July 18, 2011

The work continues to push forward in the great city of Brampton. As we do ALL that is required of us we are blessed with miracles.

The week was full of finding once again. I have truly come to have a testimony that the Lord leads His missionaries in their efforts. It is impossible to find people who are prepared off chance or by yourself. But if you ask the Lord to lead you to them, it works out a lot better. You can see the hand of the Lord guiding you as you focus on inspired planning...truly trying to go where the spirit tells you. You are lead to those who are interested in the church. Pretty amazing.

I had a great experience this week. It’s happened a few times on my mission. A few too many times to simply be a coincidence. We were planning and looking at the map to find the next street we should work. You pick a street and try to feel in your heart if somebody is waiting for you there. Sometimes you feel nothing, so you move on. But after a few tries, just as D&C teaches us, your heart will burn if you are on the right path. You feel the spirit after you have picked where you need to go. This particular experience we only had a 20 minute random chunk of time to go finding. That is not a lot. We had to be precise and go straight to where somebody needed us with the time we had. After studying the map I felt that we should go to a particular spot at the end of a street. On the top left part of the cul-de-sac to be precise. Well guess what? We went there, knocked 3 houses around where we felt we should and we found someone who wants us back. Coincidence? I think not.

Earlier this week we also decided to take the bikes up into the country again and knock off some clusters of homes that have not seen missionaries in the past 20+ years. Long country lanes and beautiful farm land in southern Ontario. Absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately with long country lanes and farm land comes mean, angry, people-eating dogs. We were pulling out of a lady's driveway and a dog started chasing us! Classic missionary moment. Unfortunately, my bike was meant for a 12 year old, so it wasn't very fast. The dog was quick, and apparently it thought I would be tasty because it bit my right ankle! It actually hurt pretty badly. It caught up to us again and came back for round two. But I was prepared this time. As it jumped to get me again I kicked it right in the mouth. It stopped chasing us. The blood was definitely pounding after that, and the rest of the day continued without any interference. Exciting, eh?

Other than those exciting moments the missionary work is coming along. I have one more experience I would like to share. Last week my MTC companion and I went on exchanges for the day. It was so fun and great to get to work hard with him. We haven't worked together since the MTC, so it was a real treat. We found a Hindu lady, and we taught her and her daughter the message of the restoration. The spirit was present, and they both understood what we taught. At the end of the lesson I had the mother (Chander) offer a kneeling prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Most people have never prayed legitimately how they are supposed to before. And it is one of my favorite things to do with people. During the kneeling prayer, the spirit was very strong. And everybody in the room recognized it. She came to church and had a great experience and will come next week.

Later in the week she called on the phone and wanted me to say a prayer so she could write it down and repeat it. I taught prayer and knowing spiritual truths through the Holy Ghost again, and had her offer a kneeling prayer with me over the phone. I haven't felt the spirit stronger many times on my mission. Directly after the prayer I asked her how she felt, and she responded..."I feel lots of heat inside me! Inside my heart...it’s warm. It feels lovely. It is like lots of love. So much that it doesn't fit right. I like it..." After having experiences like this, your testimony grows so much. I had a similar experience with another investigator this week as well. It is so humbling to truly understand how great of a calling and blessing missionaries have at this part of their lives. I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to sacrifice for the good of God. I love my Father in Heaven and have a strong testimony that this is His work.