Hey Y'all!
We've had a pretty great week if I do say so myself. :) Eddie is still on date, and still progressing. He has a long way to go though. You see, we don't think Eddie really trusts in God based on some events that occurred in his life as a boy. I never really realized that something so small as knowing I trust in God and not just believe He exists can play a big role in the gospel. He has a lot of stumbling blocks because he doesn't just God. It's crazy to me that something so small as that, can cause so many problems.
"So how can you see what your life is worth
or where your value lies
you can never see through the eyes of man
you must look at your life
look at your life through heaven's eyes..."
We had a great lesson with a man named Robert! I think I've talked about him before. :) He is moving into the area and want's to come to church. Well, we were weekly planning on Thursday when we got a call form him. We had this great lesson! He has been reading the Book of Mormon every day and praying to know if it's true, he believes it! :D We talked about Baptism as well, and after explaining to him why he would need to be baptized again by proper authority he was like "I want to get baptized!" It was a very tender moment. I hope that he continues reading and praying and coming towards Christ. :)
"A lake of gold in the desert sand
is less than a cool fresh spring
And to one lost sheep, a shepherd boy
is greater than the richest king
Should a man lose everything he owns
has he truly lost his worth
or is it the beginning
of a new and brighter birth..."
On Saturday we had a couple cool miracles. :) We have been trying to find more people to teach, and decided to look in our Area Book through our list of former investigators to find them. You see, as a missionary we record every person we meet and start teaching the Gospel to in this big binder we call and Area Book. There, we track their progression towards baptism or in this case, file their records with an explanation of why they stopped progressing and when they were last taught. This is really helpful for future missionaries because we can use this information and instead of knocking random doors in hopes of finding someone who is interested we can go to these former investigators and knock on their doors. Anyway! While doing this, we knocked on the door of an old former investigator. Her roommate Mark answered the door instead. We talked with him for a little while and gave him a pamphlet. He was a very sweet and sincere man, he told us he wanted to come to church. We asked if he thought his roommate would be interested in our message and the was like "well I would." So we set up an appointment with him. Then we asked if he knew anyone in need of a prayer and he was like "I am, I would like one." It was such a tender moment! :)
"So how do you measure the worth of a man
in wealth or strength or size
In how much he gained or how much he gave
The answer will come, the answer will come to him who tries
to look at his life through heaven's eyes"
The next day he didn't attend church, but he texted us that night apologizing because he had to go to an interview. He told us to come back and we now have an appointment with him this Wednesday! :) We are excited to teach him and hope he will progress and have a desire to learn more! :D But what is even more exciting to me is how such a small and perhaps annoying thing as keeping records of our investigators helped us to find a new one!
"And that's why we share all we have with you
though there's little to be found
When all you've got is nothing
there's lots to go around"
Many other miracles happened this week, but if I actually sat down and told you all of them, this email might not ever end! God is in the fine details of everything. He has placed us with our unique abilities and stories where we need to be. One scripture we shared this week with Eddie I think perfectly describes how God works. It's in Alma 37, and it's Alma talking to his son Helaman about the records they have been keeping since the time of Nephi. And he says:
"No life can escape being blown about
by the winds of change and chance
and though you never know all the steps
you must learn to join the dance
you must learn to join the dance"
"Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise."
"So how do you judge what a man is worth
By what he builds or buys
You can never see with your eyes on earth
Look through Heaven's eyes, look at your life
Look at your life
Look at your life through Heaven's eyes"
Alma is so wise. The one thing he teaches, and perhaps the most important thing we need to know about our Loving God, is that He does NOT work in big extravagant ways. I like to think of the workings of God like someone creating a tapestry. It takes thousands of tiny little threads, doing small things to create this big picture. God is the artist. We are the threads. We are small, simple, and do not see our place in the big picture. Even in events like the Restoration, God called a 14 year old farm boy to be his prophet. Not some learned, popular, scholar, but a small simple boy. In this same way does god work with us. He puts little events in our lives that in the moment seem insignificant, but at the end, when the tapestry is finished and the beautiful picture is done, you will finally see how important your role is. Even though I am but a simple missionary, going out to preach the gospel, I know that my mission is part of a bigger plan form God. He places me where I need to be with the people I need come in contact with. It's crazy to me to think that the Lord has got it all planned out, but it's true. I've seen it perhaps more now that I have returned. I know that God made it possible for me to be out here right now. And I know that He cares enough about me to make it happen. I'm excited to look back after my mission and see how everything unfolded, but for now we are small, simple threads that will make great things come to pass.
Y'all's Southern Bell,
Sister Welch
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