About a year ago, last
October, there was a Halloween stake activity. There was a bright, 18
year old boy there, named Elliot. There were no warnings that peanuts
were in any of the food items, and Elliot had an allergic reaction. He
ran outside and called for help immediately; by the time he got to the
hospital, damage had been done to his brain. Doctors said that the
damage was so severe that he would be completely immobile and mentally handicapped
for the rest of his life.
His
sister Eloise, was on a mission. She had the choice to either return
home or stay on her mission. She knew that in order for her family to
receive the strength and blessings they and Elliot so desperately
needed, she would need to stay. When she returned home at the end of her
mission, she went to the hospital to visit Elliot for the first time in
18 months. She saw him, she held his hand and said in his ear "Elliot,
I'm home."
Despite
being immobile and completely unresponsive, tears came out of Elliot's
closed eyes. He knew she was there, and he could hear and feel her.
I've
heard of Elliot's progress since being here and have heard of so many
miracles that have happened since his accident-- one of them being that
he has returned home with his family just last month. He still resides
in a hospital bed, but he is there-- body and mind. He feels when people
touch him, he blinks twice when he understands, his eyes get big when
he tries to see, he can almost, barely say "hi". Sometimes he will look
around the ceiling frequently or just stare in one spot for a very long
time-- angels are there taking care of him.
Saturday
night I had the privilege of meeting Elliot for the first time. He has
quickly become my favourite human. I tried soooo hard to fight back
tears! But, I'm such a softy, dang it! Pray for him and his family. I
love that boy and I admire his family so much. The strength they have
and the blessings they have received from this trial has been such a
testimony-builder for myself.
 |
| Elliot :) |
I know that this is a very frail existence that we have chosen to be apart of. But this life isn't it, there is so much more. The beautiful things we see and the tender mercies that are apparent and abundant in our lives, are only glimpses of what our Heavenly Father has in store for us. He loves us, and He hasn't forgotten us, and never will. It reminds me of the lyrics to hymn number #136:
He lives to grant me rich supply.
He lives to guide me with his eye.
He lives to comfort me when faint.
He lives to hear my soul's complaint.
He lives to silence all my fears.
He lives to wipe away my tears.
He lives to calm my troubled heart.
He lives all blessings to impart.
He does, I know He does. I've felt it, and I know you can too as you turn to Him.
This
week was good though, but this transfer went but so stinkin' fast!! I'm
praying that I stay JUST ONE MORE. Maybe I can bargain with Heavenly
Father? We'll see how that goes...
This week, we also met with our investigators! Yesol is still hanging in here! She will be baptized one day!! Pray for her!!
We met with Ben, too! He was sooo sick and still met with us to talk about the Book of Mormon. What a good guy. He is the one who comes and translates at our ESL class for us and plays the piano beautifully and has long hair-- he is a kingdom-builder, for sure.
After
we met with Ben. our member that came with us was leaving to go hang
out with the rest of the YSA, and sometimes being YSA while serving
in YSA is hard! But we went on being missionaries and went to visit our
dear Shaunna-- and it was one of the most spiritual moments of my
mission.
She
talked to us about how she is so ready to start coming back and asked us
questions about how to know if Heavenly Father has forgiven us and so
many other tender things that cannot be written. It was so good, and I
love her so much! It's so cool to see how her testimony is not only
becoming more apparent, but is also strengthening.
We
also had Zone Council this week. We role-played talking to people on
the bus and at the end. We all went into a small room and watched the
"Because of Him" video and then our zone leaders opened the baptismal
font and the spirit FILLED THE ROOM as they began testifying that this
is what it's all about. MAN I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. Testimony
meetings with other missionaries is one of the most powerful things to
be apart of.
Also,
the greatest baptism in the history of baptisms happened yesterday.
Mordecai is this African girl that has the most solid, powerful, pure,
testimony. She literally smiles with her eyes! She came out of the water
laughing and crying. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. She said that when she told her
mom at first, her mom left her room and didn't talk to her for 2 hours--
but it was because she left and cried because her prayers had been
answered that her daughter was being baptized. After she bore her
testimony, her mom was bawling and they just held each other. It was so
precious!
Sister
Coleman and I and Elder Lasley and a member (Jesse) did the musical
number, too! I played Come Thou Fount on the piano and they sang the
lyrics to Joseph's Smith's First Prayer. It was fun :) and we also
taught the Restoration during the baptism-- the spirit was so strong.
This
week was the best week ever. I love my mission, I love these people, I
love the spirit, I love love, I love this gospel, I love my Saviour.
The
church is true, if you don't know it, I invite you to get on your knees
right now and pray-- ask your Heavenly Father and He will answer your
prayers. I PROMISE. Gain your own spiritual witness.
I love you all.
xoxo
I love you all.
xoxo
