May 5, 2014

Elder Low's report:

This week I've been reading in 1 Nephi particularly about Nephi and his family's voyage across the sea to the Promised Land. In this story it really impressed me how they trusted in the Lord on their journey. They had no idea where they were going. They had just jumped into a ship constructed by a young boy who did not know how to make ships, but they believed that God had ordained it, and felt the spirit testify of it. As a result of this faith, just as the Jaradites did thousands of years earlier, they "set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God" (Ether 6:4). As a result of their faith they received many blessings upon the land promised to them by God.

This week we spent a lot of time knocking doors, and trying to find the places the Lord wanted us to go, and the people the Lord wanted us to meet and help. When thinking about it my companion and I felt inspired to go to an area we thought was full of apartments, but when we got there we found that it was not the place we had thought and found we did not feel good about staying there. We wondered why the Lord had directed us there but decided that the spirit now was telling to leave so we did. As we left I asked Elder C where we should go. He said he knew of two spots that he liked one south and one north, but made it clear that he like the southern spot better. I felt that he was inspired to think so and he led the way through an area we did not normally go through to get the spot from where we had originally gone. As we rode on this unusual road, two elderly men and a lady waved us over and we went back to talk to them. They asked us what we were. We told them missionaries. They had thought we were a specialized police unit but when informed that our purpose was to help people receive of the blessings of God they graciously accepted a prayer. Before offering the prayer one man named Luis asked for us to pray for his brother in Cuba who was suffering from a severe illness. We did so. After the prayer the man's eyes lit up. He stared at us as if we had healed him and his brother and the whole world right there. We taught them about the truth of eternal families and the hope brought about by Jesus Christ. The lady protested about baptism, but all Luis asked was "when is it?" which he asked three times just to make sure he had it right.

I know as we seek the Guidance of the Lord, commending ourselves to him, trusting in him even when things seem to be going wrong from doing so, we will see miracles, and we will be instruments in his hands in blessing the lives of others, and in answering their prayers.

Elder Low