If no one remembers my emails from that long ago, Fred is the most solid person I have ever taught. I wrote in my journal that he made my stay in Grand Rapids worth it. The love I have for this man is like no other. The last thing he ever told me as Elder Erekson and I carried the last of his coffee and supplies to our car was "You are like my brothers. I am not even this close with my own brothers. But you too are special. I can tell you anything." I never got to say goodbye to him. He was unable to make it to church that sunday and his phone wasn't working, so he never got my calls. I found out later that he called a few days after I left, and when he found out I was gone, he wept. I feared that I couldn't go because Houghton Lake is so far away, but I prayed, called President just in case, and he said I can go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The total joy that I felt was unlike anything I have ever felt. I just wanted to scream to the world what I was feeling, but I am not sure if they would understand... This man is family to me. I wish everyone reading this could know what I felt. This has been one of the tougher weeks of my mission, but all the pain and heart ache I have felt for the last 11 months has been swallowed up in what I felt last night. It has all been worth it, if nothing else, because of Fred King. Only Alma 26 can come close to what I feel. If I feel this joy over this moment, I can only imagine the joy I hope I will feel with him in the Celestial Kingdom. Only God can be the source of it. I cannot say the smartest part of what I feel. Elder Anderson in my district probably said it best, "Elder Wheat, I can feel your happiness from over here..."
Thank you all for suffering through my joyous rampage, but there is nothing sweeter than being a missionary. A quick update on the work here:
It was a slow week, but the Cowart family that came to church last week is so solid. Now we have to arrange a wedding but They all want to get baptized! All the kids were sick, but Amber still felt like she needed to come to church. They are so unbelievably solid.
We had a couple investigators drop us, but just about and hour ago we picked up a young dad named Quentin. He is crazy solid too. He is 23, loves sports, and is a family man. He is really impressed with what we do. We knocked his door a couple weeks ago, and he was very surprised we actually came back. That made him feel very special. He only wanted us back more because we talked football at the door with him for awhile. We had an awesome lesson with him and afterwards, we found out that a couple days before we came, he was driving home in the midst of a tragedy in his life. He prayed and told God he needed help and was ready to turn his life over to him, and then he sent us. It was really cool to watch him when he made the connection. He is so great :)
Even on bad weeks, the Lord still blesses in abundance. I was worried that my "greenie fire" was going out, but hearing about Fred turned up the heat again. Its going to be a great week... Just throwing that out there. It just hit me that I have been out 11 months... Time has flown and it is going faster every day. I am thankful for the time I have been given to serve my God and these people.
The Happiest Missionary Alive,
Elder Wheat
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| Merry Christmas from the Elders!!! |
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