The following is excerpted from the Church News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
Josh Barrett initially couldn’t think of any personal conflicts he had with anyone and figured President Russell M. Nelson’s invitation during the April 2022 general conference “to seek an end to a personal conflict that has weighed you down” was accepted and completed.
However, that was tested days later as his pet dog disappeared and he realized he needed to let go of his anger toward those who took the dog.
President Nelson invited: “Could there be a more fitting act of gratitude to Jesus Christ for His Atonement? If forgiveness presently seems impossible, plead for power through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ to help you. As you do so, I promise personal peace and a burst of spiritual momentum.”
Wrote Barrett of Queen Creek, Arizona: “So I began to pray, I prayed that my heart would be softened; … I prayed that I could forgive them, I prayed that they would find happiness and success in life … . As I closed my prayer and opened my eyes … where there once was anger, I felt peace, where there once was hopelessness, I felt love, and where there once was despair, I felt gratitude.”
He noticed a difference in the search as he “worked like it all depended on me and prayed like it all depended on Him” and the dog was eventually recovered.
The Church News asked readers to send in their experiences of following President Nelson’s invitation. Several shared about repairing relationships with family, friends and neighbors; others wrote about letting go of anger. The personal conflict to resolve was an internal one for other readers who worked to forgive themselves.
And all shared the peace, joy and gratitude they felt as their feelings changed.
Here are 11 additional experiences The Church News received. These have been edited for length and clarity.
A prompting to calling an estranged sister
“When I heard President Nelson’s invitation to end a personal conflict during general conference, it touched my heart. At that moment I had two conflicts that were dragging me down: one with my boss at work and another ‘old one’ with two of my sisters. …
“The one with my boss had been quite complicated … and I was feeling full of anger and resentment. I just couldn’t let it go. After [President Nelson’s] invitation, I decided I should try [to end] my conflict with my boss. I prayed about it. I asked for help. I knew I needed to change my attitude and erase my anger and resentment. And it just happened; it did disappear. I cannot explain how it happened, but it did. Now I am able to talk and work with him with no problem, and my resentment and anger are gone. … I have just been able to let it go.
“The conflict with my sisters is an old one, which has led to a divided family…. I have not had hardly any relationship with [two of my sisters] for at least three years now. In this conflict, I have forgiven them already, but I feel very vulnerable .. and my attitude towards them is more a protection mindset than anything else.
“I was traveling to my home province from where I currently live in Madrid, and we were getting close with our car to a city where one of my sisters lives. I felt the prompted to call her, to try to meet and greet her. At the beginning I thought: ‘No, I am not going to do that. I don’ know how she will react; I don’t have the time to do this stop.’ But then I remembered President Nelson’s request and I realized the Spirit was guiding me [to] … follow our President’s invitation and so I did.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
