April 19th 2015

Hello everyone! 

It has been one awesome week. It has also been cool to hear how good you are all doing! Thanks for your emails.

 

We went to a driving range today! It was awesome! 

 

Interviews have started again, and time has gone lightning fast since the last interviews. They happen every 3 months. Elder Smith and I are helping to do some instructing around weekly planning while President is interviewing the missionaries in each zone, and President is so diligent during interviews. 

Elder Smith and I have also had a lot of time in our area this week proselyting. I love our area so much. As in all areas, if missionaries will work hard and to be obedient, they will love the areas where they serve.

This work really is the Lord's work, and He does it. We had many experiences this week where doors opened and people let us into their homes. It is a work of miracles! We have a neighbor who is a single dad, and his son is only a few months old. His name is Johno, and he's a less active member, and doesn't work. He stays home with his son, Jack. Last week Jack got pretty sick and went to the hospital. Just before that happened, this brother let us into his home and we shared a really simple but sweet message with him. Since Jack has gone into the hospital, we have had a few more visits with Johno.  His parents live in Ohio, but he said they had flown over to visit Jack in the hospital. More than once as I have sat in this brother's home, I have felt a quiet feeling that the Lord is concerned for Johno, and wants to help him.

 

 Earlier today, Elder Smith and I went grocery shopping at a place called Countdown. We were looking at what honey to buy when a lady walking past pointed out the brand she thought was best. We started talking to her and she started to share with us cool facts about New Zealand (thinking that Elder Smith and I had just arrived). She told us that she and her husband had moved to the United States and were actually just come back to New Zealand to visit for a few days, and that they were stocking up on food to take back to their children. We kept having small talk about New Zealand for five or ten more minutes, and just as we were leaving, Elder Smith asked where she lived, and she said she lived in Ohio and that she had come back to New Zealand to visit her grandson who was in the hospital. It was Johno's mother! We made the connection and told her about how we had been visiting Johno, and about how we knew Jack was sick. She asked us to continue to visit Johno and to pray for him. It was such a tender experience. 

 

What helps me feel even better is that regardless of what we do, and how often we visit, I know that the Lord is going to be with this brother through whatever he goes through. Nobody knows this man! Nobody knows who he is or what he is doing, and not very many mortals really care about who his is and what he's doing, but the Lord does, and I know he'll take care of him. And that the Lord has performed a perfect Atonement which can heal this brother in whatever he needs.

President often says, "The greatest thing in all of history is the Savior's Atonement. Because that is true, the greatest thing we can do is repent, and then go help others to repent." What a great gift repentance is!

It reminds me of the line Elder Holland quoted in General Conference from hymn number 195

How great, how glorious, how complete
Redemption’s grand design,
Where justice, love, and mercy meet
In harmony divine!

It's been a great week! Love you!