Before I forget we changed apartments today. My new address is the same except we are in #209 now instead of #130. So hopefully everyone can get that change. We got moved into a two bedroom apartment and now we are sharing with two other elders that cover the neighboring area.
Some very amazing things happened this week. First off we got two new investigators. We met them about a week ago at the mall and we met with them three times this week and one of them is super excited and has a baptism date for March 1st. It has been amazing. We taught them the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation. Those both went super well and the spirit was so strong. The one guy has a kid and we were worried that there might be some law of chastity issues so we decided that we needed to cover that as soon as possible so the third meeting we brought that up and it turns out that the problem that we thought was there, wasn't actually there, so that was good but at the end when we asked him to live the law of chastity he asked us if he had to stop smoking. We told him that the law of chastity didn't cover that. Then we taught the Word of Wisdom and invited him to live that as well and he said that he was willing to try. Super awesome, super solid, super funny. He is a very solid investigator right now and we have a lot of hope and faith in him.
Another amazing miracle for the week. On Thursday all of our plans in the afternoon cancelled. We took out our list of less active members in the area and decided to try and see some of them. Everyone was not home. We biked around for a bit and then got a very distinct feeling that we needed to go and visit a very active family. So we went over to their house and only the father was home. He has been unemployed for about three months and his family was completely out of money. We shared a very good message about the Atonement by Quentin L. Cook and bore testimony to him. The spirit was so strong and I knew that the spirit had guided us there to share with him in a time of need. On Sunday in testimony meeting he got up and shared how much a visit from the missionaries had helped him to regain hope through the Atonement and spirit of our Heavenly Father. It truly was an amazing experience for me to see how miracles can happen when we are doing what the spirit is guiding us to do.
One last crazy thing that happened this week, also happened during testimony meeting. At the very beginning of the meeting Elder Irvine and I got up to share our testimonies and while Elder Irvine was in the middle of his an older brother in the ward had a heart attack and was nearly dead on the back row. None of the congregation could really know what was happening but then the bishop noticed because some other men in the ward were calling 911 and trying to help him in the very back. This whole time my companion is standing at the pulpit not sure what to do. He is then told by the 1st councilor to continue with his testimony. So while all of this is going on my companion finishes his testimony. Then it is my turn to get up! By this point pretty much everyone knows that something isn't right and nobody is really paying attention to me anymore and I wasn't really sure what to say anymore. I had never really thought of "what would be a good testimony while someone is dying" so I tried to just say things that would pull the congregations attention back towards the front. Really a very interesting situation. Once we finished and went back to our seats, we helped them carry this man out into the foyer and closed the side doors in an attempt to bring the attention back to testimony meeting. They ended up giving him a priesthood blessing and he came back as soon as they anointed his head. That really goes to show the true power of the priesthood. He ended up being fine but being taken to the hospital just in case. What an amazing miracle. The hand of the Lord truly is in this church. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the true church and that this is the Lords gospel.
I know this not because I have seen miracles in the work that we are doing but because I have prayed and studied and acted. It is through the power of prayer and study and action that we really come to know that this is true.
I love you all and I am so glad that everyone is alright. Nate, you don't need to be embarrassed because I did the same exact thing on my first snow campout. I couldn't find my sleeping bag because it had got left in the car which was several miles away. So I spent half of the night in my wet snow clothes on top of a pad. No blankets or nothing. It really does show that God loves you and cares about you Nate. Stay safe and never be afraid to ask for help. It is with others that we learn and grow. Best thing is you will always use your sleeping bag from now on. Even if you need someone to help you open it.
Have an amazing week everyone and I will keep you all in my prayers.
Love, Elder Maxwell
No comments:
Post a Comment