Go Time 🏃‍♂️

Hola a todos! I hope each of you are doing well. This past week has been so fast and so tiring, but I'm seeing more and more how the Lord is giving me sufficient strength and energy to be able to get through each day. 

     This past week was my birthday week! On Friday I turned 20. We were on exchanges that day so after our proselytizing hours were finished, we went and got some ice cream. All the days on the mission tend to blend together, so my birthday was another day of hard work in the Lord's vineyard. Nothing better! 

     I love all of the Savior's teachings and miracles, but there are a few which have always drawn my attention, one of which being the story of Lazarus. Lazarus is referred to as someone whom Jesus loved. He cared deeply for him, and as Mary and Martha inform the Savior of the grave state in which Lazarus lies, He goes on his way to see him. When He arrived, the distressed sisters are saddened at the Savior's late arrival. "If thou hadst been here, my brother had not died"[John 11:21]. How often do we ask that? Oftentimes we think that the presence of trials means the absence of the Savior and His divine help. This is never true. The Savior's response is magnificent. "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." Keeping in mind the fact that Lazarus had been dead for 4 days is significant to remember because it was believed that at such stages the spirit had left the body entirely and that coming back was impossible. Sometimes we consider ourselves too "spiritually" dead. Too many sins and mistakes, too unworthy, too far from the path, too many broken covenants, too many failures. And from here you know the story. Jesus Christ did the impossible. "He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth."[John 11:43]. For all of the Lazaruses out there, let me express to you that you are never and will never be too far gone. The Savior can and is waiting to bring you back to life. To His fold. To His eternal blessings. And He has the power and capabilities to do so. Of this I testify. I know that the infinite virtue of the Atonement of Jesus Christ cannot be comprehended by the human mind. I know its power. It is real. Let it heal you as it has healed me. 

     Con amor, 

              Elder Blackburn