It is hard to express adequately the feelings that I have had this week. Gratitude is about the only word that fits well. I just feel very grateful.
Have you ever sat back to just think about life and how wonderful it all is?! I am having the time of my life here that I can hardly believe how many miracles I see daily. I will try to tell you about the miracles that I had this week.
We planned an activity this week for matrimony's and couples who are investigating the church. We had an activity, wedding, cake, dance and all. It was a mission activity. Even though I was way stressed out about it, it turned out well. I felt that the activity helped me in many ways. I had one brief moment of revelation in which the Lord let me know why these types of things happen in the mission. As I thought about how much our Heavenly Father has to do and plan and how wonderfully it all comes out, I appreciated His wisdom. In few words, I realized that the small things that the Lord requires of us are like on the job training.
We had two more baptisms this week. We are really excited! Marwell is 17 (almost 18) year old boy that is going to be a great missionary next year I think. We found him only 3 weeks ago and he is already progressing like crazy. He got baptized Wednesday night. He had this huge grin on his face as he came out of the water. He was just ecstatic. On Sunday we passed by his house at 8 am to wake him up and make sure he got confirmed at 10 am. But when we went by at 9:30 am to go to church with him, his family said that he had already left about an hour before. I thought, ´´are you serious?´´ but when we called the bishop he said that sure enough Marwell was at church….more than an hour before due to his enthusiasm. It felt good to see such faith.
The next story comes from the other confirmation. Yelba is 56 years old but due to her struggling health condition she appears to be almost 70. She was baptized Saturday. Sunday morning brought further blessings because I realized much more about my own progress than hers. She had to go to a clinic to get some blood work done and when they told us about the situation it seemed like she wouldn’t be arriving at church on time, or even that day. But as they told me of the situation, for the first time in my life I felt a peace and faith enter my body. I just knew it would be alright. I don’t know how to explain it. I just was sure even though it seemed impossible. We asked where she was. The daughter didn´t remember. She gave us an address and we went to look for her. 2 hours and 10 clinics later we found ourselves at the front door of her house and she still hadn´t returned. We didn´t find her. Even then I didn´t doubt. It would be alright. We looked for a few investigators and it turns out that 5 minutes before the hour, a member called us to tell us that he was on his way with her in hand and that she was going to be confirmed. It was nothing short of a miracle. I felt like because we had done our part, the Lord had done His part. For the first time in my life, I had experienced the type of faith that is described in Hebrews 11…a surety, a conviction. I just knew it the whole time even though I didn´t see it. That was really cool and very humbling.
Next comes from the meeting with the whole mission that we had. This month was the BEST month the mission has ever had since President Fraatz has been here. We baptized 621 people this month in Nicaragua and 105 families. That is a miracle! It was a month of miracles and faith! I was so happy to have been a part of it! From what the President said today in the meeting, the Quorum of the Twelve are interested about hearing of our success and have even asked for a video of the families that have been baptized. The Lord has His eyes on Nicaragua and the apostles of the Lord are very happy with what is happening. I just feel grateful.
A wonderful work is about to forth among the children of men! Let us with faith work and do what the Lord asks. So many people are waiting. Let´s thrust with all of our might and lift wherever we may stand. Then we will see miracles. I still believe the Lord works miracles, even daily!
Elder Grant Russell
