Free at Last

First of all I just wanted to say sorry for not posting the last two Tuesdays. I have been super busy! I just got transferred to a new area: Lumberton, North Carolina! I love it so far here and look forward to meeting many amazing people. Every Tuesday from now on I promise!

How come some people in this world are born with disabilities while others are not? When our loved ones are bogged down with this how do we help them? These are all common questions that many of us might have had throughout our lives. I wanted to take this post to talk about an experience that I had a while ago on my mission that meant a lot to me.

There are definitely more and more people being diagnosed with some sort of mental chemical unbalances of some sorts these days.While we don't necessarily know exactly why all of the time, we have been blessed with a lot of guidance on the subject. The following video has had such an impact on my life. I remember exactly where I was and what I was thinking my first time watching it. My companion and I had just had a lesson the previous night with somebody in our area who was having serious struggles with his health. Many doctors met with him and could never really pinpoint exactly what the diagnosis was. The man we were meeting with was doing everything he possibly could to turn his life to God. Despite his constant discipleship, he was still faced with this difficult challenge in his life. We shared a brief message about prayer and how that if he sincerely asked God what he should do, God would answer. You could feel the spirit so strong as my companion and I promised him this and happiness to come, despite his health.

The next day we were watching General Conference, where two times a year church leaders prepare talks to give us all guidance. The video is one of those talks that we saw. With the pains of our friend and many of my loved ones who suffer from disabilities still weighing on my mind, this talk brought a whole new understanding to the questions I mentioned previously. Half way through the talk we got a text message that said "I got an answer to my prayer."

I know that God is mindful of our challenges from anxiety to depression to physical problems. I know that one day we will all be able to live with our families free from our shortcomings at last. As Elder Holland puts it "Free at last."

It's Contagious

On a mission, there are plenty of activities that we do with our time. Last week after a snowstorm that hit North Carolina, we got to add one more activity to the list: SNOW SHOVELING! 

Although we don't watch the news, last Tuesday we heard through the grape vines that a huge snow storm was coming. Elder Holt and I decided to make the best of this by making it into a service opportunity. After a quick phone call we were able to locate one snow shovel and one square-nosed shovel (apparently that is quite a feat here in NC because nobody owns a snow shovel). The next day we were up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for a day in the snow. We weren't sure where to start but we felt prompted to go to a neighborhood of a member in our ward.

After slipping and sliding all over the country roads we made it to our destination. We saw our first target, a man wearing a New York Giants beanie shoveling his drive way. We hopped out of the car and grabbed a few shovels to help him finish the job. He was genuinely surprised that we helped him out. He offered us money but we told him we weren't allowed to take it. We asked him who he knew in the neighborhood that might be elderly that we could go to next. His face lit up as he referred us to the house down the road of a man who had a back surgery. Later, when we were shoveling the elderly man's walk the man in the beanie seamed to appear from nowhere to help us serve his neighbor. Something is contagious about service. Once again the man in the beanie's face lit up.

The rest of our morning was spent bouncing from house to house shoveling driveways and asking the homeowner who we could visit next. All of them with similar responses to the first, first offering us money or a drink then sharing with us a friend who might be in need of help. One of my favorite comments came from a man who said, "Wow, I hope they have Mormons in Georgia! They got hit a lot harder than us." At the last house we were shoveling a white haired lady came outside. She told us how thankful she was because her husband was in a scooter and couldn't do it himself. Then we told her that we had to go for a meeting but we promised we would be back. She thanked us again and we left.

To my amazement, when we came back after the meeting she had two bags on the doorstep waiting for us. They were filled with some clothes that she wanted to donate to some people who might need clothes. Once again we learned that service is contagious.

God loves us. There is a certain happiness that comes from reaching out to somebody and doing something for them. We live in a world where it becomes easy to focus on ourselves but as we reach out for others we will see what really matters in this life.