I sent you

April 12

There are no coincidences. I've learned this while i've been on my mission. Before my mission I believed in coincidences. I had to believe in coincidences, because if there were no coincidences it meant that God was up in heaven inflicting pain, and violence, and evil all around the world and i couldn't believe that because it didn't sound right and because if i did believe that I would be very angry at God. So instead I decided that I would believe in coincidence. But now I have learned there are no coincidences and I'm not angry at God. How did that happen? I don't really know. But here is what i do know:

We live in a fallen world. bad things happen. people make very bad choices that hurt those around them, but God respects our agency so much that he won't get in the way of the choice, but after the choice is made he's provided a Savior to save us from the consequences. Not necessarily to take away the consequences completely as much as to help us endure them well and the Savior would take the rest that we could not endure. So how does He help us endure it well? He gives us strength beyond our own and He gives us angels. I have a testimony of Angels. They are real and they are all around me and my companion. We are not alone. I don't know how it all works, but I just know this is true. When a bad choice is made I believe there are Angels ready to counteract those bad choices with good choices of their own. I don't know how much influence they have, but I do know they exist. I have been strengthened by them, I have been led by them, and I'm just telling you that there are no coincidences and we are not weathering these storms alone. I don't have any super amazing stories to illustrate what I'm talking about. I just know now that all those times I thought I was alone I wasn't. God has always sent at least someone to help me. Whether they are passed away or living, the Lord gives His children the commission to answer the prayers of His children and as we help Him with His work we become more like Him. He kills two birds with one stone. I heard this little story once and I like it. There was a man who died and when He met the Lord He sorrowed for all the pain and devastation in the world. "Lord, what are you doing to combat the evil that is infesting our society? What are you doing to destroy hate and envy and greed?" And the Lord replied, "I sent you."

Obviously we can't do it on our own. We need strength that can only come through the Savior's atonement, but Christ is the perfect teacher. He doesn't do everything by himself. I like to think of God as the dad that lets his son wash the car even though it looks terrible the first time, because after a lot of counsel and advice, and after a lot of time and effort and special strenghth from the dad the son learns to wash the car just as beautifully as the dad by using the skills he inherited and learned from his dad. So the car I'm washing doesn't look that great right now, but I'm trying and I trust my Teacher. And I trust that He has sent others to help me and that God is fully involved in my life through others. I don't believe in coincidences because I believe everything that happens no matter how bad or how evil, even if God didn't want it to happen, Christ's atonement can turn it to work out for our good if we let Him work within us. That is a miracle.