The words of the week? Wondrous, wonder and wonderful signs.
Example number one: My prayer one morning. "Dear Father in Heaven. Please help me to feel like a missionary today." You see much of what we are doing here is exactly the same thing we were doing at home. Looking for ways to be a friend and help everyone we know and meet. Just like what many of you do. We are assigned as what is called "Member Leader Support." This means our first priority is helping in our Branch. We lead music. We say prayers. We welcome people, etc. It doesn't mean we are proselyting (knocking on doors) looking for someone to open the door and be interested in learning more of Christ.
So back to my prayer... As we have told you, we have been serving in a place called "the Lord's Kitchen." I'll try to make a long story short (maybe), but the sign and wonder that occurred this week is in the story. When we serve there, we do not preach or invite. We serve, meet and get to know others. The first week we went, there was a young woman about 24 years old who was entering the building at the same time and she was very welcoming and asked about us. When she saw our missionary name badge, she asked, "Are you Mormon?" To which we said yes. She wasn't unkind, but it was apparent that was enough for her.
Fast forward two weeks and we see her again. About the time we were finishing up, she came up to Elder Gibbons and asked if she could give him a hug. I guess he looked really nice in his blue, "Lord's Kitchen" hat with a broom in his hands. I walked up to join the conversation and Elder Gibbons went back to work. Very nicely she said to me, "You know years ago I started to read the first book in the Book of Mormon. I didn't like it. It contradicted the Bible." I gently replied that I was sorry she didn't like it, but was glad she made the attempt. I responded that I had read it too and since it is another Testament of Jesus Christ I felt it brought me closer to Christ and didn't see any contradictions.
Autumn is a sweet young woman who has had a very difficult life. In spite of what she has been through, she LOVES Jesus! Due to an accident on a horse at age 17 it left her with some brain damage and slowness in speech. As she told me her story my heart filled with love for her. I asked if I could give her a hug and told her I loved her and was so glad that we shared a love for Jesus. About this time her husband came up. She asked me for my phone number, which I gave her. She also asked me if I had a Book of Mormon she could have. Elder Gibbons being done, we all walked out to our car and her husband asked for his own copy of the Book of Mormon. We pointed out the subtitle of the book, "Another Testament of Jesus Christ." and invited them to start in the section of 3 Nephi, the time the Savior appeared to the people on the American Continent. I asked her if she would text me her number. We said our goodbyes. Before we got home, she had texted me her number.
So why the long story? Because it is so important to see the signs and wonders of God each day. First, he heard my prayer-- a sign that he loves me and that He answers prayers. He answered mine in a most unexpected way. Through a wondrous conversation with a very special daughter of God He showed me He is giving me opportunities to feel like a missionary for Him. I won't take time to point out all the signs and wonders she or I experienced that day, but I invite you to look for more in what I wrote.
Example Two: In previous emails we have mentioned Sheree and Arthur to you. If you've read our emails, you will know from the moment we met in a hospital room visiting Arthur (who we did not know) Sheree has been seeking more knowledge about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Another long story short... okay maybe I can't accomplish that, but keep reading anyway, LOL... After the death of her brother a couple weeks ago she went to Texas to visit her sister and stayed over a week. On her way home, she called us from the airport and said, "I want to talk to you when I get home. I don't want to do it on the phone." When she got home that day, Arthur was back in the hospital unexpectedly so she called and said she couldn't meet us as planned, but she continued, "I want to do baptisms in the Temple on the 27th with the Church Branch," and asked, "What do I need to do?" We explained that first she would need to be baptized herself into the Church and she said, "I want to be baptized." There are many principles and doctrines a person needs to understand, believe in and accept before they make a covenant with the Lord and be baptized. Indeed when baptized we make a commitment to follow Him and do as He does. Yesterday both Arthur and Sheree came to Sacrament Meeting and stayed for the second hour, that it just so happens Elder Gibbons and I were teaching lesson one of the Temple Preparation classes (that is all about The Plan of Salvation, Happiness and Redemption made possible only through Jesus Chirst) at the request of our Branch President. After church was over, they came back to our house where we began to teach both of them about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We invited them (because that is what missionaries do) to pray about what they had learned, not to take our word, and to ask Father in Heaven if these things are true. Sheree, and hopefully Arthur as well, will both be baptized in the next couple of weeks. She has asked Elder Gibbons to baptize her.
So what are these signs and wonders? We believe it is wondrous to know that God is real. We are His children and He loves us. We believe it is a sign that He is, and wants to be, involved in the very details of our lives. We think it is wondrous that He puts people in our paths to bless us and that we can bless. We think it is wondrous that He lets us be part of His work in bringing His children back home to the Father where we can live together forever with Them! Don't you? Look, seek and see. Evidence is all around us.
Example Three: We had the opportunity on Thursday to take one of the Branch members with us to help the President cut, move and stack several big, downed trees on his 25 acres of land. Why did I not take a picture?! There is a lot of wind here that comes off of the lake and he lives near Lake Huron. He had a couple professional people there with big equipment, but we were the clean-up crew. The young adult man we took with us, Joshua, is a very quiet and dedicated newer member of the Branch whose life was changed by his choice to turn away from wrong and towards the Savior. It is a sign to me that God can take any one of us who makes decisions contrary to God's happiness, and completely and wondrously change our hearts. Sometimes it can happen, what feels to be, overnight and other times it takes years. But, as Elder Kearon said in his General Conference talk (one of our favorites this time) God does not put roadblocks in our path, but He can help us get around those roadblocks. And this is what Elder Kearon said that touched my heart, "God is in relentless pursuit of you." All because He loves us.
Epilogue: Yesterday afternoon, I texted Autumn to ask how she was enjoying her Sunday. She asked if she could call me. While on the phone together the three of us prayed for her, for her husband and for difficult family relationships. We do not know how our friendship will progress, but lest anyone think our time here is all about baptisms, please know that it is about many other things too. If loving and lifting someone, inviting them to Christ and helping them feel His love isn't important then what is? If doing so leads them to a baptism and blessings, then how wondrous is that?
Only two pictures to attach this week. One is a box of "Arizona sunshine," a.k.a. a box full of lemons that our very sweet friend, Libby Francis, mailed to us this week. Can I tell you how wonderful it was to get home after a long, windy day and see it on our doorstep. Thank you, Libby! NOTE: I still don't know which family member or friend sent me the beautiful sweater a few weeks ago. Who are you? Second picture is what my hair looks like after being out in the wind. 
Actually my hair looks pretty messy in both pictures!
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