When I was in one of my areas. I remember getting to know a man that lived in a town a good distance away from the church. It was about a half hour drive so not terrible, but it was a struggle getting friends to church from this location because they didn't often come to the main town where the church is. With this situation we did not go there often, but when we did I always tried to stop by and visit this man. We'll call him Paul. As we started to work with him we learned more of his story and past. He was a member of the church for a long time before we knew him. He loved the church and everything about it, he was faithful, went to the temple, and even held positions in the which he presided over the church in this place. Paul was a faithful member. But he made a mistake, a mistake in the which he was humiliated and excommunicated. And since that time, he had not come back to church. When I got to know him, he hadn't been to the church for over 5 years. He still loved God when I met him and he still owned and loved his Book of Mormon. So we spent the first couple months of our time with him trying to help him to come to church, but he never came. He talked about how he couldn't leave his mom alone and he couldn't leave his house without somebody there or they would rob it. So that was our problem...
But, after a time with this we decided to start out with the small and simple, inviting him to read the Book of Mormon every day and Pray with specific needs. As we did this we learned that even though he did have a Book of Mormon, the words were too small for him to read, so we helped him download it on his phone. Great. We came back the next week and bam, he was already through 1 Nephi, 😮. So we invited him to serve and to share the gospel and to follow the prophets teachings. And then we came to the Fast. Now when we invited him to fast we invited him in a very specific way, as we fasted with him we wanted him to pray so that God could prepare the way(by the faith shown in the fast) for him to come to church. And then.... HE CAME. I almost fell over when he said Hi to me at church the next day, and he came back every week I was there,(even sometimes illegally due to his motorcycle fines🫣) and he kept growing and learning. He was a true example to me of Repentance and Peaceful Dedication to God. He was always willing to do things the right way and he always sought to be like Christ, with a sincere heart, never proud.
I love you guys, and I know that we can too always repent and come back to the fold. As my friend Paul showed, the path back to God isn't usually a big leap, it's step by step. As we evaluate our lives and seek to come back to God, He will always prepare the way of Joy, Peace and Love so that we may know that it is His path which we walk, the path of His Son Jesus Christ our Savior. I know it to be true.
Elder McOmber
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