Elder Spencer Lehr: Homesickness Healed by the Spirit and Scripture

This Week in the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission

Now I do need to talk about yesterday.... not going to lie, but it was probably one of the hardest times for me. After church I just lied on my bed for a couple of seconds and was consumed by this incredible homesickness. I did not know how in the world I was going to survive Madagascar. I missed having water that was pure everywhere, and i missed being able to know that I could stomach my food with a full assurance that i would not be sick, but more then anything I missed my family. All I wanted was to have my Family with me because I knew that if they were going through this with me that at least I could go to them for reassurance. Truly it was incredible about how alone I felt at that point. As i was feeling these intense emotions, I felt the need to write down the feelings that I was having down in my journal. As I finished about how i was feeling a thought came to me about 2 Nephi chapter 4 where Nephi says "O wretched man that I am!" This was how I felt. Then later words of the same chapter came to my mind where Nephi says "Even though I feel this way, I know in whom I have trusted...Awake my soul! No longer droop in sin! Rejoice my heart!" When I remembered these words.....This became my cry... "Even though I feel this way...I know in whom I have trusted.." As I wrote this in my journal, and began to stand up from my bed......I was filled from my head to my toes with the most wonderful feelings of strength and peace.....Through the atonement of Jesus Christ......I had been given a most precious gift...My tender soul had found healing and I was able to "Put my shoulder to the wheel"