Richard and Renanta

JANUARY 29 2017

An email Elder Snell asked me to write to a few investigators......

Hello Amazing Friends!

Elder Snell and Elder Flora speak so highly of each of you. They can feel the power of the Spirit from each of you. I can feel that the things they speak about you both are true through that same power of the Spirit. 

I am so grateful as Elder Snell's Mom to have the opportunity to share my testimony with you both. I understand you have been to the temple visitors center and you have felt the Spirit of The Holy Ghost draw you near to the gospel. I am so grateful to have the knowledge of the Plan of Happiness in my life which is the plan of salvation. How amazing is it that we all were in a council before coming to this earth and we said to our Heavenly Father, " I WILL GO AND DO THE THINGS YOU WANT ME TO DO". We were just so excited that we could come here and gain a body so that we could have experiences that would make us stretch and grow as Spiritual beings and have a human experience. And then we have the opportunity to return back to Heavenly Father having become who he needs us to be to be able to rule and rein with him in the hereafter with our Families Forever. 

The best part of the plan of salvation is the fact that Heavenly Father divinely set up Families! The family unit is the building block of our life. It's the only building block of society that truly is divine in nature. I am so very grateful for my family. I have so much Joy because of them. and to know that they are mine forever touches my heart deeply. 

There is an amazing description of the family on Mormon.org. Here it is....

"Our families are where we experience our biggest triumphs and our deepest vulnerabilities—and they are where we have the greatest potential to do good. We believe the family is divine in nature and that God designates it as the fundamental building block of society, both on earth and through eternity. As such, it becomes the foundation for civilization and a sanctuary for the individual. It is where we learn the social graces of loyalty, cooperation, and trust. It is where we learn to love ourselves and each other, to bear one another’s burdens, to find meaning in our life and to give purpose to others’ lives, and to feel the value of being part of something greater than ourselves."

Families are sacred and I am so grateful for the Law of Chastity. Heavenly Father wants his children born into families. We have all been given the sacred power of Procreation. I wanted to testify that the ability to bring a child into this world, to give them a body, is beyond the greatest Joy I have ever felt. I can testify of the blessings I have been given from Heavenly Father because Steve and I brought our children into this world through Sacred Covenants. We have been counseled to not have sexual relations outside of marriage. One of the most damaging things Satan can do is entice us to break the law of chastity. He is cunning and powerful. He would like us to believe it is no sin to break this law. 

The beautiful blessing that we have been given by obeying this law has made it so worth it!  I didn't have to spend one night worrying if I might be pregnant outside of marriage or whether I would be taken advantage by a man because I obeyed the Law of Chastity. I am truly grateful for that blessing. I have an eternal family and that is what gives me hope.

Even though it's hard to think of WHY we should obey The Word of Wisdom because we may not fully understand it, just for the pure reason of being OBEDIENT we are truly blessed. We can look at all the research of what hot drinks do to our body and what alcohol and tobacco do to it as well but the more important part is to look at this law was given way before the time of knowledge. It was inspired of God that we abstain from these harmful things. Our bodies were not meant to handle such things. But if you look at obedience as the MOST important part of the word of wisdom and not focus on they WHY, you will be blessed.  I can testify of the Power you can have in your life just through obedience to Gods commandments. Holy Cow!!! I am so grateful for that power. I can't imagine my life without it and the thought of not having the Holy Ghost with me at all times is unbearable. The Holy Ghost is what helps me stay out of trouble. I am prompted all the time to help me make decisions that keep me safe. Decisions that affect my life. Feeling the Holy Ghost at all times is what helps me to know who might need my help. It helps me in my job of being a Director of Nursing. Sometimes the Holy Ghost even prompts me to help save lives. He is also there to comfort me in times of high stress and keeps me moving forward to become who Heavenly Father wants me to become. This is only possible by being obedient, even if I don't know WHY I have been commanded not to do something, I just know it is for my protection and allows me to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. 

One last thing that I want to share with you is my Testimony of the Power of Paying my tithing!!! Oh my goodness I have so many stories of when I have paid my tithing I have been blessed. When Steve and I were very first married and bills were hard and money was stretched really thin. We weren't really good at paying our tithing and we struggled with bills. We decided to put tithing to the test. We knew we had many bills that needed to be paid but we took out our tithing, 10%, first and then started paying the bills. We were getting down to paying the last bills and we were short the amount of money we had paid in tithing. We didn't know what we were going to do and so we prayed that we would be blessed for being obedient. That week we received a check in the mail for an over payment of a bill that ended up being almost the exact amount we needed. I testify that paying tithing will BLESS your life!!!!

Another example is that we were getting tight on money again and we had a car break down. We had no idea how on earth we would pay for this but somehow I had a coworker bring to my attention that he thought my Vacation time had been cut short and that I should look at my pay stubs. We in fact found that I could be paid out some vacation money that would have been lost if he hadn't been prompted to ask me. I KNOW Heavenly Father is in the details of my life!!! 

I am so grateful for this opportunity to share my Testimony of these laws that have been given to us for our safety and for our good. Obedience to these laws help us to grow as a person faster than any training in a business could ever do. I am so blessed to have Heavenly Father as 

my Master trainer. There is no where on earth that could help us like he does. I am so grateful for My Savior, Jesus Christ. That he would suffer for me so that I could be forgiven any minute for just being human and for the wrong decisions I have made in my life. How amazing is that, that the moment you say Heavenly Father, he hears you and Christ has already paid for my sins that I can be clean. I mess up all the time. He loves us so much though that he extends such GRACE. I am truly so grateful for the Book of Mormon. A book which is full of Testimonies from people just like you and me that struggled with trials and tribulations but were lifted up by the power of the Holy Ghost. They wrote their stories down so that you and I could learn from them. Just like I am testifying of my experiences, so did they. 

God wants a powerful people and I know that both of you can be who he needs you to be. Your life will be forever changed as you put The Lord to the test and follow these laws. I already have so much love for you and I haven't even met you. But I feel that we will meet and we will be family. 

I say these things that I have testify to be true in the name of Jesus Christ, My Savior and Redeemer. 

Amen.

With all my Love, 

Sister Wendi Snell