A Light in the Darkness, David Lewis Story

To listen on Youtube click here:
https://youtu.be/lhXgL2nqMlE

To listen on Spotify click here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7oBUuggsZEClBgDqxts3Bb?si=Mg9mzqGQSaCumgSwk37U3g

Sharon Eubank Quote:

"...one of the fundamental needs we have in order to grow is to stay connected to our source of light—Jesus Christ. He is the source of our power, the Light and Life of the World. Without a strong connection to Him, we begin to spiritually die. Knowing that, Satan tries to exploit the worldly pressures we all face. He works to dim our light, short-circuit the connection, cut off the power supply, leaving us alone in the dark. These pressures are common conditions in mortality, but Satan works hard to isolate us and tell us we are the only one experiencing them.

David Lewis Story:

"I remember the meeting at which the Church was organized when I was not yet twelve, including the fact that the room they met in had no floor except dirt. I asked if I could be baptized, and the Prophet sent me home to talk it over with my parents and if possible get their consent.

I went home and asked my mother if she was willing that I join the Church. Her answer was, "Yes, David, you can do so if you please but David, the whole world is against them, including all the good ministers." Stubbornly, I gave my reasons: "I like the way Jospeh speaks, he preaches baptism for the remission of sins, the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost."

I was baptized twenty nine days after the organization of the Church, on my twelfth birthday, in a stream two miles down a road and two miles over a 'cow trail.' Joseph performed the ordinance and then tried to persuade me not to go home since a violent thunderstorm had broken as soon as the baptism was completed. I insisted on going straight home, as I had promised my mother that I would. The Prophet pressed me no further but instead promised me that the Lord would be with me, and take me safely home to my mother.

Lost and frightened on the way home through the woods, I remembered the Prophet's promise and knelt to pray that the Lord would take me safely to my home and to be a lamp to my feet and a guide to my pathway. The answer came as specifically as my prayer. A light, resembling the illumination from a coal-oiled lamp appeared and moved ahead of me down the path to my house, circled around the back door, and went out as soon as my mother, who had seen it pass the window, opened the door. When I told the Prophet about it later, Joseph answered. "David, I knew that you would get lost in the woods and that the Lord would guide you home."

Sharon Eubank goes on to say "When tragedies overtake us, when life hurts so much we can’t breathe, when we’ve taken a beating like the man on the road to Jericho and been left for dead, Jesus comes along and pours oil into our wounds, lifts us tenderly up, takes us to an inn, looks after us. To those of us in grief, He says, “I will … ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, … that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.” Christ heals wounds.

"...Take a few more steps on the covenant path, even if it’s too dark to see very far. The lights will come back on. I testify of the truth in Jesus’s words, and they are filled with light: “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

References:

References: "Personal Glimpses of the Prophet Joseph Smith" p.46-47

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/04/42eubank?lang=eng