I feel like I say this a lot but this week has been so good, ha-ha. I'm not sure how I can keep saying that the weeks are always good and you all probably don't really think I'm serious. But I have to say, it takes a bit to make a week terrible and very little to make a week fantastic.:) As missionaries, we talk with so many people every day. We teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help others come unto Christ through baptism by someone holding the restored priesthood authority of God. Some people choose to exercise their agency to not accept the message we share but on the other hand many others do. When we walk through town, have our visits, knock on doors, or whatever it is and no one seems to want to listen, it can get a little discouraging. So you may ask, "Why do you keep doing it if you know that you're going to get 'no' for an answer so often?" We do it because we know that there are people who are just waiting for us. We cannot afford to let a day or a minute go by without searching for those that have been prepared by our Heavenly Father to receive the message of the restoration. And that is why we keep going. There is no better sound than that of hearing someone say "I've been waiting for this my entire life." The miracles that God brings forth are incredible and make every moment of these two years worth every door slammed in the face, every person that yells profanity at us, every person that says that we don't know a thing about life and about God because we're only 20 boys from the States. But let me ask you something: Do you think a grown man would know any better than I do now that God exists? If a person doesn't want to know that there is God who loves us when he is 30 years old, what would make him want to say that there is one at 90? I know that we are children of our Heavenly Father and that He loves us so much and knows us better than we know ourselves. By the time I turn 30, then 50, and hopefully even 70, I will be able to say the same things that I know now: that there is a superior being and he knows us and he is our Heavenly Father.
This past week was a week full of miracles and I have no idea how people can say that there is no God when all of this happens every day. One such miracle happened as we were sitting on a bench waiting for a member to come meet with us. We had a visit scheduled for that night and we needed an adult man to come with us to the visit or we couldn't enter the house because of mission rules. We had called everyone we could think of and we had no idea who to call next. About 40 minutes before the visit we both decided to pray so that we could somehow either have the visit or do what Heavenly Father needed us to do at that time. We both felt the impression to call a member who we hadn't thought about and we don't really use in visits much because of his schedule and where he lives, but it turns out he could come. So as we were waiting in front of the church on a bench for him, we watched the time tick by. We understood that he would probably come a little later because he lives a bit far so it didn't surprise us when he was late. We were sitting there still, 20 minutes late, and growing a little impatient. As we were there though, talking in English, a girl walked by. I didn't really pay any attention because people always walk by. But all of a sudden she just stopped and turned to look at us. She paused for about a second or two and then asked, "Where are you both from?" in English! We began to talk with her and it turns out she's from Texas! She came to study for her master's degree in teaching English as a second language. She apparently had a cousin who served a mission and she said that she's always wanted to know what he really did and what the church was. We set up a visit and we are so excited to meet with her. I don't know what will happen with her. She may accept the gospel or not. But I can't help but feel that the impression we had to call that member wasn't just a random feeling. We felt to call him because we knew he'd probably be late and Heavenly Father knew that we needed to meet in front of the chapel at a certain time to find one of His beloved daughters. I know that we are cared for and watched over even when we don't know it. And I know, more than ever before, that we have a loving Heavenly Father.
I love you all so much and I know I wrote a little differently today. But for some reason I just felt like I needed to. Have a great week and I'll see ya next week!!!!
