Caroline was baptized this weekend! She overcame incredible
opposition. Last week we were teaching her outside of her home and a man pulled
his car over, came up to us, and started to preach against the Restoration of
the gospel, against the Book of Mormon, and against the Prophet Joseph Smith.
It was nothing that Elder Ellestad and I hadn't heard before. It was yet
another fulfillment of the prophecy given to a 17 year old Joseph Smith that
his name "should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and
tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all
people" (The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith). That day we had been
teaching Caroline about opposition, actually using the account of Joseph's
first vision. As soon as the man walked away, Caroline bore her testimony to us
of Joseph Smith the prophet, of the Book of Mormon, and of the restored church.
She then handed us the materials the man had given her to dispose of. The day
of her baptism her immediate family disowned her, so she prayed, and came to
church the next morning to receive the Holy Ghost. By a series of miracles,
since being disowned she finished paying off her house, and was able to find
more gainful employment that will allow her to better provide for her children,
all while faithfully observing the Sabbath day.
"As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared
for them that love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)
I know that God has an infinite capacity to bless all who
will believe on his name.
It is my sincere testimony that God lives, "for he is
the living God, and steadfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be
destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end" (Daniel 6:26).
Christ is our Savior, who brought to pass "the resurrection of the dead,
and the redemption of the people...through [His] power, and sufferings, and
death...and his resurrection and ascension into heaven" (Mosiah 18:2).
Christ lives.
I leave with this witness, in the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.
-Elder A. Jared Cummings
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