One my mission I've been blessed with both highs and
lows, good times and bad times. Usually times of struggle and patience and
growing occupy the majority of the week, but throughout the week Heavenly
Father blesses us with little pearls of sweet spiritual moments. And then a
crazy thing happens. At the end of the week it seems as if the difficult times
are a just blur. I know that they were there but it's hard to
remember them in any detail. Rather, the good times are what burn vivid in my
memory and I can recall them with detail. Pretty cool. Don't know how it works
but it seems to happen every week and it must be something to do with the power
of the spirit. Food for thought is found in John 14:26-27 and D&C 39:6. The
spirit brings things to your memory, especially the peaceable things. What a
gift and a great friend to have.
This week we didn't have as many opportunities to teach because
of stake conference but the times we did have were pretty special. Here are a
few little miracles we saw this week:
Lunes: Taught M… and C... C… really opened up to us a lot and
shared that she had been very depressed in her life. She felt something
was missing. She related several scary stories of giving up. But over the
past month she's been receiving a new light and it's something that you can
really see in her face. Her smiles are more genuine and she's more patient and
calm. Quite simply, she's just happier. They don't have much but they
always give us something to eat and they are doing well with reading and
praying and coming to church. It's a humbling blessing to be a part of their
lives.
Martes: Taught E… and her kids about the priesthood with B….
Afterword the lesson they explained that they had been having a bit of a rough
start to the year and they asked us to give each of them a blessing. The
spirit filled everyone right up and it was a special experience.
Miercoles: Tender blessing on Wednesday was that we walked into
the room of one of the youth that has been struggling to decide whether or not
to serve a mission, and we discovered him studying Preach My Gospel! What a
champion! Later that day we also extend baptism to someone that we never
thought in a million years would accept and he did! He's reading the book of
Mormon and we have a goal of baptism for the 15th of February. He's still got a
ways to go but the fact that he accepted the invitation and is reading is a
remarkable change.
Jueves: Taught a less active named H…. He's never ever prayed
when we've taught him. He's been absolutely stubborn about praying. He always
tells us to pray "because we need to practice our Spanish." We do
need to improve but that's not the real reason though. He's just never been
humble enough to try to pray again because he hasn't in a long time. But after
reading a little in the Book of Mormon Thursday night, without us even
asking him, he just offered a simple heartfelt prayer. Me and Elder Gibb were
dumbfounded the rest of the night, just absolutely giddy and blown away. He
didn't come to church but we're working on that. Prayer is a great step.
For lack of time I need to close. But the rest of the weekend we
had some other neat experiences, including a sweet stake
conference. The stake presidents are full of faith and have prayed
about some new goals for the stake: In 5 years they want to create a new stake
from the 3 existing. In 5 years they want the Spanish branch to become a ward.
And in 10 years they want to have overwhelmed the surrounding temples so much
that they build a new temple in Cincinnati. And the best part is that it's
totally possible. This is a very unique time of the church and I know that the
Lord is hastening His work!
I know that people can change. The power to repent, be healed,
and to change lies in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful for our
Savior and I love being a part of this work. We are seeing people change that
we never thought would have changed in a thousand years. Probably most
importantly I'm seeing changes in myself. I can't believe I've almost been out
a year and it scares me that that much time has already passed! I love that I'm
going to be here for at least another transfer. The people here are great and I
learn from them every day, cada dia!
Love you all!!!
Elder
Graf
