What a week! Life's been full of ups and downs and spiritual awesomeness!
So on Monday we got a call from Brother Maynard. He's a member of our ward, and he's only been a member for a few years, and he's been inactive for the last seven months. We have been going to their house every Saturday to have dinner with them and help on the farm, and to fellowship with them. Sister Maynard is the one who always calls us and asks us to come over, and Brother Maynard has always been cordial, but never wants to be involved in the lesson or even the blessing on the food. So we were a little caught off guard when he called us on Monday and told us he wanted us to come over for dinner that night. We went, and Brother Maynard stayed in the room for the blessing on the food (which he never does) and after dinner he told us the reason he wanted us to come. He talked about how his grandmother, the woman who raised him since his mother died when he was 3, had just passed away, and while he was sitting at his funeral service, he looked around at all the people there who were nodding their heads at what the preacher was saying, and Brother Maynard said to himself, "all these people have faith, and I don't have faith." He felt lost and just wanted to know what to do to find his faith. We had a great discussion and talked about coming to church, and he agreed that maybe the first step he needed to take was to just come to church. And he did! We went back again on Saturday for our normal farm work and dinner, and he was all excited about coming to church. He'd even posted on Facebook, letting everyone know he was coming. Everyone was so excited and supportive at church and he had a great time! He put away his coffee maker, hasn't been drinking beer, and told everyone at church that he's back for good. :)
D-- also came to church. D-- is a woman we met a couple of weeks ago who is going through an extremely hard time right now. Her husband left her with nothing. She has no money, no car, no place to stay, and to top it all off, she has a bone disease that is causing her a lot of pain. It was really a miracle that we met her, and I know it wasn't by coincidence. She has gained a lot of comfort and encouragement from the gospel. She's been reading the Book of Mormon and has found some great things! The other day when we went over she was really excited to share with us something she had found. She told us that for some reason she randomly stuck a picture of her and this older man she used to take care of (home health care) in the Book of Mormon, and then later, she opened to the page she had bookmarked and just started reading. She opened it up to share, and I saw that she had opened up to Alma 62. My first thought was, "Oh great, she read a random war chapter. Hopefully she wasn't too confused!" But then she read verses 50 and 51, which say: "Yea, they did remember how great things the Lord had done for them, that he had delivered them from death, and from bonds, and from prisons, and from all manner of afflictions, and he had delivered them out of the hands of their enemies. And they did pray unto the Lord their God continually, insomuch that the Lord did bless them, according to his word, so that they did wax strong and prosper in the land." Then with tears in her eyes she told us how that's something that J-- (the man she took care of) used to always tell her, that if you trust God, he'll take care of you, and even though she couldn't see how things we going to work out, she knew that that was true. I know the gospel blesses lives. It might not give D-- a place to call home or a job to provide for her needs, but it has given her the strength the press on and the hope of God's light. I also know that we are just instruments in His hands. We can't do anything without Him.
Heavenly Father so great and full of wisdom and a kind of love that is beyond my ability to comprehend. Alma 26:16
Love,
Sister Myers
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