Sent: Monday, August 5, 2013 12:00:00 PM
Subject: I stand all amazed
Hello family!
This was an awesome week. Earlier this week, Elder Mitchell and I were talking about how society (myself included) today misuses the words like "amazing" or "awesome". They aren't just casual words like "Oh, that burger was awesome." Awesome means it left you in awe. Amazing means you were really amazed, surprised, in awe. But anyways, after thinking about that and what amazed really means, I really can say that I stand all amazed at the hand of the Lord in this week and always. I really do stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me.
So on Wednesday, it was the last day of the month, so we decided to spend the last of our miles (we have a limited amount that we can drive each month)tracting in the farm land, because we don't get to talk to people out there very often. It was a gorgeous, misty day. There was fog all around us and in the fields of crops, it was beautiful. Anyways, there was one really creepy house Courtney would have loved. We started walking to it, and around the house they had a barbed wire fence, and behind the fence there were 3 cows. As we walked closer to the fence, these cows came running towards us. Then when they got about 20 feet away, they stopped. They just starred at us as we walked up the driveway. It was really weird but funny haha.
On Friday we had a long day, we rode bikes all around Celina again. We stopped by about 12 potential investigators and several less active members, but no one was home. Then we tracted for a little bit...so after dinner I was kind of beat. Sadly, I felt ready to just go home because I felt like our efforts weren't doing any good. But I knew I shouldn't feel like that, so I pulled out a picture of the Savior that I keep in the car, and I just looked at it. I looked into His eyes, and I asked myself "why are you here?" Looking into His eyes, I felt and remembered why I am here. I am here because I love Him! I'm out here serving because I love Him and I want to do what He wants me to do. So it doesn't matter that I feel tired and that I haven't had much success, what matters is that I am doing what He wants me to do because I love Him! That's all we really need, just knowing that we are doing what the Lord wants us to do. If we can feel that and know that, nothing else is important. So that experience gave me a big boost for the night and other times in the week when I began to feel that way. I feel like one of Satan's biggest tools on most missionaries, well on people in general is to try to make them forget why they are here. There is so much power in remembering the why.
So for dinner that night, I wanted to go eat at this Mexican restaurant, to hopefully find some Spanish speaking people we can talk with (Mexican food wasn't a bad perk either). I have been praying almost every day to be able to find people who we can share the gospel with in Spanish. When I 1st got to St. Marys, all the members said "you won't get to use your spanish here." But still I have been praying, so I wanted to put ourself in a place where we could at least have that opportunity. So we went there, we ate some below decent Mexican food, the "Mexican" workers didn't even speak Spanish, they charged me extra for shrimp, it was over priced...so that didn't quite work out as I planned. haha. So objective failed, right? No! We showed the Lord in going there that we really wanted and were willing to do whatever we needed to do in order to find Spanish speaking people. And we were blessed for that. Later that night, we stopped by Emmanuel, a guy other Elders had talked with before, but they said he wasn't worth the time. We showed up there and he was excited to see us, he ran and got his friend, Domingo, because he really wanted to introduce Domingo to us. So we got to talk with them for 30 minutes in Spanish. Domingo is so prepared. Emmanuel told us that whenever anyone offers him beer or to smoke, he says no. Whenever the other guys in their apartment or at work are partying and having a good time, Domingo is in his room studying the Bible. He is just a good good guy. He is from Mexico, and doesn't speak any English. Emmanuel said that he (himself) isn't nearly as good as Domingo, he has lots of problems and sins, but feels like he needs to get closer to the Lord and wants to do it. They were really excited to come to church and said they would be there! So now we are teaching Domingo and Emmanuel, in a place where not even the Mexican restaurants have Mexicans. When I got home that night, and kneeled down to pray, all I could do was smile and silently say in my head "you did it! Thank you Heavenly Father, thank you." I felt His excitement with me. He answered my prayers! I laid in my bed in awe, trying to fall alseep, just thinking of the great miracle the Lord had done for us. Ahh. I am still excited thinking about it now! He answers our prayers! He really really does! Don't ever doubt Him, because I promise He will answer the righteous desires of your heart!
Ahhhh. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!
Lastly, on Saturday night, we were riding home right at the Sunset. We were riding on this bike path that along the "Great St. Marys Lake." Yeah. During the Sunset. I was freaking out...I almost crashed a couple times, and almost hit a few dogs...and kids. But anyways, it was SO gorgeous. It wasn't blocked by trees, it was just the open sky, reflecting off the water. I was truly filled with awe. As I starred at the orange, pink, and purple filled sky over the water, I couldn't imagine how anyone could ever doubt the existence of God. The amazing part is that it happens every night. That is what is so amazing about Heavenly Father, we can see thousands of sunsets, they happen every day. But when we take the time to really notice them or when we take the time to see what He has done for us, we can stand all amazed over and over and over again. It leaves me standing amazed thinking how could I ever doubt Him.
God is real. so real. He doesn't just exist, he knows you. He knows every little personal challenge you have, even the things that seem so deep inside of you no one knows about. I truly stand all amazed at His love. Nothing can separate us from His love. Check out Romans 8:35-39 It is one of my favorites. I love you guys! Have a wonderful week! Look for the miracles! They're everywhere!
mirando milagros in Santa Maria,
Elder Heath Tenney
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