From our puny perspective much of what happens in this life can seem unfair. President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles likened God's plan for us to a grand three act play. Act one is the Premortal Life, Act 2 is Life on Earth, and Act 3 is Life after Death. Because of a veil of forgetfulness placed over our minds so that we may walk by faith rather than by sight, we are like one who has walked into the theatre in the middle of Act 2 upon our arrival in mortality. Many things might not make sense at the time but when considering the entire play, we see the reason and the justice that has and will occur throughout this magnificent play. For the line "and they all lived happily ever after" does not appear in Act 2 but in Act 3 when all the mysteries are solved and the justices all settled. From the scriptures we can gain kind of a grasp on all of the acts and see that no matter what happens God loves His children.
Just as a parent disciplines their children so as not to have them get hurt - our Heavenly Father gives us commandments intending to benefit us in the long run rather than have us indulge in the temporarily-satisfying but not lasting pleasure of the moment. And those who disregard those commandments really only hurt themselves - perhaps not physically, but I believe that guilt is to the Spirit as pain is to the body; both mean, "You're hurting me. Stop what you're doing now or you will cause further damage and the healing process will be much harder." Donna and Marty had a lot going for them this week. In the wake of their marriage they were able to buy a car, rent an apartment, and find solid work. Unfortunately the gospel had fallen by the wayside. We were unable to talk to them all week because of how "busy" they were. We even came to the point where we told them that anytime during the next day that they could meet - even if for only a half hour - we would make that possible in our schedule, we would drop everything and make our schedule flexible to theirs whenever that might be. But the call never came.
We met with them after Church yesterday and discussed their baptism which was supposed to happen this coming Saturday. Unfortunately they are not prepared and the date must be rescheduled. Don't get me wrong, Marty and Donna are very sincere and want to get baptized more than anything, but for a week they lost sight of what was important and the consequence prolonged what they wanted so badly. Sometimes when we disregard the commandments and want to turn around we expect immediate results. But just as a physical wound takes time to heal, the Great Physician Jesus Christ can only heal us according to our commitment to the gospel. It's very hard to simply pray your way out of something you worked yourself into. But change is possible. The key is to allow the Lord to complete the healing process without reopening the wound. The more I help people become clean from their sins by living the gospel of Jesus Christ the more I can understand how badly our Heavenly Father wants us back, for "the nearer we get to our heavenly Father, the more we are disposed to look with compassion on perishing souls; we feel that we want to take them upon our shoulders, and cast their sins behind our backs" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (1976), 240–41). Marty and Donna are now working toward the 2nd of March for a baptismal date and I know that they will be able to get there. I believe in a God who has such shoulders.
As said in the new stunning Mormon Message on lds.org "Earthly Father, Heavenly Father" (and if you haven't seen it yet, watch it now - it's amazing), I am beginning to realize how this all came to be.
Elder Low
P.S. It was announced on Saturday that I am not being transferred. I suspected so but it's nice to hear it for sure. I will be spending my last 5 weeks here in Dover with Elder West. Hopefully it'll be the best transfer of my mission! :)
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