Trust From Above

This past week they did a “mini mission” with the Santa Rosa Stake youth. We had two mini missionaries living with us for three days! It was a blast! Elder Mahoney and I had the opportunity to divide and conquer our area. We had “Elder Henderson” and “Elder Anderson” with us and they truly became brothers to us. The first morning, "Elder Anderson" and I went out contacting. The first lady we talked with was a lady I had talked with before, and at that time she had rejected us and told us to stop coming by because we would give her children cards with pictures of Jesus Christ on them as they were playing in the streets. But that morning she was out waiting for a ride and she seemed depressed. I felt impressed to go and talk with her again. Her name was Monica. We began to talk with her about how a relationship with Jesus Christ could help her overcome the trials she was going through. She struggled with knowing her purpose in life and what she was to do at this point in her life. She really opened up to us. The spirit touched her heart as she realized we were servants of the Lord, Jesus Christ. She wanted us to come by and teach her children. It was such a miracle and the next four people we talked with also asked us to come back. It was an amazing morning filled with miracles, not the least of which was that the young mini missionary I was with receiving his answer about going and serving a mission as a result of how strongly he felt the spirit that morning. His desire for missionary work grew as we found families to teach, taught investigators together, and invited our brothers and sister to be baptized. I felt as if the Lord knew that I needed to be with him for three days and he needed to be with me. It was such an uplifting experience for me and Elder Mahoney and I wanted them to stay with us! It was sad to see them go … a special bond was formed and created because of the spiritual experiences we had together. It was great and I felt trusted by the Lord.

Those few days really gave me an opportunity to stop and do a self-evaluation to see how I can improve as a servant of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I want to become more Christ-like and do all I can while I am here. I love recognizing my weaknesses so I can go to the Lord and improve. I feel the Lord is guiding me more than ever in what I say, how I act, and who I am. I know that I am going to have to rely on Him for the rest of my life. I feel like he is watching over me and protecting me. I want His trust forever … there is no better feeling than to know that you are trusted by the Lord with His sheep. I want to feed as many of them as I possibly can before I go home. At times it is hard to do the will of the Lord because of the natural man inside of each one of us, but I am willing to listen and to heed His council because I have seen blessings and miracles as I have been obedient. I truly love Him for all that He has done for me. I feel the Atonement working in me and changing me. I want to continue to become like Heavenly Father and to leave my “yesterday self” behind, and focus on how I can come closer to my Heavenly Father today. I love serving and being set apart from the world to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is absolutely nothing else that I could be doing right now that could substitute for this marvelous experience I am having. I want to be stretched and leave it all here. I love being here and love being trusted from above.

Los Quiero,

Elder Vance