Empty But Full

Area: Serenada
Companion: Sister Raelynn Pito

Keep up the great work of sharing your light and testimony. It makes a difference!

The work of the Lord is moving forward full speed, and nothing can hinder it. It's amazing to me how the Lord uses the unlikely the accomplish his grand designs. It's true that he magnifies and enables his servants.

One day we were walking through a neighborhood and knocking on some doors. We felt impressed to go to one in particular that didn't have a car in the driveway. We walked up to it and saw through the door window that the house was completely empty except for two camp chairs. It didn't look like anyone lived in it. Initially we would have passed by it, but we decided to ring the doorbell anyway. The first time, no one answered. We rang one more time, and no one answered. As we left a man came out and said, "I'm coming." He had just moved in and was painting upstairs. He was very kind and open. He left his family behind wherever he previously lived so that they could finish out the school year while he started his new job. Perhaps that man really needed that visit at that moment. I know that we were led there. Because who would logically go to an empty house? God knows that man personally, and knows that he was there and that we needed to find him. The spirit led us to knock on that door and we found someone in an unlikely place. He told us we could come back any time. So hopefully we'll get to start really teaching him soon. God's ways are not our ways.

We had quite the adventure this weekend. On Friday we briefly came home after dinner for something we needed and found that our power had gone out. We figured it was probably a minor problem that would be fixed soon. When we came home for the night the power was still out. We saw that none of the neighbors power was out, just ours. Luckily a member gave me a mini flashlight, and we asked our next door neighbor for a flashlight. So we planned in the dark with little flashlights. We didn't know what else to do. We called Elder Adair who was in San Antonio for the night and he walked us through finding the breaker. Nothing worked, and the apartment office was closed. Ha ha. It was actually really fun.

At about 10:00pm we saw that we had a voice mail from the moving Elders. (In our mission there is a set of Elders specifically assigned to move missionaries. They move every day all around the mission and proselyte in the evenings and on weekends.) They said that they would be by the next day to move us to our apartment and asked if we needed anything. Well, Sister Pito and I were really confused. We thought they were talking about moving someone else and were just wondering if we needed anything. We called them and found out that we were indeed moving the next day... :) They thought we knew already. Ha ha. So, we ended up moving all day on Saturday. It was awesome. On a mission, you learn to be ready for anything. It honestly was fun, and no big deal. Before my mission I probably would have been stressed out by such an unexpected endeavor. But now it was just another day. Our new apartment is really nice. It has new carpet, new paint, two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and nice counter tops. The kitchen is huge. To me, it's luxury living compared to what I'm used to. I won't get attached though, because who knows what'll happen in a few weeks. :)

More often than not, things don't go as planned. But whatever we planned usually leads us to another person we need to meet. We were stopping by a new family in the ward who ended up not being home. We decided to knock on the homes around it. The last one we came to we almost didn't go to because the lady had pulled up in her driveway and was just sitting in her car. It's a little tricky to talk to people in their cars. We ended up walking up as if we were walking to her door, then turned around and acted as though we just noticed her in her car. Haha.. Maybe that was deceiving, but it was the easiest way to get her attention without creepishly walking up to her in her car. We talked for several minutes, and shared with her "Because He Lives". She was very touched by that. We prayed with her, and the spirit was really strong. After we visited with her the family we originally went to go see pulled up. The timing was perfect.

Like I said, the Lords work will not be hindered by any force. This area that I'm in is particularly difficult to find people to teach, but that doesn't matter. It just means we have to work a little harder. There are people prepared in every part of every land. I'm grateful to be here, I'm grateful for the love of the Savior and his sacrifice on our behalf. I know this Church is true.

As a servant of the Lord, I say this in his name, even Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,
Sister Record