Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Week 81 - Through Much Prayer and Fasting

Aloooha y'all!
Another great week has come and gone here in Kona. Last week was our first week of covering two wards. There was some shuffling of missionaries with this past transfer, and after all was said and done we found out we were covering two wards. It's been crazy trying to get everyone sorted out and find out who everyone is, but no complaints about having more work!
We also had a cool experience. We had just got out of an appointment and had about 30 minutes until our dinner. We were about to get into our car when this guy came and talked to us. He asked us to take a walk with him and we were both convinced he was going to bash with us. But instead he told us his life story of how he came to believe in God, which was a really cool experience. He told us a story of how he was going through a divorce, so he was on the way to the dealership to sell his car. He stopped at a gas station to fill up with gas and a homeless man walked up to him and asked for money. He gave him some change, but later realized that was the money he needed to pay for gas. He had no money left and didn't know what to do, so he prayed. Right after he said amen, a strange old man that he'd never met before walked up to him and told him he was sent from God and handed him a check with his name on it for $20. Then he went to the dealership and somehow sold his car and drove off with a nicer car having no money and terrible credit. On his way home the dealership called him and told him he'd overpayed $200 for his car and to come back and get a check for the money. He had a really strong testimony of prayer. I found it inspiring the level of faith he had. Basically just complete reliance and full trust in God.
Then we had a lesson with the Welle family. Up until now we were unsure if Leah, the 12 year old girl, was going to be baptized. She really wanted to, but was baptized in Catholic church when she was a baby so her mom didn't see why she needed to be baptized twice. We fasted for her mom's heart to be softened this past sunday and when we went to our lesson with them last night the mom had no problem with all 3 of her kids being baptized this coming week! Prayer and fasting works!
We had a great training in a meeting yesterday. We were trained on sacrifice, specifically the things we sacrifice to become better servants of the Lord. They shared a quote that talked about how the only thing you can sacrifice to God that's truly yours is your will. Everything else is just things he's given or loaned to you. The thought hit me that God really doesn't care about material possessions. He doesn't need money, land, or whatever else it might be. As is shown in the case of the widow's mite, he obviously doesn't care about the volume of material things we give, but rather the amount of sacrifice we are willing to personally commit ourselves to.
Well I sure love you guys and hope you have a fantastic week!
Love,

Elder Merrill






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