Lead Thou Me On 6/2/14

What a miraculous week it has been. We have been very blessed in Grand Rapids. I am very grateful to the Lord has been doing for me.

First things first, Elder Bell went home. I am really going to miss him. He was a wonderful missionary. May he rest in peace... Elder Kofoed and I are doing well! We had a major comp inventory and talked through all of our differences. Things have gone very smoothly since. He has taught me a lot.

I have a lot of stories this week so here I go!!

Saturday was a crazy day!! In the morning, we planned to visit a less active, but that fell through, so we prayed and asked, "where do you want us to go?" We started checking up on former and potential investigators, and after about 4 stops, we met an awesome guy named Tony, the roommate of one of our formers. He was super interested and excited to meet with us!

Later that day we visited with Sister Braylock, a recent convert. In comp study, we were making plans, but nothing felt right, so we got on our knees and asked what to do. We felt very strongly that we should read the Book of Mormon, and that Alma 7 was the way to go. About halfway through the chapter, we stopped to talk about it, and she was so excited. The previous night, she was reading in 1 John, and it went along perfectly what we were reading. She asked, "how did you know?'" It was so cool. That woman is amazing. She has everything in the world against her. She has major health problems, but she never misses a day of study. She aches to read the scriptures, and she is always filled with gratitude to God. I have never seen such great faith, no not among any member of the church. 

In a couple hours, we picked a street knock on, but that turned out to not be a street, so we picked a new one, and we missed the turn. We were driving down an adjacent street and drove past the house of a media referral named Anas, a Muslim college student from Saudi Arabia. We stopped and he invited us right in. We taught him the Restoration, and it went very well. To hear him pray in Arabic was something to hear. It was beautiful. He prayed to know the truth, and before we left, he said, "I was just about to go work out, but something held me back." Yea, the Spirit led us to that one. 

That evening, we were door knocking in the ghetto, and we called out to a group of about 8 people sitting on the side of their house having a little BBQ, and that we were sharing a message about Jesus Christ. They said, "come on over! If you don't mind the smoke and beer!" We talked with them for about 20 minutes, and they were very excited about what we had to say. One asked, "How much are you selling the book for?" and we said, "Do you want it?" Of the guys named TJ, (OH MAN HE WAS AWESOME) was telling us how Christ helped him get out of drugs, and how he saved his life. He was really excited about the Book of Mormon, and said, "Trust me, I will read it." They were all so prepared! It was one of those, "you have to be there," experiences to understand how wonderful these guys were. I have met very few people that were more humble and sincere. I really hope we get to see them again.

Sunday's experience was definitely the most powerful. We had planned to teach the Mobley family about the Word of Wisdom, because they are struggling with it. Upon arrival, Sister Mobley told us through her tears that she just had to kick out her son, who was making very poor choices. I felt very strongly that they did not need to hear about the Word of Wisdom. We changed up our plan, and began to talk about the Savior. We talked about his enabling atonement, and how it could help them. It was one of the most powerful experiences on my mission. The Holy Ghost gave us exactly what to say and what scriptures to read. By the end, their sorrows were turned to smiles, and their pain was turned to peace. Sister Mobley commented, "we need to read the scriptures more." Her daughter, who in the prior lesson expressed her doubts of God's existence," asked suggested they read them over skype everynight, and asked how to highlight the scriptures on her phone. It was crazy to see how the spirit of the room changed and the faces of that family literally lit up during the course of that lesson. A passing thought I had was that it is very hard to feel sorry about your situation, when you realize what the Savior went through for YOU! That lesson made that very apparent. 

The Holy Ghost is so real. It led us to people to meet and guided us to what we needed to say. It is truly with us in this week. This week began miserably, but turned into one of the happiest times on my mission. I feel that that is what happens when you choose to rely on the Lord. I am so grateful to him. I know that he lives.

I wish everyone of you could be there as these experiences happen. It is impossible to fully express what actually happens and what was actually felt. I feel like Ammon when he said "Behold, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." There is nothing like being a missionary. I am so happy and thankful that I am here!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!

Elder Wheat

The district!

The Comps