A miracle and Billy's Baptism

For about the last 5 months the missionaries in Jamestown had been working with a guy named Billy. He had talked with Sister missionaries in the past and had some exposure to to the church when his mom joined the church when he was a kid. Billy knew the LDS church was true but he could not give up the terrible habit of smoking. Billy was a chain smoker. Everyone in town knows who Billy is and they all know that he smokes like a freight train. About 2 months ago Elder Stout and I met with Billy again. We started to teach him the lessons. He loved everything we taught him and wanted to get baptized. He came to church every Sunday. We began working with him to help him quit smoking. At first we taught him the "stop smoking workshop" but that didn't seem to be helping with the cravings. The first time Billy tried to quit smoking he quit for 18 hours and couldn't stand it anymore and started smoking again. At that point Billy was for sure that he wasn't going to be able to quit smoking so he went and bought four or five cartons of cigarettes. Elder Stout and I were very supportive of Billy even though he was having a ruff time breaking the habit. We continued to teach him, gave him comfort, cheered him on,  and didn't give up. The second time he tried to quit, he only quit for like one hour and this time he bought 6 cartons of cigarettes. Again we didn't get frustrated with him and we were very supportive. Billy told us that he would try quiting about the middle of September when he had the 6 cartons smoked. We continued teaching him and lifted his spirits up. We committed Billy to pray that evening about a day to quit smoking. The next time we went over we followed up on the commitment we left him. Billy told us that he would quit on September 3rd so he could get baptized on the 10th of September. We were excited about Billy's decision, we gave him a priesthood blessing and cheered him on. A recent convert in the ward told Billy that she quit smoking using life savors. Billy wanted to use the life savors to quit smoking. We went to Wal-mart and bought him a bag of life savors. We went the next day to see how Billy had been doing and he had gone almost 24 hours without smoking and he had one life savor left. We went back to Wal-mart and bought him a 2lb bag of life savors. With the help of God and his mercy, Billy was able to quit smoking and was baptized on the 10th of  September. It has been a blessing to see the miracle that has taken place in Billy's life. There is no other way Billy could have done it if it wasn't for the gospel. Billy is so much happier now then he was when I first met him. The gospel is true. I know it can help anyone find joy and happiness in their lives. It is through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that we are able to be forgiven of sin, overcome terrible habits, and be able to return to live with are Heavenly Father again.

If you want to learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Visit:

www.lds.org or www.mormon.org You can also find me on face book by searching for Elder Phillip Waltman