Sometimes,
it is rainy.
This is a
fact.
Especially
this week, it has been rainy.
One problem
with rain is that (as I think I've explained before), it makes people
not want to be on the streets, which is the only place that we
actually find people to talk with. The weird thing is, that it
has been rainy on and off throughout the past few days. We go
inside, it rains, we go outside, it is sunny. As we are walking
along, in the sun-shiney city of Lutsk, clouds gather in a matter of
minutes and BAM, it rains again! It's an incredible phenomenon.
Somehow, the native people can sense it coming on... before the signs
manifest themselves. It's like a superpower that they all have.
I do not have this power. It makes for a rather soggy
day.
This has
made our job really interesting. It has not, however, stopped
us from talking to a lot of great people, handing out copies of the
Book of Mormon, and trying to set up meetings every single day this
week. That's what most missionaries are doing each and every
day, and I'm going to tell you, it's something that's really grown on
me.
I've
learned a lot about hoping for miracles this past week. One of
the things I've learned is that Heavenly Father doesn't always
provide the miracles we want. That's something that can seem
kind of hard. We may pray with our whole heart and soul that
something will work out the way we imagined it... and then poof -- It
just doesn't. This doesn't mean that miracles don't happen.
I want to
tell you all something.
Miracles
are happening around us every single day. The fact that I am
living, breathing, and smiling is a miracle to me sometimes. The
fact that Heavenly Father let an 18 year-old boy travel half-way
across the world in order to try and tell some of his brothers and
sisters that God loves them and has a plan for them to be truly happy
forever; that's a miracle. The warmth and love that has grown
inside of me for my Savior, and for my Father in Heaven, that's a
miracle. On top of all of that, I have seen people take on
baptisms; People have accepted commitments to change their lives;
People have faced and overcome challenges in their own lives. All
of this, because God lets us choose it.
Some people
say that the Gospel confines us, but it really defines us. It
sets us free to become the best we could ever become. God has a
plan for us, and he knows exactly which miracles we need. His
plan involves a personal improvement plan for each and every one of
us.
It's a
miracle.
So maybe
this week has been a little rainy. Maybe I've even gotten a
little wet. The sun is still there, shining to let us
know that it's still day time! Eventually, the day is going to
come to an end, and we'll look back on this day and have to take it
for what it is worth. I want to have given everything I have.
The trick, I suppose, comes from not waiting for the storm to
pass, but learning how to dance in the rain.
If you
haven't read the talk, Your 4-minutes, from this past
general conference, now would be a great time to do that!
I love you
all very much, and I'm glad to say that I know that My Savior not
ONLY lives, but that He loves me and gave me the greatest gift I
could ever imagine...
He's the
greatest miracle, and I don't think I could express the fullness of
my feelings in words.
So I'll
leave you with my love, and my support!
I'm praying
for you back home!
I love you
all so much, and I'm privelaged to have you as a part of my life!
З Богом,
Elder
LeBaron
Picture:
This is an old woman who sells bird feed on Center Street here.
She's always smiling when I see her.
No comments:
Post a Comment