More about Sheep!

    Over the weekend Sister Anderson and I received some sad news about a family we have been visiting about once a week. We were told that this family has chosen to take a step back from life- and the gospel. We are not to go and visit them for an undetermined amount of time.

    We see a lot of people. We also receive a lot of rejection. This one, though, is one of the few times I have had so far that my heart really ached. I love this family so much. We have a special gift as missionaries to love people in a way that will be different from any other for the rest of our lives. Although I do not know everything that this family is going through, nor can I comprehend how they must feel, I know, I KNOW that the gospel will bring them more happiness than they can find anywhere else, in spite of what anyone has to say.

Here is where the the sheep come in.

Remember the hymn "Dear to the heart of the Shepherd"? There is a line when the Lord asks us to "seek for [His] lost ones, Off from the shelter astray".

And "Lord, we... answer thee gladly, Yes, blessed Master we will! Make us thy true under-shepherds; Give us a love that is deep. Send us out into the desert, Seeking thy wandering sheep."

    This is my calling right now. I have been set apart to receive the love that is deep for the Lord's children, and to help bring them back to the fold. With this family, I feel like I am standing there, watching them walk the dangerous line between the gospel and the big wild world. I can only hope that someone in their life can be that light and example, another "under-shepherd" to bring them back to what they know to be true. Maybe you are that someone today for a lost sheep. Have you done something to draw another child of Heavenly Father closer to the Master Shepherd?

My dear friends, that is your assignment. 

Have a gathering-packed day!

Sister Franson