Week 24 ~ First Impressions, remember to think twice

Hello Everyone!!

This week I wanted to share a lesson that I learned:

There is a less active member in our area that used to be bishop and was in the leadership of the ward here for a long time. There are a lot of members and people in our area who really don't like him, and we've heard many stories of things that he did or ways that he offended people. My companion and I decided to find him a few weeks ago and see what he was like, and he was really rude to us and basically brushed us off. Through all of that and more, I had a really bad impression of him.

Yesterday, his daughter and her family came to visit our ward. After the sacrament meeting was over, she came to us and asked if we knew her parents. We told her that we had tried to contact him, but that he wanted nothing to do with us.

With tears in her eyes, she begged us to visit him again. She shared with us some of the struggles of her family and she told us that she prays every single night that her parents will come back to church and live the gospel again.

As we left the conversation, I felt so bad for how I had judged this man. I thought about his family, I put myself in his shoes and I was filled with a lot of compassion for him. I thought about the love that his family has for him, and the desire they have that he will come back to the gospel. I felt like Heavenly Father allowed me for a brief moment to see him as Christ would see him.

We never know what people are going through, or why they are the way they are or do certain things. It's very easy to find the things we don't like about people, but it's a lot harder to find the good. After listening to this daughter talk about her dad it made me realize how many times I have placed a first judgement on someone, by only listening to the things said about them or a bad first encounter.

I would encourage you all to put yourself in someone else's shoes this week - maybe someone you don't particularly like. Every single person has a divine potential and a purpose in this life. Each one is a daughter or son of our Father in Heaven. Each one is here for a reason.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. Thank you again for your prayers and emails of love and encouragement!

Love,

Hermana Spackman