Miracles and Crazies

Things have picked up this week. Sometimes it’s really fun to be in-between the trials for the blessings when you are totally focused on the blessings and workings of the Lord and sometimes it’s just annoying, haha. The blessings came this week with a new investigator and like five new families in the ward who are super solid and look like good missionaries. It’s pretty fun to be in a ward with such large turnover. I love this ward! Good heavens, it’s really won my heart to see all of the strong men and women who are devoted to the gospel. It’s really crazy to be coming up on my year mark. That is just plain scary. It doesn’t feel like that long at all! When I look back it kinda does though. I have really really enjoyed this past year and am so so so excited to have another full year to serve my God. I delight in this missionary work and I delight in my God. I love this work and the spirit that is felt with it. I love my mission! 

Spiritual: The miracle of the week was not due to our finding efforts at all! Good old Dhani pulling in for a win! He was home teaching with another member of the bishopric and had finished a little early when he noticed a lady who was taking something off of the back of her car. He told the bishopric member to pull over and he got out and gave her a hand. (Btw, if you are a home teacher this is the kind of home teaching that you really should be doing. Super cool.) In the process they got to know each other and they took her contact info. She later related the story to us about how a few days later she knew that the church gives people blessings and she really needed a blessing but she didn’t have the bishopric member’s number. So she took matters into her own hands. Long story short she showed up at his home Monday night and asked him for a blessing. Needless to say we went by later that week with Dhani and met her. It was so cool. She was a life flight nurse and a strong willed woman who has been through some incredible experiences. It was really neat to get to know her. Despite many health issues she was able to come to church. The lesson in Gospel Principles was on service and she had a lot to say. It was so incredible! At the end of the lesson there were tears rolling down her face as she bore testimony on the power and impact that service has on people. She talked about Dhani and about the power of the blessing she received and it was incredible. Everyone in the room felt the Spirit and it was perfect. We are doing service for her tonight. It was really hard for her to ask for service because she is so independent and there were tears in her eyes when she asked for some help. The humility expressed when she asked for service and the initiative required to seek help from the Lord through a blessing are fruits that she is willing to come closer to Jesus Christ. It’s amazing both how prepared she is and how just a small act of service while home teaching can make such a large impact in her life. Yes, we might offer to help 100 times and have absolute total rejection. But what if the 101st time we ask if we can help they respond yes and it changes their life. Charity is the pure love of Christ and it will never fail. I am so certain that we come closer to Jesus Christ through service. I know that this is how we show our love for the Lord and for our fellow men. Small acts of service do make a difference! Look for a small way that you can do service today. 

Funny: Street contacting is so much fun. Last night we stumbled upon a four foot tall Vietnamese woman, earlier that day we met an old Southern Baptist man named Garfield, and a woman who spoke in tongues. I love it! It’s really quite entertaining to meet some of these people. The woman who spoke in tongues was a little crazy. We were talking to her husband and he had read the Book of Mormon and believed it! He had even told the people in his church all about it and tried to get them to read it! They were not happy with him. We met his daughter and were talking to her when he came out and told us that story. He asked for a copy so we gave it to him. He told us that his wife didn’t like him reading it. That was the first key that something was off. We were talking to him a little bit more than his wife in plain pajamas and hair all over the place came running out and grabbed the Book of Mormon gave it back to us and then started yelling at us in this crazy demonic language. We hopped on our bikes and got out of there! He will join the church someday but that was not the day. It told me how important it is to marry the right person. 

Where I am at: Things here in Fort Ord Ward are going great. The minor exodus has taken place so there are a bunch of new families in the ward and they look like great missionaries. It’s going to be really fun to get to know more people. In church it was so crazy that I probably didn’t know 1/3 of the people there! There were so many visitors and new people that came. Interviews with president are this Tuesday. I am really excited. It’s almost my year mark. Wow. How time flies! I feel like I have changed a ton. Really grown up in ways that are not really easily visible. I know more than ever that God loves us. Jesus Christ is His Son and performed the Atonement completely and totally. The Restoration is real. The church is restored! It’s true and it makes me so happy. I love you all!