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

Honesty

Lately I have been thinking a lot about honesty. I have wondered to myself, how honest am I to my fellow men? Do I tell the truth in all things? do I cheat a little while playing a game to make my chances of winning a little grater? The definition of honesty is to be sincere, truthful, and without deceit at all times. One of the lessons in church today was on honesty. I found it quite ironic because of the fact that I had been thinking a lot about this subject. Is God trying to tell me something? I sat there and thought, "oh man, God is telling me that I'm not very honest" The more I thought about it, the more I realized that even though I don't lie about everything I say. Or I don't always cheat while playing a game. That doesn't mean that I'm perfect because there is a lot that I have to improve on. The natural man wants us to cheat, lie, and not be honest in anything we do. When we lie about something, that causes us to need to come up with more lies to cover up the first lie. That is not what God wants us to do. God wants us to be honest in all things. It is more important then most of us think it is, something I'm beginning to realize. For example maybe the cashier at the grocery store gave you one dollar more then they should have when they gave you your change. Are you going to say "oh it's just a dollar, it's not a big deal" or are you going to take it back and say "I think you made a mistake when you gave me my change back, here is the extra dollar" The natural man would say "keep it, it's just a dollar". God would say "take it back". It is necessary that we are honest to receive exaltation in Gods kingdom. I could be more honest in my daily activities. Sometimes God reminds us of these things even though they may not seem to be a problem. These lessons help us continue to be better and improve our lives. The 13th article of faith states "we believe in being honest"

8 Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me. (D&C 97:8)

to learn more about honesty check out this link
http://lds.org/ensign/1990/10/we-believe-in-being-honest?lang=eng