Tuesday, July 1, 2014

I'm a dad!! 06/23/14

Elder Juston Erekson! My first born son in the mission!! He definitely takes after his dad! He is a former football player from Grand Junction, Colorado! He is so enthusiastic and positive. Every 5 seconds he is cracking some sort of joke! He is so ready to be here and he is loving his mission already! He is a great cook which is wonderful because I am a great eater! We have been seeing miracles together already!! I am definitely going to be learning more from him than he is from me.

The lesson I have learned this week is that the spirit will always guide you where you need to be. On Wednesday, (Elder Erekson's first day) we had an appointment fall through. We were guided to go visit a new investigator we hadn't seen in 2 weeks. We stopped in and talked to her for awhile about the love of God. She expressed her guilt for failing to live up to her promises she made to God, and that she felt hopeless. We taught Deja about how the atonement makes up for it, and promised her that what we share will bring her lasting happiness. It was powerful. We went back on Saturday, and taught her and her cousin the Restoration. There was a different light in Deja, and she was so excited about what we are sharing. She definitely has a lot of fire!!!

The experience we had that night however was probably one of the most powerful on my mission. We planned to meet with the Mobely's, but when we went by, they had family that just arrived from Oklahoma that they hadn't seen in years, so we decided to reschedule. As I reached down to grab the GPS, my finger accidentally hit a random street a few blocks away. I didn't think much of it, and I tried figuring out who we could see on a Saturday night at 8:00. I looked at the screen again, and I had a strong impression that said, "go there." We said why not and started knocking upon arrival. About three houses in, we met a husband and wife who were shouting the most horrible things at one another. The wife came out to us, still shouting at him, out of spite for him. It was a rather awkward situation. I thought about handing her a card and walking away, but the spirit restrained me. She said with tears, "you guys came at the wrong time." I thought about what she said for a second and I said, "I couldn't think of a better time." We asked, who are you. She looked at us and said, "Me? I am nobody," and ran away bursting in tears and we followed. She told us she needed to walk anywhere else, and so we walked with her. We testified to her who she really was. A daughter of God with divine nature. She asked, "where did you come from?" I was about to say California when the words, "From God," left my lips. She smiled and said, "I knew you would come. My friends said I was crazy, but I knew he would send you today. I have been praying all day. I have been expecting you." When we walked back, she was smiling and thanking God for sending us the whole way home.

At first glance, one might consider to be "one of the least of these our bretheren." She lived in the ghetto and was skin and bones. Her hair was a mess and her teeth and toenails were unkempt. She spoke with poor grammar and obviously had little education, but Heavenly Father loved her, and I do too. I have been studying a lot lately trying to figure out who God really is. I want to know his nature for myself. That night, I got my answer. In a miraculous way, we were led to a place that we had no intention of being to visit her. God knew her and her situation. He was mindful of her. He sent us far out of our own way so that we could console this woman.I recently found a verse that describes how I feel: "Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever." (Alma 26:37).

His eye is on the sparrow. His eye was on Yasmine. And his eye is on each of us. He loves us and watches over us. He knows us and what we are going through, know matter what our situation. He knows our names, and what we are feeling. How glorious and wonderful is our Father. It is humbling to be his servant and his instrument is lifting the hands that hang down in sorrow. There is no greater joy on this earth!! God lives. God is our Father. God is Love.

Elder Wheat




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