Monday, December 8, 2014

Howdy ya'll


Howdy y'all, 
WOW!!! Y'all need to just pack up and come on down here to Franklin, Georgia! THIS IS THE PLACE TO BE!!! The people here are the most kind and pleasant people on the planet (no offense to the rest of y'all and where you live...) and there are so many amazing miracles happening here! The Franklin Group nearly doubled in sacrament meeting attendance this last week... especially since the Stake President, his wife, his 1st councilor and our technical Bishop and his wife came... that group right there nearly doubled our attendance haha. It was an amazing first fast Sunday meeting! I wish you could've been there... it was as if the spirits of the early church saints and Joseph Smith himself was there. Miracles happened that day! I wish I had the time to tell y'all of all the things that have already happened and are happening... just know that it's truly humbling to be here at this time and to be doing this great work... even if we have to live out of a hotel room for now :) 
One experience I wanted to share with y'all....
Being this is the first time that missionaries have been down here in Franklin, my companion and I are literally starting from scratch with everything... including finding people to teach (not to mention figuring out where the people to teach are down here! We don't even know where to go right now haha).
So one of the first couple days in which we were here, we decided we would go around the town and just knock on as many doors possible and talk with as many people as possible. We started off and went to various area's that we had driven by as we came into the town that seemed like spots where families would be home and that we'd have success in finding people. Well, not much luck. We went most of the day without much success.... and eventually we found ourselves walking back to our apartment and car along the main road that runs through the middle of town. We started to feel a bit discouraged about the day... but then we thought to ourselves... NO! This is exactly when miracles happen! After you've done all that you can and worked to do your very best and AFTER we work through the TRIAL OF OUR FAITH. That's when we'll receive a witness of things (just as Ether 12: 6 directs). So as we walked back, we decided to keep knocking on every door possible... never giving up faith that the Lord would lead us to where He needed us to go. We ended up knocking on one door near the end of our journey back to our car and just as many doors prior, the women who answered the door nearly had the door shut as fast as she had opened it. However, my companion and I got her to stall just for a brief moment before slamming the door shut again by identifying ourselves as representatives of Christ and by asking her who she knew that could use a prayer in their life or a message about Jesus Christ. She paused at the door just long enough for a little girl inside to yell out to us "YES! I know someone! I have a friend that lives just down the street who needs help". We then were able to gather some quick directions and a name for this little girl before the women at the door finally got it shut on us. My companion and I jotted down the name and the directions and ran back to our car. We jumped in the car and drove down to the spot where the little girls directions had pointed us and said a quick prayer before jumping out of the car to go knock on the door. Just as we approached the house, an older women, a young mother and 2 small girls came out of the house and started to get in the car to leave. We called out with a friendly hello and asked them if they knew of the person that we had been told lived there and could use a prayer and message about Christ. The young mother paused with a strange look on her face as we said the persons name... we asked her if she knew who we were talking about (and ensured her that weren't the FBI or police and that we were indeed sent by God to represent the Savior). The young mother told us to wait a moment as she ran inside... this person we were looking for was one of her daughters. Moments later she came back outside with a couple cute little girls. My companion and I kneeled down and cracked a couple jokes and gave them some CTR rings to ease their tension (They were a bit frightened by us). We then asked why her friend has sent us there to pray with them and share our message. With a somber face, the mother and one of her daughters related that she had been experiencing bullying at school recently... and because of this bullying, she had begun to be depressed and had started "cutting" (a practice of self inflicted harm). My companion and I instantly felt the love and compassion of our Heavenly Father and the Savior upon this little family and this little girl. We prayed with this little girl and the family and the Spirit was SO STRONG!!! After the prayer, we were all in tears... and we testified of the healing power of Christ that could be had in their lives through the message of the restored gospel.
We are now going back to teach this family more about our message of Christ and our loving Heavenly Fathers plan for each of us and our families... and how we're never truly alone and that there's always someone there who understands us and can and will and wants to heal us.
I know God sent us there that day at that time to bring that love and healing power... and I know that God and the Savior knows each of us an our needs perfectly. I invite each of you to keep pressing forward with faith and never give up! He is there for you and He needs you to keep going so you can not only make it back to God one day, but so that you can help others too.
I love y'all so much!
-Elder Wahlen
2.15 GB (14%) of 15 GB used
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