. He then began to quote several scriptures that had reference to that, such as the Lord's Prayer and some in Isaiah. He told me that the Lord said the "meek shall inherit the Earth." He goes on to expand greatly on this subject. He mentioned that it was written that there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
It was fascinating to me how much this non-member had learned about the truths which are so plainly taught to us by modern scripture. In fact, he was teaching me. I would never have guessed that this guy knew the Bible so well and had been obviously doing some diligent study. I agreed with everything he was saying. I, then, felt prompted to ask if he knew anyone else who was a Mormon. He told me he did. It was one of the Spanish speaking brothers in our "ward." He said that this brother really knew a lot.
I immediately invited him to come to church with us. He kinda ignored the offer, but you can bet I am going to watch him like a hawk and I am going to pounce at the very first prompting i get from the Spirit to follow up on it. I bore a quick testimony to him and told him how impressed I was with how much be knew about the gospel.
Now - here is the real crazy part: All this happened in the shower. No, we don't have to group showers here, thankfully. They have shower stalls that are lined up along a wall and three people shower at once. they are separated by a wall about four feet high, and three feet away from the wall. There are five stalls total, but only three guys shower at the same time so that there is an empty stall next to each guy.
You never know when a chance to bear witness of the truthfulness of the gospel is going to appear. I am grateful that since I have been developing the habit of praying always, I was completely prepared to share the gospel and stand as a witness of Christ - even with two other guys. I know that sounds bad, but I was so excited to share the gospel, I didn't care one bit!
The Lesson of the Cookies
March 16, 2011
Church was amazing. I felt the Spirit very strongly. The subject was the Atonement. I was able to comment and participate because I have been studying it recently. The stake president was also there for the first time; a glowing man, bubbling with the spirit. You can always tell who the stake presidents are. You could almost see the Holy ghost following him around.
Today was been an all around awesome day. I can tell the Spirit is working very strongly on me because I did some things today that surprised me.
First when "store" came (the items purchased from the prison commissary were delivered), I noticed that the new white guy that was moved in here about a week ago didn't get anything. I was impressed to go and give him a Ritz cracker pack. They are the little ones with six Ritz peanut butter crackers. At first, I second guessed myself and thought, "Oh that would be weird, I haven't even said so much as hi to the guy." Right after I thought that, I was immediately impressed again to give the guy one. At that point, I knew the Holy ghost was inspiring me to do something and I didn't hesitate to do it. I felt good doing it. I have to be honest, it felt foreign to me, being led by the Spirit. It has been longer than I can remember when I felt that exact kind of prompting. The Spirit confirmed to me that I was being directed.
Later that evening, I had another thought pop in my head out of nowhere. I remembered that my buddy, Jeremy, did not get any store for himself. He owed some people store and had to pay them back with everything he had ordered. This time I didn't hesitate; I just went over to him. I didn't know what I was going to say. I opened my mouth and out popped, "You didn't get any store for yourself, did you? He said that he didn't, that he had to pay everyone back. "I have some cookies that I could store out to you with no tax," I offered. He kinda looked at me like I was crazy. Everyone usually charges a "tax" (like you have to pay back the one your borrowed, plus one more) when they let someone borrow anything. "So, you have some cookies that you don't want?" he asked suspiciously. I got the feeling that he was really thrown off by my random offer to help him out. "I didn't say I didn't want them. But if you want some, just let me know," I told him, as I started to walk away.
As I was leaving, the new white guy (that I had given the crackers to) waved me over to his bunk. He lives in the bunk across from Jeremy. He wanted to tell me thank you for the crackers. We shook hands and I told him I knew how it was, just settling in, and seeing everyone get store when yo u had next to nothing. As I walked back to my bunk, I had the biggest smile on my heart. Nothing beats the feeling of knowing that the Lord is using you to do good. Today was another spiritual breakthrough for me. Now that I have a taste for being led by the Spirit, I am focusing even more on keeping Him with me always.
Church was amazing. I felt the Spirit very strongly. The subject was the Atonement. I was able to comment and participate because I have been studying it recently. The stake president was also there for the first time; a glowing man, bubbling with the spirit. You can always tell who the stake presidents are. You could almost see the Holy ghost following him around.
Today was been an all around awesome day. I can tell the Spirit is working very strongly on me because I did some things today that surprised me.
First when "store" came (the items purchased from the prison commissary were delivered), I noticed that the new white guy that was moved in here about a week ago didn't get anything. I was impressed to go and give him a Ritz cracker pack. They are the little ones with six Ritz peanut butter crackers. At first, I second guessed myself and thought, "Oh that would be weird, I haven't even said so much as hi to the guy." Right after I thought that, I was immediately impressed again to give the guy one. At that point, I knew the Holy ghost was inspiring me to do something and I didn't hesitate to do it. I felt good doing it. I have to be honest, it felt foreign to me, being led by the Spirit. It has been longer than I can remember when I felt that exact kind of prompting. The Spirit confirmed to me that I was being directed.
Later that evening, I had another thought pop in my head out of nowhere. I remembered that my buddy, Jeremy, did not get any store for himself. He owed some people store and had to pay them back with everything he had ordered. This time I didn't hesitate; I just went over to him. I didn't know what I was going to say. I opened my mouth and out popped, "You didn't get any store for yourself, did you? He said that he didn't, that he had to pay everyone back. "I have some cookies that I could store out to you with no tax," I offered. He kinda looked at me like I was crazy. Everyone usually charges a "tax" (like you have to pay back the one your borrowed, plus one more) when they let someone borrow anything. "So, you have some cookies that you don't want?" he asked suspiciously. I got the feeling that he was really thrown off by my random offer to help him out. "I didn't say I didn't want them. But if you want some, just let me know," I told him, as I started to walk away.
As I was leaving, the new white guy (that I had given the crackers to) waved me over to his bunk. He lives in the bunk across from Jeremy. He wanted to tell me thank you for the crackers. We shook hands and I told him I knew how it was, just settling in, and seeing everyone get store when yo u had next to nothing. As I walked back to my bunk, I had the biggest smile on my heart. Nothing beats the feeling of knowing that the Lord is using you to do good. Today was another spiritual breakthrough for me. Now that I have a taste for being led by the Spirit, I am focusing even more on keeping Him with me always.
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