This week was a great week! Elder Stevens and I really had a
fun week and a lot of the enjoyment came from talking to so many people! It’s
so much fun to talk with such a variety of people but to see the common threads
and needs that we all have! We witnessed a lot of miracles as well! Wednesday
we had the chance to do a significant amount of service! It started when we
went by to visit a family and they weren’t home but we saw their neighbor next
door outside shirtless and sweaty dumping rocks into a bed in front of the
house. He accepted our offer to help and so we spent the next hour or so
helping him fill buckets with rocks from a pile in the backyard and bring it
back around to the front! It was such a simple act of service but it was so
enjoyable and we knew that we were where Heavenly Father wanted us to be! Right
after we were finished we went to see Kevin and Belen ( a couple we taught for
a week or so) and helped them do some yard work in their backyard for another
hour and a half! Elder Stevens mowed the lawn while I helped pick up tiny foam
pieces from old shredded couch cushions and other pieces of trash up in the
yard! Their house was right on the resaca (a small river that runs through the
town) and the best part was seeing the lightning bugs come out as it was
getting dark! Man, It had been a long time since id seen lightning bugs! I’m
grateful that Heavenly Father gives us opportunities to help those around us to
be happy through small and simple things!
One scripture that has stayed in my mind a lot this week is
Ether 12:6:
And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these
things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for
and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness
until after the trial of your faith.
On Sunday night we went out to work and I had felt a little
disanimado about our lack of success in finding people to teach who were ready
and willing to work! After another family turned us down the words of that
scripture came to my mind...especially the part about not receiving the witness
until after the trial of our faith! Our last appointment of the night was with
the Martinez family...who we had talked to just once about a week before! As
soon as we got to their home they welcomed us in and we were able to have a
great lesson! As a family they accepted the invitation to be baptized and
throughout the lesson we could see how happy they were to learn about the
blessings the Lord has in store for their family! We were so excited and
grateful after the lesson! Sometimes the trial of our faith seems long and
endless, but I know that the Lord knows our limits and knows exactly how far He
wants us to stretch in order to help us grow! I know that sometimes we can only
learn some lessons through experience and that being humble means recognizing
as did Job, that both the good and the difficult (sometimes what we may call
bad) or the success and lack of success are controlled by our Heavenly Father!
I know He lives and loves each of us!
Con amor,
Elder Cook!
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