Hey there family!
Okeedokee.... So I was talking with the office today about the whole license expiring thing and they were telling me a couple things that might be alternative options. For forms of id with my expired drivers license. One of the options that was mentioned was a credit card. Apparently a credit card along with my expired drivers license can often be used in place of a current license. So....maybe you guys will be setting me up a credit card to come home to? Eh? Now that sure sounds fun ;). Really not sure what the exact options are for me though so I told brother Foretide in the office to give dad a call. So I hope all goes well with that!
On another note, which is actually a way more fun note than expiring licences, we have a baptism coming up this Sunday. It's for two families (two mothers and their 2 baptismal age children)! It is going to be awesome! I am so so excited for this Sunday. I love these two families so much!
I want to tell a quick story today about one of these women. They are both super super awesome, but I feel the need to share this experience for some reason or another.
About 5 or six weeks ago, C., the woman who today's story is about, lost her apartment. She needed somewhere to go with her family and was working on sorting it all out when her friend (our investigator named R.) called just to see how she was doing. R. and C. have been friends for a very long time. Through the course of the conversation it was decided that C. and her family move in with R. until everything gets sorted out.
One day, while we were passing by the apartment complex (we actually didn't even have an appointment with this household that I'm talking about) we saw C. watching all the kids while they swam in the pool. We were on our way somewhere else, but as I waved at her, I had the impression to just go touch base with her and confirm our next appointment with her household which would be later on the next day. As we started walking over to her I immediately noticed the cigarette and beer she had in her hand. We hadn't taught the word of wisdom yet though so I didn't plan on doing much more than just mention to her that someday soon she would have the opportunity to get those addictions out of her life.
But what I had imagined would be a passing thought type comment to "set up" for a future visit became the entire purpose of our pool side conversation when she opened her mouth and explained with great embarrassment and a caught-red-handed look, "God must really be after me right now. Look I already know it's wrong. My daughter tried to tell me a few minutes ago (her 9 year old daughter has gone to an LDS congregation with her grandmother for the past year and a half) that this was a sin and I shouldn't do it, but I ignored her. I believed her, but I didn't listen. I know it's wrong...."
She went on to explain that she took our passing by at that exact moment as a sign from The Lord. She explained how she should have listened to her daughter from the start and never done it. It had been several months since the last time she had touched a cigarette and about the same amount of time since the last time she had touched alcohol. She explained how she had experienced a day of weakness that day from all the stress of her situation and just wanted to try to cope with it and relax in her old way. But then she reiterated that our showing up was a sign from The Lord that she shouldn't be doing it.
We took the moment to testify to what she already knew about her Loving Heavenly Father who sends people to her in the exact moment she needs them. We talked about how even her family (not just us) had been sent to help her stay on His straight and narrow path. We promised her that happiness always comes to those who listen to the promptings that The Lord sends us and that sadness, even embarrassment are often consequences of ignoring the Lord's promptings when He seemingly catches us.
C. is an amazing person. She committed herself on the spot to never touch these things again and even said a prayer to The Lord asking for His help in this commitment. She also called us her angels whom The Lord had sent to help her out.
I learned a lot from this experience. There is much I could say about it, but the one thing that I absolutely have to share about it today is the fact that our Heavenly Father is a MASTER PLANNER! He plans out every little detail of our lives and he always gives us the best learning opportunities that we need in order to progress. Part of His planning process takes into consideration who needs to be in our lives and when they need to be there. As I ponder on this, I have noticed that this is true and has been true throughout my entire life. He has always given me the right people at the right time to help me progress in the ways that He wants me to. Not sure why, but sometimes it's just the little things that cause me to marvel at the reality of a Loving Heavenly Father.
This is something that many in the world might call a coincidence, but to those who are humble enough to be teachable by The Lord, they know that these small things are literal proofs of the Lord's guiding influence in our lives. C. is one of these people who is teachable of The Lord. It's amazing to me to watch how she takes every little experience that The Lord gives her as a faith building experience which inspires her to repent and make herself more dedicated to The Lord.
Well,
It really is the Lord's work that I'm a part of! I love it with all my heart.
Love you guys so much!
Yours truly,
Elder Ostler
