"Who Needs Their ACL?" (Aug 1)

To all my homies,

So! Let me tell ya'll a story. Me and my companion have not been able to work as hard as we would like lately, because Elder Karthigeyan's knee has been giving him a lot of pain, so we have been trying to schedule lessons at our chapel and not move a lot. He thought it would get better as he started walking more since it's the beginning of the mission, but unfortunately it has been getting worse! We finally got an appointment at a hospital and the first thing the doctor does is check for a tear of the ACL (The big ligament behind your leg that lots of soccer players have problems with. I'm forgetting my doctor terms.) where they pull on the knee upwards to check for the strength of the ligament. If the knee popps out, it means it's snapped. Well, Elder Karthigeyan's knee popped out like bagels from a toaster. So he has no ACL! He's going to have to get surgery for it pretty soon! 

So that's a pretty good wrap up of the week! I feel really bad for my companion. I can't imagine what he must be going through! That's a really painful thing. It is in these kinds of moments when people might ask, "why me?" In a general sense, why do I have these struggles? Why did someone close to me pass away? Why doesn't God stop bad things from happening? Why is there war and natural disasters and people who make bad things happen? Does God even love His children?

I hear these questions on the daily. Fortunately, the Book of Mormon helps us know the answers! One scripture that I heard recently - 1 Nephi 11:17

 17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth hischildren; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of allthings.

Nephi did not know ALL the answers to his questions. But he DID know that God loves His children. When God talks to Enoch in the book of Moses, Enoch sees God weep. He asks, how is it that the God of everything can weep? Well, God doesn't like to see his children unhappy. He doesn't cause bad things to happen. But he does allow them. And to take away that pain, he gave us his Son, Jesus Christ, who, as explained in Alma 7:11-13, did not JUST atone for our sins. He atoned so that he would know exactly how to comfort each one of us in our time of need. I am so grateful for the understanding I have of the love of our Heavenly Father. That knowledge helps me in every moment that I feel like the work is too hard, or when I'm tired, or hungry, or scared, or whatever. I, as Nephi, know that God loves us, and that His work and Glory is our Eternal Life, which includes Eternal Happiness. So be happier this week! God loves you! He understands, and weeps to see you suffer, and gave His Son for you.

Have a great week, my fellow children of God!

- Elder Valentine