Families can be Eternal

Okay so today I don't really have a big email but this week we were meeting with a lot of families again and something was different this time. Most of the families we met with were part member families. 

As the church is not very popular here in Spain, many people begin to fall away, or family members just don't accept the gospel. For most of them they are just looking for happiness and to fit in. So when everyone around them isn't following Christ it becomes really hard for them to follow. I had a mom ask me, what can she do to help her children see that this gospel is true? And another mother ask me, how can she get her husband to start making a change in his life to be able to live with her forever? Now me being me I obviously have no idea what to say. At the temple in Madrid there is a statue with the words underneath "Las familias pueden ser eternas". Families can be eternal. I wish that all families could see the blessing in that. But I also know God gave us agency to choose for ourselves. Something that Elder Ballard said once, "Don't preach to them. Just love them." Everyone has their time. God is not going to give up on them.

 We must respect the gift of agency God gave us by showing them that we love them no matter what. Now as a missionary nothing hurts more than seeing a family split by the church. Although nothing makes me more grateful for my own parents who kept me on the path just by their example and the love they showed me every single day of my life, even when I felt I might fall. 

In a talk by Elder Gong he said, "God wants our families to be happy and forever. Forever is too long if we make each other unhappy. Happy is too short if cherished relationships stop with this life." Families are to be happy and forever. I don't know how to answer these moms but I know we can always try to be more like Christ and show love. I can hope that families are not to be split apart by judgment or differences. And I know the forever part will come as we trust in God and show his love.

Miss everyone!

Love y'all!!

~Elder Larkins