What a great week! Elder Hancock and I are seeing the Lords mercy. We are so busy with administrative stuff and running around the zone for exchanges that we don't have a ton of time in our own area. Our zone covers a huge geographical area; it takes around 2 hours to travel from one end to the other. It consists of mostly small cities (100,000 or less) with a 2 larger cities, Windsor (which is only separated from Detroit by a river) and London (where I'm serving). E. Hancock and I travel around the zone every week and work with the District Leaders for a day in their area. We get to see a lot, but we're pulled away from our own area as well. It’s been incredible to see the Lord pour out success in the time we have to work here. We literally find for 1/5 of the time that other missionaries are able to, but we are seeing lots of success. We literally don't have time to teach everyone, it’s incredible. The Lord has seen our diligence, obedience, and hard work prior to being here and now he is blessing us. I have never felt more fulfilled in my life. The past 3 weeks have literally been the most spiritually satisfying time of my entire life. I have never been happier, felt better about who I am and who I am becoming, or had more faith in Christ and in our Father's plan for us. There are 3 things I want to highlight today from the past week.
We are still working with two Chinese girls that we found our first few days together. (Fan and Peipei from mainland China.) Their faith has gone from absolutely nothing to begging us for things they can do in their life to feel more of the sprit. Their faith has grown, and their desire to be better people and do more for others has increased as they have learned to have kneeling prayers on a regular basis, study and learn from the Book of Mormon, and come to church in preparation for their baptism. They are set for next Sunday, but it may need to be pushed back a week due to some family concerns that have come up over the past few days. Hopefully the spirit will encourage them to move forward with making these big, positive changes in their lives! I am blessed to feel the love that Christ has for them on a daily basis. As we study, pray, and fast for our investigators, we are blessed to feel the overpowering care and love that Father has for them-what a tremendous blessing!
Last year when I was here, right after a session of general conference my zone leader pulled me aside and asked me to come teach a lesson to a non-member who had strolled into conference. I remember the lesson vaguely, and didn't think much of it after that. Once I got into London, I realized that the man who I had taught was baptized, has received the Melchizidec Priesthood, and is actively working towards serving a mission this summer! He comes teaching with us all the time and is one of the most incredibly righteous and motivated converts I've ever seen. He's been struggling with some past habits lately and some very difficult decisions he's needed to make. We sat down with him earlier this week and he requested a blessing. I was able to lay my hands on his head, and give him powerful counsel and promised from God himself. I have never given a blessing with such ease as I was able to on this occasion. I knew the words I spoke were not my own. There was power and the spirit was very strong. He was able to act on the counsel he received in the blessing and the promises that were made have come to pass. The Priesthood is real!!
One more cool experience from this past week-we were having a discussion from a man from Brazil, he's a strong Christian but has had some problems with the Book of Mormon. He hadn't given it adequate attention before judging what was in it as false. We felt prompted to read the book with him. There was a particular chapter that came to mind as we opened the book. As we read, I offered a silent prayer that the spirit would be able to come powerfully to testify that this is God's word. As my personal prayer closed, the spirit immediately, quickly, and powerfully entered the room. I had never felt it come that quickly or powerfully before. As we read the chapter the room was on fire. It was a sacred personal experience that reminds me when we ask for righteous things in faith that Father will grand us what we seek. Many blessings are made conditional on us asking for them.
I love my mission. I love the gospel. It is real. Don't slow down or break your covenants, and the Lord's promised blessings will come eventually.
Until next week,
Elder Porter
