Tim Ballard is a member of a church that often teaches the
importance of “standing in holy places,” but in his fight against
child slavery, he spends a lot of time in dark spaces. However, in
the second episode of All In, Tim Ballard told LDS Living host
Jamie Armstrong that he often feels the Spirit most in those moments.
In fact, Ballard went as far as to say that he wouldn’t be able to
do what he does in his work with Operation Underground
Railroad if he didn’t have “a powerful faith in the Atonement
and in the Savior.”
importance of “standing in holy places,” but in his fight against
child slavery, he spends a lot of time in dark spaces. However, in
the second episode of All In, Tim Ballard told LDS Living host
Jamie Armstrong that he often feels the Spirit most in those moments.
In fact, Ballard went as far as to say that he wouldn’t be able to
do what he does in his work with Operation Underground
Railroad if he didn’t have “a powerful faith in the Atonement
and in the Savior.”
JA: You’re interacting with evil people, and you’re seeing the
darkest things in the world. How do you not fall apart?
darkest things in the world. How do you not fall apart?
TB: I’ve watched guys and girls in this line of work who
quit and they lose their faith. How could a loving God allow
this to happen? There must not be a God. You’ve got to
understand the things we see. It’s incomprehensible. . . .
People used to ask me, how do you do this? How do
you sit toe-to-toe with a trafficker and buy and sell children
and not become dark? And I couldn’t answer that question
for a long time, because if I gave my honest answer, they
would think I was crazy because the answer was, ‘Man,
I feel really good when I’m doing that’ and [they’d think],
‘What are you? Some kind of crazy nut that you feel good
doing that?’ It wasn’t until later, I was reading the scriptures
and pondering and I started learning or relearning and
internalizing the doctrine of angels and what [an] angel’s job is.
If you read the Book of Mormon and you pick the five principles
that the Lord definitely wants us to believe, the five doctrinal
truths, angels has to be on that list. Think of how many
times we are taught, ‘This is real; I send them to you. These
are real people.’ So, I started recognizing, ‘Oh, that’s what I’m
feeling. That’s why I feel actually closer to God as I’m
witnessing the worst things.’ I mean I’m toe-to-toe with a trafficker,
the kids are in the back room, he’s talking to me about what
he’s done to these kids, showing me videos, and I’ve got to
look at those videos and laugh and act like I’m his friend.
It’s the only way I’m going to get these kids out. And
I’m feeling, what I now recognize, the whole time
the Spirit and light. And the closer I get to the dark, the
brighter those angels are because they’re with those kids
and they’re sitting encouraging me and blocking him,
the trafficker, so he doesn’t see me, what’s in my eyes.
Once I opened up to that doctrine and then you go in
with that knowledge, then you recognize it in a way that’s
sure. And then you start praying for it. It’s a lesson for
everybody, really. You don’t have to be working in the
darkness of sex slavery to apply this principle. This is
something that everybody can and should employ because
there’s darkness around all of us.
quit and they lose their faith. How could a loving God allow
this to happen? There must not be a God. You’ve got to
understand the things we see. It’s incomprehensible. . . .
People used to ask me, how do you do this? How do
you sit toe-to-toe with a trafficker and buy and sell children
and not become dark? And I couldn’t answer that question
for a long time, because if I gave my honest answer, they
would think I was crazy because the answer was, ‘Man,
I feel really good when I’m doing that’ and [they’d think],
‘What are you? Some kind of crazy nut that you feel good
doing that?’ It wasn’t until later, I was reading the scriptures
and pondering and I started learning or relearning and
internalizing the doctrine of angels and what [an] angel’s job is.
If you read the Book of Mormon and you pick the five principles
that the Lord definitely wants us to believe, the five doctrinal
truths, angels has to be on that list. Think of how many
times we are taught, ‘This is real; I send them to you. These
are real people.’ So, I started recognizing, ‘Oh, that’s what I’m
feeling. That’s why I feel actually closer to God as I’m
witnessing the worst things.’ I mean I’m toe-to-toe with a trafficker,
the kids are in the back room, he’s talking to me about what
he’s done to these kids, showing me videos, and I’ve got to
look at those videos and laugh and act like I’m his friend.
It’s the only way I’m going to get these kids out. And
I’m feeling, what I now recognize, the whole time
the Spirit and light. And the closer I get to the dark, the
brighter those angels are because they’re with those kids
and they’re sitting encouraging me and blocking him,
the trafficker, so he doesn’t see me, what’s in my eyes.
Once I opened up to that doctrine and then you go in
with that knowledge, then you recognize it in a way that’s
sure. And then you start praying for it. It’s a lesson for
everybody, really. You don’t have to be working in the
darkness of sex slavery to apply this principle. This is
something that everybody can and should employ because
there’s darkness around all of us.
http://www.ldsliving.com/How-Surrounding-
Himself-with-Darkness-Has-Taught-Ex-CIA-Agent-
Tim-Ballard-the-Power-of-Angels/s/89629?
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Himself-with-Darkness-Has-Taught-Ex-CIA-Agent-
Tim-Ballard-the-Power-of-Angels/s/89629?
utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email
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